So, we don’t have just one gecko, we now have TWO ~ sort of…

Zach’s gecko came into our house courtesy of the US Postal service. I was unsure how this whole shipping an animal through the post office was going to work and I was more than skeptical of the whole process once the package arrived. Zach wasn’t home so it was up to Claire and me to unpack the crested gecko. We kept the box upright, as we read on the packaging. I slit the tape on the top of the box, undid the lid to see a styrofoam box tightly packed inside the box. I pulled off the lid and was greeted by a nest of styrofoam peanuts. Claire and I rummaged through the peanuts, finding a small plastic container with a tiny, orange, crested gecko. My first reaction was to pull back. It looked like a creature from the days of the dinosaurs…think Jurassic Park. My second reaction was “Is it DEAD?” How the hell could it breath? It was so tightly packed I had NO idea how it survived but survive it did. As soon as the light hit the box it started moving around in its plastic container. Claire and I took it to its cage and set it inside where it promptly made itself at home, crawling into the leaves Zach placed in its cage.

I have been won over by this cool little creature with big eyes set on the side of a large head, its little body with a long tail that wraps around your finger and its sticky feet that allow it to walk on glass and jump from place to place with amazing agility.

Both Lucas and Claire have been won over too. Lucas was so won over he went out and bought one for himself. He didn’t order it from “Geckos ‘R Us” like his brother. He needed immediate gratification so he got Stan to take him to PetCo and bought one for himself…the cage, the gecko, the rigging ~ all from his lawn mowing money. He’s so proud of the new addition to his room.

But Houston, we have a problem…

The problem began this morning when Lucas got up and couldn’t find the gecko he named Ricardo…he/she is no where to be found inside the cage. The lid was clamped down and Ricardo was in his glassed in world when Lucas went to bed. We’ve got a gecko to find….

I’ll keep you posted on the status of one gecko in our house or two. Let’s hope Ricardo surfaces soon. Let’s hope he’s hiding somewhere inside the fake log Lucas bought for his home of glass. Keep your fingers crossed that we find the cute, little creature who became part of our world when Lucas brought it home from the store.

Oh, for the love of my children…