Where did you guys get hooked on leos?

[sushikam]

Back in August last year I caught and "saved" a house lizard from being eaten by my cats. I wanted to keep it so I started researching how to keep it and somehow fell upon leopard geckos in the process. Then a few days later I went to a large pet store to get one! Then only about two months later I ordered my second one, and then this month I got one, and in a couple weeks I'll have another! It's so addictive!!

Luckily I found this site as soon as I did, though I must say, I think it had a part in getting me addicted !

 

[LeopardGeckoMom52688]

Never was into reptiles until 2 years ago when I started dating a guy whos best friend had 2 leopards and 2 afts. I fell in love. Wanted a aft but couldn't find out so my ex bought me 2 leopards. Ducky and Petrie. They are my two normal girls I wouldn't give up for the world. And then 2 went to three geckos (my aft little foot was my 3rd) and then very fast shot up to 12 leopards, and up until now only one aft until about 4 months ago. Now I have 5!

 

[Mel&Keith]

My first encounter with reptiles was one with an Anole when I was 3. It caused recurring nightmares and a phobia of pretty much all reptiles but mostly anything green. Then about 6 years ago, I fell in love with a "reptile guy". We had a Leo for about 3 months before I would touch it. The more I watched it, the more interesting I found them...and then I found out that they come in all kinds of pretty colors...but not green! LOL Now I'm a total Leo junkie.

 

[stewieleogecko]

i had a few anoles when i was younger, but they moved way to fast for me, and sadly a few got free. i went to a local pet store, and i had seen on tv about the chamelions, and that was what i wanted. i talked to the store owner, and he said that they were not that simple to keep and maintain, and he shown me my first leopard gecko, baby. she was around a year old, and was either a normal or high yellow. when she first looked into my eyes, and i seen that beautiful leo grin, i was sold. a couple of years later, at a feed and seed store of all places, i seen a sign for "lizards for sale", so i went back and looked. it was 3 juvenile leos, none over 6-8 months old, one with a stubby tail, all were high yellow, one had a lot of lavender coloration. i wanted them but i couldn't afford them. i came home from school (this has been a few years ago), i had an early birthday present-all 3 leos! a couple of weeks later, i was awoken with some rustling in one of the cages, apparently two of the 3 leos were male, so i seperated. unfortunately i have lost those 4 geckos, my first one went first. i was devistated, and didnt want to see another gecko, but around last august, my girlfriend and i went into petsmart to get her dog some food, and i just went by the reptile cages, and looked. one of the workers came by and asked if i needed anything, and i asked about their leo geckos, and she showed me a blizzard male they had, but she said, "he's mean though, i don't recommend him, but if you are looking for another adult leopard gecko, i have one in the back room." i said i'd like to look, and it was instant love all over again, my albino stewie. the only information i got from them was it is a "jumbo albino gecko" which means to me that he is an adult albino, not a giant. long story short, that's how i got hooked on leos.

 

[rubym]

We got the fever just over a year ago. We were at the Indianapolis Indiana Reptile show with a couple of friends. My friends husband was getting another new snake and we were just there to look. There was a breeder that was going out of business and had the cutest little high yellows for $20 each or 2 for $30. My husband fell in love with "Leo" ( I know very unoriginal ). We bought him and the rest is history...... we seem to keep adding to the beloved little family.

 

[BettaDragon]

yeah they are kind of a "look don't touch" reptile, however, they are adorable! But, I guess that's why I'm all excited about leopard geckos now, from the pictures and videos and what not I've seen of them so far, they're loaded with personality! Definitely a ton more than the little anoles, which I guess are kinda like the "fish" of the reptile world since that's all you really can do with them is watch them. That and from what I can gather, leos are MUCH easier to keep than anoles. I had serious issues trying to keep the humidity levels up for mine.

we have anoles all over the place here where I live though, and even more in Louisiana where I grew up. So they'll probably always have a special place in my heart ^^

the ones we have wild here can get pretty big O.O

The only time mine ever had personality was when they were being mean. I had one that was a pain to take out while cleaning the tank and I ended up just poking him with a popsicle stick. When I did that he would bite the stick so hard that I could just pull him out of the tank by the stick. I had another that pooped on me once. Leos are so much more fun. I have one I trust to wander around my room a little when I'm in it. She normally doesn't go to far from me though and if I move away from her she follows me. It's cute.

 

[TokayKeeper]

my first pet lizard was a female anole I found after Hurricane Hugo went through Myrtle Beach, SC. I kept her in a little clear and green plastic bug keeper and would ride my bike around my area of the air force base with her on my hand or arm. That was 1989 and I kept anoles until 1998. I plan to get some later this year once I set up a 45 hex I have for my gf.

But this is about leos... In 1992 I was visiting my grandparents in GA. They have satelite (old kind, huge dish) and my grandmother would never show me how to change the channel. So one day I started flipping through one of her Bird Talk mags after watching a tv show and something coming on I didn't want to watch. In it was a full page ad for REPTILES mag with a tokay on it. I told my mom I wanted that gecko and then asked my grandmother if I could have the page. She said no, but she would make a copy for me. I held on to that copy until 1994. In those 2 years I read up on tokays like crazy through books I could find at the school or public libraries. In 1993 I got my first tokay and while doing some more reading I found Lizards of the World by Chris Mattison. I remember within the first 20 pages there being a vertical full-page color image of a yellow-tan and black spotted gecko. I read the caption and it said Eublepharis macularius and no common name; read some more and found out the common name. Oct 1994 would be my first issue of REPTILES mag. It featured Chinese water dragons. I flipped to the classifieds to look for leopard geckos and I think most were $50 or more plus shipping. Having gotten my tokay as a birthday present IOU, I ran to my mom and said, "would you get me one of these." I was promptly told no. LOL

Fast forward some, in Oct 1996 I was visiting a local pet store for crickets for my tokay and mice for some native snakes I had. I went back to the herp area to see a baby leopard gecko back there, $50. I called my mom back and told her I wanted it. She asked how much money I had and I told her $35. She matched the rest plus tax and the rest is history.

the leopard gecko that started it all for me, take from 2002 or 2003 I think.

Back when normals were still "normals". In Spring 1997 I got 5 sub-adult females to go with him at $25 each.

And his first born son (pic from 01)

 

[LizMarie]

Um how did I get into Leopard Gecko. I remember wanted a turtle and started doing research, which led to an online forum (similar to this but about turtles). They had a section dedicated to other herps, which includes geckos and I saw people posting pics of their geckos so I fell in love. In sophmore year of High School i bought my first one, and never got the turtle. lol

 

[GeckoStud]

We are in college and we are breeding leos. Lol. As long as you have an apartment that allows leos, I don't see why you can't bring some with you.

I will have to look into that but I think the college I'm going to makes you stay in a dorm your freshman year...

 

[Baysidegeckos]

I first got hooked when i got my First pair of Albino's from Master Piece Gecko's.

 

[lil_katiedan]

I, like most people here, have always had a love for creepy crawlies. Whenever I was younger I would catch frogs and keep them for weeks just to watch them, I thought they were so amazing...Eventually I was able to tell toad species apart by the glands on their heads and basically identify almost any frog/toad call at the local ponds. What lead me to Leopard Geckos started when I was out Turkey hunting with my dad and I caught a Black Racer and a Green Anole. The Anole didn't make it very long (something about long car rides, hmm) and so I was in the market for another lizard. It is kind of ironic though because I remember telling my mom that I would "Never get a Leopard Gecko because they sleep too much"..hahaha. Well, we see where that ended up . Anyways, I ended up researching them for months and after a long, thought out and impressively performed lecture about why I should be able to buy a pair, I convinced my parents and the addiction started. I guess it's fate, I never would've met Josh it it wasn't for these adorable little lizards. :heart:

 

[Bodon]

i work with kids and one day i took a client to petco. We were looking around and when i saw how much house geckos cost i couldn't believe how cheap they were! So i said, "i should buy one right now," and he said, "dude do it, i would!" i then explained to him that that was a bad idea and you have research what you want before you get it and all that good stuff.

So i went home and looked them up, turns out you can hold them at all, i didnt really like that. But i saw that everyone was holding their leopard geckos when i looked them up and i thought they looked so cool as babies so i decided to get one of those.

It doesn't take much, my girlfriend held mine and turned to me and said, "i love it, i want one." Last month i rescued one from petco and so i have two now but highly doubt that number will stay so low.

 

[Michelle]

I have always loved reptiles. One day I walked inot a pet shop and saw 2 normal Leo's there. I was so excited about them. I got my first 4 leo's 3 years later. I now have close to 30 (the no's change as hatchlings hatch!).

 

[Tanga]

I first got hooked onto leopard geckos after owning Anoles. Contrary to popular belief that Anoles are simple to take are of, they are really difficult as far as care is concerned. Leopard Gecko's are so much easier to care for and demand a lot less husbandry than Anoles, and the best par about leos is you can actually hold them unlike a tiny Anole!

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

i got hooked to leopard geckos in 2000-2001 when i got my first 2 normal leopard geckos(male and female) from my neighbor which he had bought from someone he knew. Before I got them I did tons of research on them and I didn't think I would own more than those 2 but come the next year when i seen reptile shows I was so excited and I went and came home with 2-3 more geckos and I can't stop the addiction to them its bad when u catch yourself drooling over the new really awesome morph for example enigmas boy what i wouldn't do to have one of those. my whole life I have loved animals even tho I have had mostly dogs but I have also owned hamsters, turtles, fish, chickens, cows, rabbits, a horse, birds. I currently own 2 dogs, 5 ferrets, 11 geckos, and 2 birds.