My youngest daughter turns 11 on Tuesday. She wanted a gecko for her birthday, and while I am not a big fan of lizards/reptiles I was willing to buy her one. A friend of mine has two and they are really cute, as cute as two lizards could be. Alas, I couldn't find cute lil guys like that. The only lizards I was able to find were kind of ugly rather nasty and fear inspiring. One of them had a tail so fat it looked like it had a second head growing out it's ass. Definitely was NOT getting one of those...I'd have nightmares.
So after exhausting our vast array of pet stores both pet stores I broke down and went to the reptile store.
First impression... IT STUNK!!!!! It was so humid I was thankful that I wasn't bra-less with a white t-shirt. The proprietor was kinda creepy looking, but I suppose when you play with snakes and lizards and mice and crickets all day.... well I'd probably be creepy too. I was perusing all the different types of reptiles/lizards available. I saw a very large boa constrictor with two dead rats in its cage... that was kind of gross. I saw a few cool looking lizards, none that I'd want to bring home however. I had visions of waking up with one of those prehistoric type creatures sitting on my chest, flicking it's forked tongue in my face...yeah, no thanks.
As I walked around the reptile store I kept my eyes glued to the floor. There were a lot of empty aquariums on the lower levels and I had visions of a big ass python slithering out from the depths of where ever, coiling itself around me and squishing the life breath out of my lungs. Of course my wonderfully vivid imagination included the creepy store guy rubbing his hands together in glee .... "Yeeessssssssssssssssssss Yeessssssssssssssssss " (note the hissing s's). Then after passing by the cricket farm, and three very cute, very plump bunnies in a cage (I was horrified to think that they might be snake food, creepy dude assured me that they weren't, but what if the rats weren't filling enough?), I felt like there were things crawling on me. I quickly shudder stepped my way out the door and came home. Twitching and scratching the whole way. Somehow I don't think I'm cut out to have a reptile/lizard in my house.
In the end there were two blatant reasons why I didn't go the way of the gecko. One, I just couldn't find a cute, cuddly one and two, the cost of just getting set up, never mind the actual lizard, was atrocious. Besides, if I can't have the talking Geicko gecko I don't really want one.
We are now proud owners of two hamsters. My cat is ecstatic. I am as worried as I was when I had newborns,constantly checking on them. I worry they'll get loose and the cat will have a heyday.
Ah well, it's all in the name of happy kids. Right??? Isn't that what it's all about .... you put your right foot in ....
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2 comments:
Jenn,
Thank God you went with the Hamsters instead of the Gecko!!!!!!!!(although I was laughing at your description of the experience! You poor thing!) My second daughter is REGRETTING her choice to get her veiled camiellion(sp?) and is thinking about giving him back to the store. I guess having brought him to college and having to take care of him by herself was quite a wake-up call. She calls me to complain about the cost of crickets! I tell her that is why you should research these things before you commit to them! Kids. What can we do with them?
Thank you so much for your very sweet note of support. I really appreciate your kindness. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Congratulations on your new family members. I'll bet they are cute!
hugs,
Debbie
I love hamsters! I used to have dwarf hamsters in college. I started with a male and female, BIG MISTAKE. Pretty soon I had about two hundred hamsters. I sold them back to the pet stores. But they are so cute. I am jealous!
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