Brave New World

We are now the proud owners of a Tokay Gecko named Coyote. (in Spanish, so it's pronounced more like coy-o-tay) Zaya's hermit crabs died last month, and I had promised him that when the hermit crabs died, he could get a different pet. I talked him out of the snake, and the tarantula, but then he decided he wanted a lizard, and there was no convincing him otherwise. So, a lizard it is. (It looks just like the one in the picture, but that's not ours.)

The tricky part-

1. Geckos only eat live crickets (and other small, soft-shelled insects). The crickets have to be "gut-loaded", which means fed a super-diet of nutritious cricket food. The crickets have be dusted in calcium powder before the Gecko eats them.

2. Geckos need their vivarium to be at a fairly high temperature, so there should be a heat lamp going at all times. Heat lamps make me nervous. His cage has to stay at a fairly high humidity level too. He should have lots of live plants and large sticks to climb on. (Although ours just seems to hang out on the glass all day.)

3. The Tokay Gecko is called "the pit-bull of the gecko world" for its aggressive nature and ferocious bite. It should not be handled. Once it bites, it doesn't want to let go. Or so we've heard.

So why did we get a Tokay Gecko? Well, first, I foolishly made a promise to my son, thinking his hermit crabs were going to defy the laws of nature and live forever. Second, the other lizards were at least $50 more than the Gecko. Third, I had no idea how complicated it would be. But mostly I blame Geico.

So now we're on the lookout for a bigger terrarium, a good source of live crickets and a super-safe, kid-friendly heat lamp with a low-light night option.

At least it's not a tarantula.