What got you hooked on reptiles?

[fallen_angel]

I always loved reptils ever since I was a little girl, catching frogs and bringing them home..but as far as actually owning my own...

I just walked into PetCo one night and the leopard geckos really caught my eye..it was an impulsive moment, and I decided I was going to buy one for my 18th birthday, without any other knowledge about them. I went home, read up on everything I could find, and ended up with a female albino hatchling a week or so later..

Her name was BoJangles (I was hoping she'd turn out male lol) and she would be going on 5 years old, but she passed away last year =( Needless to say, though, from her death brought more life! It was then when we were inspired to get more and breed, so we now have six adults all in honor of poor little Bo.

My fiance has also always loved reptiles...when he was a little boy, some kid brought a bearded dragon into show and tell..he remembers how the kid would carry the beardie around in his front t-shirt pocket, and (my fiance) wanted a beardie ever since...he could never get one until he started dating me because his mom hates reptiles, but he couldn't have been happier when we did...that also happened in an impulsive moment, we were just in PetCo buying crickets when we just had an urge to get a beardie! Poor little guy hasn't grown to his full potential, and the cashier dropped him the day we bought him (but at least he's in our care now)...and so we now have two beardies also, the other being a leucistic from Caliente Dragons

 

[fallen_angel]

As kids growing up on the Marine Corps Bases in 29 Palms and Camp Pendelton in Southrn California back in the '50's and 60's, we loved catching 'horny toads' and watching them eat ants, keeping snakes, collecting buckets of tiny frogs from a cow pond, and we even had a pet desert tortoise named Homer (w-a-y before the Simpsons)!

It wasn't until about 14 years ago I got my first leopard geckos after seeing one a co-worker brought in, that I became a hopeless gecko addict. I now work with 6 terrestrial gecko species!!!

That's awesome, my brother and I used to catch "horny toads" too!! We lived in Lancaster, CA at the time.

 

[Baker14]

Ive always had an interest in animals. As a little kid I was never scared of bugs or reptiles and always liked toplay with the lizards and frogs I caught outside. I live next to a forest, so I would always see tortoises and snakes. I cant really remember why I got leopards, but I did and here I am now!

 

[fallen_angel]

I'm really starting to feel like we're all in some sort of meeting for being hopelessly addicted reptile enthusiasts

 

[leatherneck]

My uncle got me started in 94. First reptile was a Yellow Rat Snake.

 

[Rejoice in the Lord]

As kids growing up on the Marine Corps Bases in 29 Palms and Camp Pendelton in Southrn California back in the '50's and 60's, we loved catching 'horny toads' and watching them eat ants, keeping snakes, collecting buckets of tiny frogs from a cow pond, and we even had a pet desert tortoise named Homer (w-a-y before the Simpsons)!

It wasn't until about 14 years ago I got my first leopard geckos after seeing one a co-worker brought in, that I became a hopeless gecko addict. I now work with 6 terrestrial gecko species!!!

My mom 's about your age. She and her brothers grew up on the desert too, and caught horny toads, and just about everything else that lives out there, including rattlesnakes.

Then she moved east, and when I was born, she started handing me little snakes and lizards and frogs as soon as I was big enough to hold them without squishing them.

I got my first leo from my brother-in-law. He decided that I needed a pet to keep me entertained. When they looked into the different kinds of lizards, and found out that leos were both small and handlable, they got me my first leo for Christmas.

I knew nothing about them at the time. I just followed the sparse instructions given by the pet store. By the time I realized that something was wrong with my little friend, it was too late to save her life. However, leo fever had struck. After learning a bit more and putting together a suitable home, I now have two happy healthy leopard geckos :main_thumbsup:

 

[Tommy13b]

Well in 5th grade, we had a progect to raise anole's well i did so good she let me take one home, lasted about 2 years then i was watching animal planet one night saw them and looked them up. then forgot about them for a year then got one for my birthday this year lol.

 

[Drunvalo]

i got my first pair of leopard geckos when i was 9 or 10 from my aunt. we drove with them for like 200 miles back to our house, i put them on my dresser, and my mom took care of them for about 2 years (come on, i was 10). at about 12, i really started getting into taking care of them. at 13 i started breeding them and only got 1 hatchling for that summer. also when i was 13 i stayed up all night making a cage for an iguana i wanted. the cage was just like a cardboard box with some dishes and stuff. since i was doing real well with my geckos my dad went out and bought me an iguana and he and my brother built a cage for it. i still have that guy, now he's 4-5 feet and i have no desire to get rid of him (or her? i don't know). after that it was a few turtles (which i later found out were being sold illegally, haha) some western fence lizards i caught at my aunt's house, and alot more leos. i'm still not satisfied.

 

[david13]

looks like we all had an outside influence give us a push!

amen

 

[Freemankind]

When i was in 2nd grade my dad took me to the pet store to pick somthing out. I had the choice of daog, cat, fish, birds anything. Before going i already knew i wanted a snake tho. When we got there I wanted the Green tree python, but thsoe were too much, and we were told they aren't friendly so my dad suggested a ball python or Boa because he had some when he was younger and knew they were nice snakes. So i picked out 2 male and female of course, even as a kid i knew my guy needed a girlfriend. My dad bought himself a redtail boa and we set home. 4 months later we had 22 king/corn snakes, garter/garden, all W.C for study purposes (i remember my dad having some kind of permit). Anyways he gave most away to people who had large areas of land in the places they were caught. I never really understood why we got rid of the python and boa because i was in 4th grade when they disappeared. We also had a 6.5 foot redtail boa a few years after we took in on a rescue, she was nice but too much upkeep for a 6th grader. We had some leo's then too but i was more interested in the snakes at that age. I got more snakes in college but the ones i took in were very aggressive and i could tell they weren't to well handeled by the previous owner. So i gave them away to someone who was more patient then I and wanted them more for display then handeling. So i was talking to my Girlfriend about all this and showed here the geckos online. Month and a half later, now we have 4. I love animals so much, especially the ones no one else seems to care for. I think they would be more popular if people didn't see or thinkg of them as "soulless lil creatures that'll do nuthing but kill and eat"

 

[thegeckoguy]

Ive always loved animals but reptiles really caught my eye. As a kid(younger, since i still am one! lol) i would catch frogs and toads at my grandmas. When i got older i would catch snakes. My first reptile pet was a baby beardie. I was like 5 and didnt know their care, neither did my parents. It ended up dying. For my 11th birthday i got a ball pyhton which started it all. After the ball was a corn, then a house gecko. Then the leopard geckos hit me.....I got a male tremper hybino. Then a few months later i got a female tremper albino giant. Then came the eggs....the first clutch was infertile. But now at the age of 13 i have succesfully bred my leos. I had my first ever egg hatch last wednesday with 1 egg in incubation. I currently have 4 leos(more to come soon), 1 ball, and 1 corn.

 

[mmsi1002]

After my dog passed away in Jan 2007, i vowed to never get another dog to replace her. After a few months i missed having a pet but had to keep my word. I wandered into a reptile shop in the town i was working in & after 4 or 5 trips getting info i put a deposit on a bearded dragon & a whole setup. He was so cool & friendly & full of personality i couldn't believe that lizards could be such.........individuals. I went to my 1st reptile show a few months later & after a long chat with Franks Geckos i came home with my 1st leo, a tangerine, jungle, rainwater. Here i am a year later with 2.3 leos & a beardie & new "friends" coming home after every single repile show in white plains!!! Anyways.......that's my story. Thanks Frank for getting me hooked!

 

[godzillizard]

As a toddler, Kermit the frog was my idol By age 4, I knew I was going to be a "frog-farmer" when I grew up...

As of now, I keep and breed over 150 geckos of 6 different species. but I only have one frog

 

[eric]

Hell ya!!! Kermit rocks... kermit thee frog here!! lol (its a muppet thing) i think i learned my ABC's from him...A is for alligator B is for bayou C is for crocodile who swims in the swamp......LOL!!!