iheartmrnn
Hatchling Member
I know this is insanely long, but I'd love to hear your revelations too...make me feel less like I'm dancing naked pouring out all my sappy corny thoughts...
Its hard to really say when the focus of my passion changed, but I'll just go ahead and blame it on my parents. I came home from school one day to find two 20 gallon tanks lined with newspaper. Each tank displayed a juvenile Green Iguana. My parents had passed by the man who was selling them, and there was talk about Iguanas being "good eating". So they rescued two. Steve and Terri I named them. We had them for at least a month before we had to give them away, something about money I think. But I think that had to have been the seed...
I remember wandering about Google searching images of random critters, can't remember why. But I typed in leopard gecko for some reason, and with each picture I fell in love. It was a wistful love, I was certain my parents wouldn't cave and get me one, the Iguanas themselves were an anomaly. Then, maybe even later that year its hard to remember, I went to the stockyard my parents found the Iguanas (like a tossed salad of yard sales farmers market thrift store all in one). It was thanksgiving, and after family celebration someone had suggested it. So there I was, walking around with my best friend lamenting the fate of the cute quirky chickens in the small cages we were passing. There was a man selling items along the lines of blades and pepper spray. He also had a 20 gallon tank with a thin lining of dirt that he'd scraped from the ground. In that dirt filled tank...I saw her. Looking back now, I suppose that was the moment my life really changed course. All for her. She was so tiny, around the length of my wrist to the tip of my thumb. She was the only one. It was chilly outside and all I thought was how cold she had to be. It didn't take much to convince me, 10 minutes and $40 later I held a little container with Ripley safe inside.
What does it say about me that the only time I was really thankful I had a job was when I held that little creature in my hands? or the only reason I haven't quit the job I have now is because I have my animals to support?
The Black Friday following this life altering event was...interesting to say the least. I got a tank lights, before I learned about heat pads, hides and crickets. It cost a pretty penny, and of course after this we started finding "Starter Kits" for leopard geckos.
I was hooked. In love. Committed. I know it sounds corny, and maybe pathetic, but my world was suddenly her. I binged on knowledge, hungry to learn more and determined to do best by her. I joined my first forum for HER (www.theleopardgeckoforum.com) and later this forum for Newt. And there hasn't been a single moment of regret. Not even when I went to my FIRST EVER Reptile Convention in South Carolina, and came home with a Jungle Morph Leopard Gecko.
This Thanksgiving, Ripley will be 3 years old. It just sort of hit me, reading this little post about "What Geckos Mean to Me" on the gecko forum. I think about seeing her little smile for the first time, and it me want to cry. I am so lucky to have her.
This one little gecko has made me who I am today. No question. I liked lizards and frogs, but with her I developed a passion for reptiles. That passion made me different. No one in my family understood me, and that left me feeling alone. Despite that, my passion was strong enough to adopt a few week old bearded dragon from a Reptile Rescue that I had volunteered for before. Again, I was struck in the moment and couldn't refuse. While Ripley held me in awe of her almost dignified grace, Newt charmed me with her fierce and active personality. Even Nostromo, the darling from a breeder, won her place in my heart with her beauty and quirky paranoid nature.
I met people like me, who loved reptiles unquestionably. And with that I found the power to stand tall and say "Yeah. I love reptiles. I have three. What of it?". For too long I was meek and so much a wallflower I could easily disappear in a crowd. Now? I'm not only happy with it all, I'm proud to call myself the mama of three wonderful animals. I advertise it not caring what people will think. I am ME, and I'm finally glad I am.
Last Christmas, two of my sisters actually made me cry. I got reptile supplies. From sand to a mealworm feeder. They didn't understand, they probably never will. But they accept it because they love me. That's good enough for me.
I know this is a long post, but I had to let it out. What do gecko's mean to me? Honestly, too much for words. At least without sounding sappy and pathetic when I actually make sense. And my bearded dragon is so much a part of my life I catch myself with beardie mannerisms.
Just...thank you. All of you. Just for being here, just for making this forum. If it wasn't for your support and your simple presence I may not have made it.
I love my girls, and I love you all simply for loving your own darlings.
If there is a heaven, for me its in the eyes of my girls...
Its hard to really say when the focus of my passion changed, but I'll just go ahead and blame it on my parents. I came home from school one day to find two 20 gallon tanks lined with newspaper. Each tank displayed a juvenile Green Iguana. My parents had passed by the man who was selling them, and there was talk about Iguanas being "good eating". So they rescued two. Steve and Terri I named them. We had them for at least a month before we had to give them away, something about money I think. But I think that had to have been the seed...
I remember wandering about Google searching images of random critters, can't remember why. But I typed in leopard gecko for some reason, and with each picture I fell in love. It was a wistful love, I was certain my parents wouldn't cave and get me one, the Iguanas themselves were an anomaly. Then, maybe even later that year its hard to remember, I went to the stockyard my parents found the Iguanas (like a tossed salad of yard sales farmers market thrift store all in one). It was thanksgiving, and after family celebration someone had suggested it. So there I was, walking around with my best friend lamenting the fate of the cute quirky chickens in the small cages we were passing. There was a man selling items along the lines of blades and pepper spray. He also had a 20 gallon tank with a thin lining of dirt that he'd scraped from the ground. In that dirt filled tank...I saw her. Looking back now, I suppose that was the moment my life really changed course. All for her. She was so tiny, around the length of my wrist to the tip of my thumb. She was the only one. It was chilly outside and all I thought was how cold she had to be. It didn't take much to convince me, 10 minutes and $40 later I held a little container with Ripley safe inside.
What does it say about me that the only time I was really thankful I had a job was when I held that little creature in my hands? or the only reason I haven't quit the job I have now is because I have my animals to support?
The Black Friday following this life altering event was...interesting to say the least. I got a tank lights, before I learned about heat pads, hides and crickets. It cost a pretty penny, and of course after this we started finding "Starter Kits" for leopard geckos.
I was hooked. In love. Committed. I know it sounds corny, and maybe pathetic, but my world was suddenly her. I binged on knowledge, hungry to learn more and determined to do best by her. I joined my first forum for HER (www.theleopardgeckoforum.com) and later this forum for Newt. And there hasn't been a single moment of regret. Not even when I went to my FIRST EVER Reptile Convention in South Carolina, and came home with a Jungle Morph Leopard Gecko.
This Thanksgiving, Ripley will be 3 years old. It just sort of hit me, reading this little post about "What Geckos Mean to Me" on the gecko forum. I think about seeing her little smile for the first time, and it me want to cry. I am so lucky to have her.
This one little gecko has made me who I am today. No question. I liked lizards and frogs, but with her I developed a passion for reptiles. That passion made me different. No one in my family understood me, and that left me feeling alone. Despite that, my passion was strong enough to adopt a few week old bearded dragon from a Reptile Rescue that I had volunteered for before. Again, I was struck in the moment and couldn't refuse. While Ripley held me in awe of her almost dignified grace, Newt charmed me with her fierce and active personality. Even Nostromo, the darling from a breeder, won her place in my heart with her beauty and quirky paranoid nature.
I met people like me, who loved reptiles unquestionably. And with that I found the power to stand tall and say "Yeah. I love reptiles. I have three. What of it?". For too long I was meek and so much a wallflower I could easily disappear in a crowd. Now? I'm not only happy with it all, I'm proud to call myself the mama of three wonderful animals. I advertise it not caring what people will think. I am ME, and I'm finally glad I am.
Last Christmas, two of my sisters actually made me cry. I got reptile supplies. From sand to a mealworm feeder. They didn't understand, they probably never will. But they accept it because they love me. That's good enough for me.
I know this is a long post, but I had to let it out. What do gecko's mean to me? Honestly, too much for words. At least without sounding sappy and pathetic when I actually make sense. And my bearded dragon is so much a part of my life I catch myself with beardie mannerisms.
Just...thank you. All of you. Just for being here, just for making this forum. If it wasn't for your support and your simple presence I may not have made it.
I love my girls, and I love you all simply for loving your own darlings.
If there is a heaven, for me its in the eyes of my girls...
The amount of time I've spent on this forum using the search feature for my endless questions ... not to mention completely making over his viv (of course it had the dreaded sand substrate and coil 
