Tell The Story of Your First Leo :)

[ewin9615]

Just for fun


I got my male patternless leopard gecko, Flynte Dakota, May 4, 2012. I've always loved reptiles, and enjoyed watching the local green anoles and little brown skinks. Not to mention the adorable house geckos! Me and my sister have both been wanting reptiles for as long as I can remember, but my mom has always been..well, not a reptile person.

Well, we had all begun talking about the possibility of getting some type of lizard. The choices were narrowed down to the panther gecko or leopard gecko. My mom's friend's brother was giving away a normal leopard gecko, and they had found a new home for the lizard. Me, my mom, my brother and my sister went to transfer the little gecko to its new home. Mom thought they were cute, so we became more serious about getting lizards, doing more research on lightning, feeding, substrate, etc.

Eventually, we had gathered enough information and presented it to my mom. We answered any questions to the best of our abilities and showed her pictures and videos of them eating, shedding, being handled, etc. Shortly after, mom agreed to let us both get one each. :biggrin: It was then when we started buying the items needed. Fast forward about 6 months later, we were getting the last of the things needed and had picked out our lizards. Flynte Dakota came home May 4.

Since then, I began working with him, and now he is ever social. He's either sleeping, eating or begging to come out. I turned him from a little juvie who tried to bite at every little thing, to now someone who my mom adores.

That's the story to how I got Flynte. If you know my mom, you know how big of a moment that was. I'm so happy I got him, and feel so lucky I am allowed to have such a sweet little gecko. I love that little gecko more than most people would think is possible. He's my first reptile, and has made me love lizards even more.

Thanks for reading, even if it's kinda long haha

Feel free to share your stories, I'd love to hear them

 

[Superleo98]

Neat story!

My first leopard gecko is Maiyer.
He is a giant normal leopard gecko
I got him at repticon. The breeder said he was a fat tail gecko, and female. So thinking Maiyer was a girl, named Maiya, however that proved different when I got my second Leo Buki, and they fought o_o so then they were seperated. Both Buki and Maiyer were housed on sand until a little over a month ago, and only had one hide, a water dish, UDT, and heat lamp. (Don't worry, that's all different now)
Maiyer got an eye infection a while ago, from stuck shed, but it is all healed now.
Soon, my dad surprised me with 2 female Leo's Maiyer was paired with Emma, another normal. Buki was paired with Ava, another hypo.
Never fought, however now Maiyer is being treated for pinworms, so I had to seperate him and Emma. He is doing well in recovery
That's maiyers story

 

[ewin9615]

Thanks!

Awww first off, he is gorgeous! That's good he's now in recovery, sounds like he has a great owner to help with that!

 

[Superleo98]

Thanks!

Awww first off, he is gorgeous! That's good he's now in recovery, sounds like he has a great owner to help with that!

Thank you!
He still won't eat, but at least he's active and his feces are turning back to normal

 

[ewin9615]

That's definitely better than no change at all. Have you tried introducing some new food to see if he's just bored with the usual diet? I'm not an expert, but I have heard that is a good way. I've never had Flynte not eat, so I have no personal experience with it, just a suggestion haha

 

[Superleo98]

He's actually not eating because he has the parasites, and probably won't eat till after his treatment is over. Thank you for your suggestions though lol

 

[ewin9615]

Oh okay. I read that part, I swear! Lol, derp moment. You're welcome though

 

[Elthie]

The patternless leopard gecko in my avatar is named Jasper, and he's my first. He was given to me by my girlfriend, Cymmie, a fellow user on here, as a gift about a month ago. I haven't had much experience with reptiles, but I always admired them and their keepers. I never found them to be slimy or disgusting creatures even as a little girl, and I often dreamed of owning one; either a snake, a beardie, or one of these lovely little creatures. I was very nervous about handling them at first because of their often quick and sudden movements, and I never had the opportunity to try owning one when I was younger due to lack of space and money.

Seeing the way that Cymmie cares for these creatures and watching the way she bonds with them was what changed me and allowed me to accept this gift, and I am very happy I did. I managed to calm myself enough to deal with their quickness and fearfulness and have seen the rewards of this with my little guy. He's come to trust me a lot more than I ever expected him to just within the first 3 weeks of me owning him. And watching him slowly get used to me and even bond with me in his own weird way has really given me something to look forward to every night, and a sense of... being needed. And something somewhat like pride, I suppose?

He now begs to come out a lot, and when he's out, he's an awesome little explorer. He lets me pet his back and face without running most of the time, and just enjoys exploring every nook and cranny I present before him. He's in a 10 gallon for now, with a warm moist hide, a dry cool hide, and a decent food and water dish. He'll be in a 20 gallon soon, we just don't currently have the space. He is a GREAT eater, he usually eats about 8 mid sized dubia roach nymphs, 4 phoenixworms, and a butterworm every night. He's very quick and good at hunting. He's also a pooping machine. XD I hope he stays healthy and with me for a long time. <3

 

[kvnsu]

He now begs to come out a lot, and when he's out, he's an awesome little explorer. He lets me pet his back and face without running most of the time, and just enjoys exploring every nook and cranny I present before him. He's in a 10 gallon for now, with a warm moist hide, a dry cool hide, and a decent food and water dish. He'll be in a 20 gallon soon, we just don't currently have the space. He is a GREAT eater, he usually eats about 8 mid sized dubia roach nymphs, 4 phoenixworms, and a butterworm every night. He's very quick and good at hunting. He's also a pooping machine. XD I hope he stays healthy and with me for a long time. <3

I would lower the butter worm feeding to once a month or as a treat, they are very fatty and unhealthy for your gecko if fed repetitively. Other then that, great story!

 

[ewin9615]

Aww that's such a great story! I was similar in the fact that I never was grossed out by reptiles as a kid. Even amphibians never bothered me. I was always catching frogs and lizards as a child haha

It really is an amazing thing seeing them bond and become used to your touch and interaction. I love when Flynte tries to get out, and how he will literally cuddle up against me. He's such a chill little guy.

I hope he stays healthy and you two have a good relationship for many more years to come!

 

[Not Pigeons]

My first Leo was a Snow, I believe, who I got from a reptile zoo I had been volunteering at. He was sick and deathly skinny, he hadn't been eating and they needed someone to take him because they didn't have the time to nurse him to health. I named him Slim Jim because he was so skinny, they thought he was a female when they got him and they put him in with their male and he was attacked, his tail was torn off.

So I brought him home, and got him to eat a bit but not enough. I didn't want to force feed him because I felt like the stress would kill him. I had a feeling he was going to die anyway though. I used gloves to handle him because I looked into what might be making him sick and some sites said Coccidia and that humans can get it. So I asked my mom if Slim Jim died could I get another leo (a healthy one) she said okay. Well, I went back to the zoo to volunteer a few days later and they found out they had a coccidia outbreak. One of their snakes had died and one of the leos was ill. So that's what Slim had and he wasn't going to get better. I had my mom take him back to the zoo so they could put him down. I cried for him. I was attached to him before I took him home, I used to check on him at the zoo and fill up his water dish (even though he didn't drink it).

So a few days later (after everything that Slim had touched had been throughly cleaned and disinfected) I went to the pet store and picked out a then little, baby Hypo female I named Miki (MEE-kee), who is now over 100 Grams (she's a giant, I didn't know it when I bought her). I loved her so much that just about a week later I went back and bought another girl that had caught my eye when I was picking out Miki. She was so orange, she still is! She's in my profile pic, her name is Tang, she's now about 95 grams (giant also). About a year later I bought an Albino male at Repticon and named him Kahzoo, he's about 75 grams and a little crazy. All three are happy and healthy as can be!

 

[ewin9615]

Aww I'm so so sorry about Slim Jim. It sounds like his last moments were at least more comfortable with the extra love and care you gave him. I do know a little about dropped tails however, because me and my sister picked up a super hypo tangerine carrot tail rescue. He got in a fight, shattering his leg and dropping his tail. Don't worry, we nursed him back to health and now I make sure he's fine. I feel bad for the other animals that caught the disease. R.I.P. Slim Jim

Aww that's good the story turned out well! I LOVE the name Miki, so cute! Giants are epic! Tang is so pretty, and I absolutely love albino leopard geckos, they're stunning!

 

[Not Pigeons]

Thanks, I'm happy to hear your rescue got better! It was hard to lose Slim but it turned out okay in the end because now I have three beautiful leos.

The Miki and Tang are both beautiful and love to be handled. Kahzoo is a funny little guy, the cool thing about Kahzoo, which I didn't mention, is he has a black paradox spot on the base of his tail.

 

[Yvonne]

I'm need to this site and have a question, I have inherited my sons 2 leaped geckos. They looked the same.until yesterday when one of them seem to have a purple tint, they both are eating fine and other wise seem OK, but have no clue y the one seems purplish.. help please

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I'm need to this site and have a question, I have inherited my sons 2 leaped geckos. They looked the same.until yesterday when one of them seem to have a purple tint, they both are eating fine and other wise seem OK, but have no clue y the one seems purplish.. help please

Yvonne ~

I see that you began your own Help thread. That's good. Let's carry on there for the help you seek.

 

[ewin9615]

He did get better, still a bit...rude, but at least he is healthy and happy, right? haha

That's good then! Ooh I love paradox dots, I don't know why, I just think it makes geckos look more unique! haha