Cricket

About a year ago Madeline decided she was going to save up her money for a TV for her room. Six months later we convinced her it was just not an option (no cable outlet, no Xbox or similar for streaming movies, which is what she wanted it for, etc.). So she has continued to sock her money away and refused to spend it, sure that she would come up with something she wanted. Every time she would say she wanted something (a motorized scooter, a new bike, etc.) I told her she had the money to buy it herself, and she'd say, "Well, I don't want it that much."

Six weeks ago she came running out of her room, "Mom! I got it! Can I use my money to buy a leopard gecko?" Kolby and I told her that if she proved to us that she was a responsible pet owner with the three pets we already have, then she could. So she was an angel about scooping poop, feeding the dog, letting the furry things out and back in, etc. (always making sure we knew that she was doing these things). And in the meantime she checked out every book her school library had about geckos and leopard geckos, read up on it on the internet, and made lists of the supplies she would need.

And we finally gave in. We found a listing on Craigslist where someone was selling all of their supplies for their leopard gecko. And after picking up the supplies, we stopped by the pet store and she picked out her new friend.

Meet Cricket (named after her food--"you are what you eat, right Mom?") These photos were taken about a week after we got her. We woke up one morning and Maddie said that Cricket's color was looking more dull so she was going to start shedding. Sure enough, when Maddie got home from school Cricket had shed most of her skin, with just some stubborn pieces left on her feet and head.

Look closely in the photo below--you can see her licking her eyeball. What a talented leopard gecko!

And this is her set-up. The weird rock thing is two halves with magnets--so it gives her a good "hide" but we can pull the half off the outside of the terrarium to take a peak without disturbing her. This is very important to Madeline because she's afraid Cricket will drop her tail if she wakes up to a cat staring in at her. (I'm sure she wouldn't. She doesn't seem too concerned about the weird lady with a camera pointed at her).

So much for my "no more pets" rule.

About five minutes after I posted this blog entry, I heard Madeline screaming at Mango for sleeping on top of the terrarium. I love cats.