Introducing Citrus the Leo

The gecko was a hand-me-down pet who first came to my family two years ago when his owners needed someone to pet-sit for three months while they vacationed in China. My mother, thinking that she had three grown children who could handle the responsibility, brought him home. With my two younger brothers indifferent to our little guest, the task of caring for him soon fell to me.

From the beginning, it seemed a bit odd that the only instructions we had were to feed him ten waxworms every three days. I found recourse in the internet, which told me 1) what his species is, 2) what temperature to set the undertank heat pad (it was a good thing that I had noticed its existence or Citrus would never have lived to star in this blog), and 3) everything else about taking care of a leopard gecko. Since then, I have been able to gather bits and pieces of his history, mainly through my mother since I have never had the occasion to meet his previous owners.

This lizard is, as I like to put it, a "designer" gecko -- bred specially for his skin and eye colors, and temperament. Though he only cost in the neighborhood of $300, already a significant mark-up from the $50 ones from the local pet store, it's a far cry from those priced at $3000 (for example: http://www.westcoastleopardgecko.com/). I have stared long and hard at pictures of Raptors and Super Tangerines, but have never quite figured out which breed Citrus is -- they all look orange to me. When he was acquired, this gecko was nominally the pet of a young man who didn't have time to take care of the lizard anymore. Besides, he isn't the most dynamic pet and is quite lethargic, which is typical for his species. And that young man, at 24, foisted his reptilian charge upon his mother, who eventually found the gecko a new caretaker: me.

When the gecko showed up at the bottom of my parents' staircase in July of 2009, he didn't even have a name.

Meet Citrus.

Citrus, 4, July 2009