My New Little Lady!

[LukesMom]

I went and picked up my first ever female gecko today! Got her from TGS Cresties in Olympia, WA. They held her for me for over a month until I could make some room for her, and I FINALLY got to bring her home today! I'm so excited, she's beautiful and I absolutely adore her. She's none to happy with me at the moment, there was lots of tail shaking while I weighed her and put her into her new home, but she settled into the back corner for a nap fairly quickly. I didn't get GREAT pictures because I didn't want to stress her but I had to take a few, I was just too excited. She's 3 years old, 42 grams, and the gal said she normally fires up sort of a brindle-y olive color.

Everyone, meet Ellie!

[aalbertson3]

Congrats on the new addition!

[elbee]

I LOVE her!

[LukesMom]

Thank you! She is nooooot happy with me just yet, she's VERY skittish any time I fuss in or around the tank. She hung off the ceiling gaping at me yesterday. Neither of my boys were this bad when I brought them home. Does she just have a different personality or is it possible she's extra stressed because she's gravid? She was bred to a male earlier this year and it is my understanding that they were tank mates up until I picked her up Monday.

[that_girl]

If you got her two days ago, I would guess the skittishness you are seeing has to do with her adjusting. Reptiles sometimes take a few weeks to adjust to a new home.

I doubt she's extra stressed just because she's a female and is possibly gravid. Most of my laid back females are even sweeter when they are egg heavy. Each gecko is more of an individual, no gender/temperament correlations have been made yet as far as I know. I've owned some crazy males and females, and sweet, laid-back males and females.

[FaaFaa]

She is so pretty! Congratulations on her!

[LukesMom]

Update: She laid eggs for me yesterday morning! I've never dealt with eggs before, but after looking at some pictures online I think they're fertile. I'm not seeing a cheerio just yet (I read it takes up to a week to spot it if you're a novice) but there are definitely a large red vein going along the side of each egg. I don't know if they're well-calcified or not, they have rough patches on them and one is "squishier" than the other.

I was worried she was lacking calcium because her tail looked a little wavy and her sacs were non-existent, but I was told that may just be the result of dehydration and being mid-season. I gave her a cap of calcium powder and she's been eating it, so I'm excited about that! She's been hiding a lot but I don't blame her, she's had a stressful week.

Tonight we're going to try crickets for the first time (no idea if she's had any before) but I'm also gut loading them for the first time ever. I gave the crickets the old CGD from both gecko tanks and they LOVE it! I spent half an hour watching them all eat, it was fascinating. I'm seeing crickets in a whole new light, they're almost cute!

All in all, she's doing great, and I'm loving having her!