Alusdra
New Member
- Messages
- 475
- Location
- Washington, DC
I can beat 13 for sure- I have two that I got from a guy on Craigslist almost a year ago now that he had had for 15 years, bought as adults from a pet store. So they are at least 16 years old, who knows for sure? The male has some opacity to his eyes but his vision is fine. The female has no problems whatsoever- she's my biggest gecko. Both of them are my best eaters. I am so so happy that I got to adopt them! It's like having my first gecko back again, sort of. Were she still alive she would be the same age, and the pattern! I despaired for a bit of ever seeing a true 'wild type' gecko again. The ones sold by breeders look nothing like a normal gecko at all. They are high yellows at the very least, if not super hypos, or tangerines, or bananas, or aberrant or something. Not normals anyway. Having truly normal, wild-type geckos again makes me smile every day. Ah, nostalgia... Plus the personalities are so great. Both the old guys are such sweat hearts. The younger one of my geckos is, the more of a pain in the butt. Maybe they mellow with age, maybe they're too inbred (I know the 8 year olds are- the parents were siblings, and my youngest has all sorts of deformities so I wouldn't be surprised), maybe I am completely biased. I'm just crazy happy to have old guys (possibly even wild caught) again. I mean- spots! Thank the gods, SPOTS! (Yes, I know snows have a lot of spots, but the number of morphs that are a solid color completely depresses me).
Well, rant over I guess...
My two next oldest are almost 9 now, which apparently counts a la this thread. I helped to breed and hatch them and took care of their parents, all of whom were over 5, likely more towards 10, or even older themselves (though I don't remember exactly, if I ever knew- I vaguely recall them being about the same age as mine at the time, so in the 8-12 range). The one had MBD as a youngster (lesson on not to leave geckos with one's parents in the formative months) and the other is somewhat finicky on her food, but they are both still very active and healthy.
My first gecko lived to be ~10, though I'm not sure exactly, as I got her when I was really young, like 7-9 years old, but she lived until I was a senior in high school. At the end it was like you were describing- she refused to eat no matter what I tried and ended up wasting away, getting MBD and dying. I was devastated and I kick myself for not taking her to a vet, but that was a while ago. Perhaps no one would have even have seen her? Probably the care she got from the PhD in geckos (and breeder of my 8 year olds) was as good as it was going to get...
Here's a pic of the 16+ year old male, hanging out on my desk the other day. What a cutie.
Well, rant over I guess...
My two next oldest are almost 9 now, which apparently counts a la this thread. I helped to breed and hatch them and took care of their parents, all of whom were over 5, likely more towards 10, or even older themselves (though I don't remember exactly, if I ever knew- I vaguely recall them being about the same age as mine at the time, so in the 8-12 range). The one had MBD as a youngster (lesson on not to leave geckos with one's parents in the formative months) and the other is somewhat finicky on her food, but they are both still very active and healthy.
My first gecko lived to be ~10, though I'm not sure exactly, as I got her when I was really young, like 7-9 years old, but she lived until I was a senior in high school. At the end it was like you were describing- she refused to eat no matter what I tried and ended up wasting away, getting MBD and dying. I was devastated and I kick myself for not taking her to a vet, but that was a while ago. Perhaps no one would have even have seen her? Probably the care she got from the PhD in geckos (and breeder of my 8 year olds) was as good as it was going to get...
Here's a pic of the 16+ year old male, hanging out on my desk the other day. What a cutie.
