The Geckos

I work in a zoo by day, but what do I unwind with when I go home? I take care of more animals, of course! In my home, I care for my favorite species of lizards, geckos, and some skink species as well. 

My very first reptile was a green Anole. Although husbandry needs weren't well known or practiced at that time, "Gizard" lived more than 3 years in my care. He accompanied me throughout the home in my hair, assisting me in scaring my family and helping me be distracted from homework. My love for herps and all that crept and crawled was well documented throughout my childhood, but Gizard was truly my first lizard love. I still think of that little male with admiration. If I knew then what I know now, he would live an outstandingly enriched captive lifestyle. It is what we owe to them for being our captive counterparts, afterall.

My first geckos were gifts almost 10 years ago, long before I was a full time and salaried zoo keeper. Hardy and inquisitive, Leopard Geckos are the fire that ignited my current situation. Through trials and errors, I was able to learn about health, diseases, parasites, cleaning, dietary needs, and of course behavior. To the time of this post, I still own my first gecko, Multan. She lives on my desk, in an enclosure full of climbing, hiding and resting places. Her tail is fat, and when she claws the glass at me, I take her out to explore. 

When I first visited my family in West Palm, I happened by a pet store and was instantly drawn to the alien-like appearance of the Crested Gecko. I took one with me, and began the quest of finding out everything I could about this species. The variance of appearance, the texture of the skin (feels like a Tuatara, or a marshmallow for those who have never felt this rare reptile), and the vocalizing all are things I find most attractive about them. In time I sold most of my leopard geckos and moved to Florida from South Carolina. I began breeding Crested Geckos, and fell deeper in love with all things Rhacodactylus (and Correlophus and Mniarogekko). Breeding brought more knowledge, that I have been even able to bring with me to the zoo. The beauty of a healthy gecko, is that it is one that will create more healthy offspring for you to enjoy. Selling neonates to others that love the species allows me to buy more toys and food and enrichment items for my ever growing gecko family!

At the present time, I keep 7 species of geckos and 2 species of skinks. While I would not describe myself as the expert of this genera, I do find myself mastering this art more every day, and my knowledge is great. Years of experience continue to grow. I love my geckos! I hope that sharing this love with others will inspire them to be tolerant or even adore these amazing creatures.

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." ~Albert Einstien

The small miracles, being able to share my home and job with reptiles, is what makes my heart sing. It's what makes me wake up in the morning with joy and purpose to keep me going all day. To a reptile in my home, a miracle may simply be the acceptance of a crunchy insect or the mental stimulation from a new behavior learned.

As an experiment in my own home, I decided to train one of my own pocket alligators,  my Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps) "Lola". Being that Lola is a member of the suborder Lacertilia, I know that her relatives and ancestors were shrewd hunters, capable of a vast array of social behaviors, communication through vocalization and behaviors, and even the occasional ability to build strong family bonds. Lola shares an ability with these ancestors to problem solve, and her personality is docile and attentive. She has exactly what it takes to be a good training subject.

The steps of training, or operant conditioning, are all the same with any species. Each week, while feeding Lola invertebrates, I would pull her to a small plastic storage bin away from her usual home. I began to slowly introduce her to a plastic pen. The end of this pen became her "target". Target training is a favorite tool of animal caretakers everywhere. It's a simple base line behavior that the animal can quickly relate to. Touch snout to target, receive reward. Lola at first eyed the pen as a food item. It took her a lick or two to realize that the pen did not produce the crickets. By the end of the first week, Lola learned to not lick the pen, but stare at it until a cricket was flicked into the bin with her. Week two was somewhat better in that she recognized that the bin was a feeding place. Lola eyed me expectantly, and ignored the target wholeheartedly while waiting for me to give her food. I took the target and touched her snout with it. I used the bridge "good girl" while flicking a cricket to her. Once two food items had been eaten, Lola was less excitable, and was able to stare at the target when I touched it to her nose. Three sessions later, Lola was allowing herself to walk to the target's vicinity and was waiting for crickets to fall in. This animal had learned to target less than three weeks after introducing her to it! Although it would take many more weeks to shape the behavior to a reliable one, Lola taught me, just as an Alligator or two had before, that reptiles are quick to learn.  

Teaching the world how intelligent these animals are is my life goal. Every time I touch someone with a story of these animal's abilities or help someone to see that there is more to these animals than just instincts or pea brains, I witness a miracle. 

I have many friends ask me why I find reptiles fascinating. There are many factors, but one of my favorite reasons is how successful these creatures are. Reptiles have been on Earth for over 275 million years, and are incredible survivors. The adaptability and ability for them to go on, many of them unchanged, for so long, makes them some of the most intriguing creatures around. Reptiles are found on every continent except Antartica. There are rattlesnakes found at extreme elevations of 16,000 feet in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia, as well as Seaturtles that are able to create heat in their bodies from muscular activity as they dive to extreme depths of over 2,000 feet.

Although I could go on forever about how amazing this class of animals are, my true passion in life revolves around crocodilians. Of course, they are amazing in their own regard. They are the largest members of the Reptile Class. They have a four chambered heart (most reptiles have three). They also are now finding out through DNA and behavioral studies that they are mainly monogamous and are great parents. However, my favorite thing about crocodilians, and Gators particularly, are their ability to form bonds with a natural enemy-me. Of all of the animals that I have cared for, it is no secret that I have a very good rapport with the gators I know. These lumbering beasts have a weakness for a soft spoken blonde. It makes me think that as much as we now know about these animals, that we have so much more to learn. When I am not even training our White Alligator, and he is on land, I will talk to him about my daily nonsense, and his eyes will dilate. His whole body relaxes. This is not a normal response for him when I am not around. He has been known to lunge and hiss at other members of staff, especially men. What could our unlikely friendship mean for Crocodilian kind? I ask myself this often, and hope that we will be able to at least learn more about them, before some of the members of Crocodylia dissapear from our earth completely. I say a prayer for them as often as I can. It will take divine intervention to keep our crocs, and many other of our keystone predators alive to see the next century.

Tough day at the office

In this line of work, there are days that you are tried for patience, even when you have carefully worked daily on honing this skill. Patience is hands down the reason why I can work as a reptile trainer. Can I wait 20 minutes for a 900 pound alligator to walk up a waterfall? Absolutely. I did not see this one coming.

The other day, while training one of my favorite species, our bachelor group of four Broad Snouted Caimans, I was talking softly to the most rediculous creature of the lot, Jose. Jose is on the bottom tier of dominace among these hulking 6-7 foot dragons. Caimans can lunge out of the water and swing back and forth, with the worst aim of all crocs. Today, however, the air is beginning to cool a bit, and the Caimans are moving slightly slower and with more purpose. Jose gently takes a rat, and I think, "what a clever boy, so gentle." Before I can let this thought sink in, he snaps off the aluminum top jaw to the feeding tongs I was using.

Thirty minutes later, after talking my sweet Jose onto land, we have caught the beast in a catch pole, somehow finessed a 4 inch diameter piece of PVC into his jaws, and various vet staff members and other animal care staff with long arms are trying their luck at extracting the metal piece. There is nothing found in his belly, so he is swept off in a flurry of reptile and vet staff members to our state of the art hospital for radiographs. The results showed that Jose, while waiting for me to come back and capture him, had regurgitated not only the metal piece, but both of the jumbo rats he had eaten at feeding time. The lesson I learned that day is, while it is important to check your animals for obstructions, the Caiman is still truely a wild and incredible creature who can take care of himself. I also learned that I will be buying new tongs in the near future.

Sounds of the forest

Since I was small, I was enchanted by nocturnal ectotherms. Cicadas, hylids, geckos-anything that goes chirp in the night. As an adult, I began keeping them in planted terrariums in my room. I am a light sleeper, and nothing is more beautiful to hear than Malayan Leaf Frogs with their metallic honk as you drift to sleep, or the squeaks and chirps of Rhacodactylus geckos courting, while a summer storm is growling in the distance. Summer is my favorite, as this marks the height of when most ectotherms are in full musical bloom.

I may never do field work in an exotic country, but as long as I have my beautiful forest of music, I feel connected to nature. What have you done to stay close to the fields, forests or oceans?