Friday, July 15, 2011

Princess Echo


I found a tiny Mediterranean Gecko in our bathtub today.
I quickly plugged the drain so it wouldn't getting away before I could show Serenity.

She was so excited and climbed in the tub with the gecko to gently touched it.
She immediately asked to keep it.
I wasn't expecting that, but I wasn't totally against the idea.

So I got online to find out a little information about them:

They are considered a harmless invasive species that probably originally came from Southern Europe.
They like man-made places to sleep, hide, hunt, and lay their eggs - usually 1 or 2 at a time.

Image from: Journals of an Amateur Naturalist


The eggs are tiny
and similar to birds' eggs, only much smaller:

Image from: DFW Urban Wildlife


The geckos are most active at night, and are attracted to the light around your house where bugs gather.
They feed mainly on small roaches, crickets, flies, mosquitoes, moths and spiders.
I'd like an army of these little critters to keep us pest-free!

Image from: Biological Ramblings


A Mediterranean gecko's tail will detach just like a lizard's tail when it needs to escape a predator.
And also just a like a lizard, it will regenerate a new one after a while.

Image from: Flickr


Unlike most lizards, the Mediterranean gecko will vocalize by squeaking and/or chirping which is probably territorial, fighting, and/or breeding noises.
To hear the sounds they make, click here.

Pretty cool!

During the day and around a light source, they are sorta pinkish-looking, but at night they get darker.

Hmmm....

Looks like it would make a good little pet for a 4 year old, but if it's not doing well in the next couple of days I plan to release it.

My hubby took Serenity to Wal-Mart and bought one of those little $5 reptile habitats.
A
pink habitat!

When they got home we gathered a few things to make a home for it:

Tiny pebbles
Small rocks
PVC elbow
Plastic cap from a jar
Water

First she put the PVC elbow in so it would have somewhere to hide and sleep, then poured in the pebbles.



Then she added the plastic cap and filled it with some pebbles and a rock.

I poured a little water into the cap.



Next she arranged the small rocks around the habitat.



Daddy carefully captured the gecko in a cup and let Serenity put it in the habitat.
She can't quite say "gecko" - it comes out sounding like "echo".
She has also decided it's a girl.


So.....



Hello Princess Echo!




Have Fun!

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3 comments:

Katie said...

What a good mom!

Faddict said...

Cute! We have these also and call them 'JingJoks', I have one that lives behind my AC unit and every night about the same time wanders out to go behind the curtain! My DD's also 4 and like's to point them out but is freaked out by the thought of touching them!
Also they eat anything, I once fed one crumbs of Bday cake!

Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking.com said...

Oh that is so sweet. She looks like she is really taking care of it well!!

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