Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I used to catch wood frogs at my grandparents house, so then I got a cuban tree frog when i was 6. It died when he was 8, and so I wanted another herp. I got my leo like 5 months ago, and I'm already getting another in late september. Later
Mac

I got into herps when I was 6..there was a man at the grocery store down the road from me holding a burmese python. He let me pet it, and I fell in love. I also used to catch anoles near my house and try to keep them as pets, lol. I had over 100 at one point.
After moving from La to Idaho, my interested died down a bit, and then my brother got some sort of plated skink, it was pretty cool but my mom made him give it away b/c she said it stank.

And then I moved to Alabama and had no interest at all b/c I never saw any reptiles there. My interest didnt pick up again until I moved from Alabama to San Antonio and met my fiance who had 2 iguanas (the meanest little beasts Id ever seen, LOL).
I was pretty fond of them, but had to sell them when I found out I was pregnant b/c of the fear they would bite him.
After that I pretty much got into all reptiles; I owned quite a few..my first snake ever was a ball python which I still have, she is now almost 4 years old. Ive had garter snakes, ribbon snakes, various colubrids, blue tongue skinks, more Iguanas, beardies, uromastyx, swifts, spiny lizards, etc.
It wasnt until about Dec. 2002 that I got my first leopard geckos. I bought 2 at the reptile show for $30, but it turned out they werent as healthy as I thought and died not long after that. And now here I am with 24 leopard geckos and having a BALL! I have to admit..they are truly my favorite. I would much rather have leos than a dog!! hehe. I wouldnt trade them for the world, and I know id keep them all if I could, but the man says some HAVE to go!

Anyway, sorry for the long post..but thats my story

Thanx,
Crystal Light
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Crystal Light
~The Gecko Barn~
thegeckobarn.no-frills.net

that should be 24 ..sorry
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Crystal Light
~The Gecko Barn~
thegeckobarn.no-frills.net

I guess the plus sign doesnt show up here...24 PLUS..there! LOL
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Crystal Light
~The Gecko Barn~
thegeckobarn.no-frills.net

I just caught frogs and anoles since I was 4-ish and it grew from there. Maybe at around 8 or 9 I started to keep brown anoles and in middle school I found some strange tree frogs and kept those a while. This past year I moved to a different college and started finding some wild treefrogs (green, squirrel, and Cuban) and started learning more about their care. Now I've just got a bunch of animals and am changing my major to biology/zoology/herpetology.
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

Ive loved herps since i was a kid but never had one. my wife found a tiny gecko (1/2"long) in our house. i tried keeping it about a week but didnt think it was eating so i released it. that got me going. got a Tokay(love them) and then wanted one i could handle, Albino leo and a AFT. then i needed mates, one more AFT and Two leos. then two more tokays. and im still going, you can tell by my signature.
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My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.6 Tokays
1.4.4 Leos(7 albino)
0.2.0 AFT's
0.2.0 Stenodactylus Petrii(Dune Geckos)

I first started catching herps. when i was about 5. Since i live in connecticut, there are very few lizards up here so i mainly stuck to catching frogs and some snakes. When my family and i would go down to South Carolina to visit friends, i was in seventh heaven with all the anoles and skinks that live down there. I would get up bright and early in the morning (about 6 o'clock) and go outsdie with my butterfly net and catch lizards all day.
My first herps i ever had were to green anoles when i was in first grade. They survived for 5 years. After the anoles, i got my leo when i was 10 who is still with me today. Since then i have expanded my collection to a ball python and 2 african water frogs. I soon hope to get a few more leos so i can start breeding them. So thats my story on how i got into herps.

Keith S

what a coincidence, im listening to tame right now. actually, just went to wave of mutilation.
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your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

if you have AIM, IM me at chichandoCONrosa (i changed my SN)

Lol, which album, Doolittle?
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

yes, doolittle.
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your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

if you have AIM, IM me at chichandoCONrosa (i changed my SN)

i love all animals, and always read books and such. i always liked the way tokays looked, but my mom new a reptile expert who told her they were mean. luckily he suggested leopard geckos and i got a pair on my 13th birthday. about a month later i got a male and attempted to breed. completly failed. i didnt know about the breeding wieghts, my books were terribly outdated, and both females got egg bound and died.
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your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

if you have AIM, IM me at chichandoCONrosa (i changed my SN)

i was the kid who was always down at the pond catching frogs or tutles and snakes, now i grew up and im the kid who
BUYS lizards and snakes and frogs....lol
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'the dragon does not concern himself with the grasshopper.'

I was at the pet store one day, and thought... COOL I WANT ONE (anoles of course). knowing nothing of them after i bought them, i read web page after web page after web page. i have kept them good for over a month now... well, the male... i only got the female like 4 days ago... shes doping well... and now... I WANT A LEO...lol i want something i can hold and stuff... thanks every1!!!!!!!
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Thanks,
Matt

Oh dear, I'm so the nerd at the lake with a flashlight... And at the petstores asking away, possibly annoying employees, too.
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

i met this girl and we hung out for a bit... wait you said "herps"
lol
I have pretty much the same story as everyone else, grew up catching frogs/sallies/snakes (no lizards in nova scotia)

a couple of years ago i got a leo after watching a friend who had one for 3-4 years before. then i was hooked! now i have 9 leos and a marbled gecko
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It seems everyone got into HERPS by seeing them in the wild, and then wanting to have one as a pet. I wish my mom would let me get more, right now I just have one leo but im getting another in a month or two. I dunno how some poeple do it, my parents wont let me get more than 2 even though they love them (that makes sense, or not) Later

Ever since i was like 4 i loved frogs. I would catch a toad and think it was the coolest thing on earth. Then my mom said i could get a FB toad if i finished something in school well i got three and then ever since i wanted something more so it kinda went from there. I pay for all the food and the cages and everything for all my herps i love them so much! My mom always reminds me that i have a really cool mom cause she lets me have all this stuff lol! well thats my story, Katie
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Owner of 1.2 Leopard Geckos, 3.0 Fire Belly Toads, 0.0.3 Treefrogs, 1.1 Bahaman Anoles 1.0 Japanese Fire Belly Newt
and 0.0.1 Turtle "GOT-A-LUV-UM"

Well i was just about into every type of animal, mammals, birds, insects, but not too into reptiles, i would occaisonly catch frogs and garter snakes here and there when i went camping. But then one of my closest friends took me to Port Credit Pet Centre, saw all sorts of reptiles and since then i've been hooked and of course i started with anoles lol. I got bored of them and decided to take it to another level and purchased a fire skink (i was dying to get one, it was the first lizard i saw when i walked into the store). Since i got that fire skink my collection is now 0.0.1 Fire skink, 0.4 Leos, 0.1 Beardy and i'm saving up for a tegu. Well thats my story lol. take it eZ
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Just Another Herp Crazy Person

0.4.0 Leopard Geckos - Lea, Cleo, Aurora, Echo [2 eggs cooking]
0.1.0 Bearded Dragon - Luna
0.0.1 Fire Skink - Blaze

Guess I've always liked them. My grandpa used to bring me baby turtles and snakes he would find (he still does and I'm 25, he's in his 80's). Started keeping turtles first, then went from there. I have a picture of me at 8 years old, holding a black rat snake I had caught. It was between 6 and 7 feet. I was standing on the third step of the porch holding it above my head and its tail was still touching the ground. First herp I ever bought was a baby burmese when I was 18. Mom lost a bet so I got to get a snake (she doesn't care for snakes). I moved out a few months after I got it, and I think she missed the snake more than me. Since then, I have aquired a small zoo.

Wow,
that’s a good question hope everyone likes to read cause it’s a long answer. Well first of all I was also the kid who ran around catching animals of all kinds, bringing home stray cats, catching everything from snakes to crayfish. It's a wonder I'm not dead as I didn't care if it was poisonous or not.
I joined the Army and have been in for over 17 years now. I have been a US Army Ranger for 15 of them. If any of you know about Rangers we have that rep for being snake eaters, and generally crazy. I am currently a Ranger Instructor in FL. We have the privilege of being one of the only poisonous reptile licensed teams in our area. So now I go out and catch water moccasins, diamond backs, and copper heads, as well as all the non poisonous species. Even got to meet Steve Irwin (Look at that snake she's gorgeous!) Anyway I have got to travel all around the world I even had two desert lizard companions my first time in Iraq. I made an impromptu cage out of an old medic kit and they stayed with me through the duration of the war. I really hated to let them go when I rotated back home. I also had a wild leo in Afghanistan. At the time I knew nothing about them or if it was male or female (named it Krull). I found out about captive leos from a buddy of mine in Delta Force, who has raised them for some time. I have 3 boys, who like their dad catch everything in site(although I have taught mine how to recognize poisonous and non-poisonous animals) I really don't like keeping wild caught animals, they seem to lose their spirit, so I am now attempting to keep captive bred leos, My whole family loves them, including my wife. It is also a chance to do some things with my boys, and to teach them how to care for animals.
Wow, that was longer than I intended. Just let me say in closing, I thank all of you on here for your posts you have helped me with my leos more than you know. I hope to get to know a lot of you in the future. Special thanks to Marcia at golden Gate Geckos, an awesome lady with tons of advice.
Hope I didn't bore anyone (ZZZzzzz) LOL

Tim
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LEOs: 3.2.0
2 High Yellows (Barney and Betty);2 Hypo Tangerines(Bam-bam and Pebbles); 1. Rescued Normal (Shleprock) more on the way
5 Eggs cookin
BEARDIES 1.0.0
Snow and Yellow (Fred)

caught snakes when I was a kid, got bit by a rattler when I was 10, got bit b another when I was 13, and another when I was 17. I guess you can say that herps are just in my blood! I've always been fascinated by animals, and reptiles were ALWAYS the object of my main interest. I've just never been able to, or even thought about buying and maybe breeding until about 8 months ago. So a month ago I bought my first 2 leos (the OLD one if my girlfriend's, she got me into leos!)...

Kev
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Kev
1.1.0 Tang Leopard Geckos: Marley, Mary
1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko: Toad
0.1.0 Colombian Rainbow Boa: Rambo