Ever since I was a young kid every time I walked into a pet store I had to stop by the reptile section and check out all the cool snakes and lizards. I'd always wanted a lizard (not so much a snake though because I don't think I could handle having to feed them live (or even dead) mice). Well, the other day I decided to finally just do it and buy a lizard. While i'm glad I did I wish I had done more (any) research on the particular species I picked up. Instead I relied on the "knowledge" of the pet store retard (Petco, you suck) and wound up having to no just buy a whole new set-up, but two new setups because the two geckos I picked up could not be kept together and the original set-up I bought (on the retards recommendation) was completely wrong for the lizards I bought. The two species I'd had my eyes on were the Leopard Gecko and the Crested Gecko and I ended up getting two Crested Geckos. Unfortunately, because one is an adult and the other is only a juvenile they can't be housed together (Petco was housing them together and the pet store retard told me it wouldn't be a problem). The reason they can't/shouldn't be housed together is because the adult could bully and kill the younger gecko; in fact I saw some of this bullying going on the first night I brought them home.
So anyway, lesson learned, next time do research before buying a reptile, don't expect a pet store clerk to know what the hell they are talking about.
Here's a little info on the Crested Gecko:
The New Caledonian Crested Gecko (Rhacodactylus ciliatus) gets its name from the fringe-like pointed scales that run from above the eye (making it look like they have eyelashes) and all the way down each side of the animal’s back, usually stopping at the back legs. They have prehensile tails and lamellae pads at the tip of their tails which allows them to grip with their tails either using their lamellae or by wrapping their tails around objects. Crested geckos can easily drop their tails (as you can see one of mine has), and unfortunately, unlike most other geckos, they do not regenerate them; losing a tail does not in any way hurt the crested gecko.
This species of gecko was thought to be extinct until sometime in 1994 when it was (re)discovered on the Island of New Caledonia (between Austraila and Fiji). These geckos are nocturnal rain forest dwellers that eat both insects and fruit (my juvenile crested loves peach baby food).
Ok, enough with the lesson already right? You want pictures....here they are:
This is Zeus, he's a little over one year old.
This is Zeus exploring his new home (actually his second new home)
This is my crestie to be named later. It's to young to tell the sex so i'm waiting to name him/her.
Another one of the crestie to be named later exploring his (second) new home.
Here's the set-up for Crestie to be named later. It's a 18X18X18 Exo-terra terranium. He has his own little waterfall in there.
And here's a picture of Zeus's home, it's a little bigger (18X18X24) and he too has his own little waterfall in there.
So there they are, the latest collection to my ever growing ark.
