meet sobek
casa de lish now contains TWO pets!
the portland reptile expo came around a second time this year. wearing my lizard plugs & my homemade toa much kise shirt, i drove down with daria, daniel, & aj. we all had acquisition goals this trip - daria & daniel to buy a giant lizard of some sort, aj to outfit his high-humidity vivarium (that he built inline with mine) with some cobalt dart frogs & maybe a couple mourning geckos, & obviously i've been preparing for a crested gecko. ideally i wanted a young lizard but not a hatchling (since my vivarium is too big for a hatchling & it might not be able to find the food), with a tail (they can drop them like most lizards, but don't regenerate a lost tail; the tailless ones are referred to as 'frogbutt'), & i was looking for female because males tend to be all, "yo, here are my balls! *shoves them against glass* LOOK AT THEM." classy.
we got to the expo early, & i did a fast lap around the entire floor to scope out the cresteds on offer. most were various shades of tan, yellow, orange, & brown; i best liked the white/cream/"moonglow"/whatever cresteds (wow), but i didn't realize how set on one i was until i tried to find a gecko to buy. prices ranged from $20 to $250; i suspected the one i wanted would be even more expensive in its rarity, but i didn't want to plunk down $300 or more for a lizard. i saw a few female whitish cresteds, & went back to a couple tables several times, but they just weren't exciting me. by this point, daria & daniel had found their lizard, a young black-throated monitor (more on that later), & i'd helped aj find three beautiful dart frogs. i was starting to think i'd be the only one not bringing home a new pet.
then aj asked if i saw rain city geckos's booth. i hadn't; nearly their entire table was leopard geckos, so i must just've missed that they had a couple cresteds. i stepped over, & saw him. he was older & male, but a perfect creamy white with black spots - termed "dalmatian" - & a healthy tail. the owner chris let me take him out to handle - he was friendly & alert, & immediately i went back on the other preferences i had. a fully-grown gecko won't get lost in the tank, won't be so flighty or need to be hand-tamed, is unlikely to have tail problems ("floppy tail syndrome" is a thing)... yeah, he'll probably shove his balls in my face, but i wouldn't have to worry about egg retention or pay SO much attention to calcium levels as i would with a female. & since he was older, the price tag was just $60. DONE.
i had his name picked out from my egypt trip - sobek is the egyptian crocodile god & is associated with protection, & i knew it'd be a perfect match to vasuki's etymology; i was so glad to find a gecko that suited the name.
we spent another hour walking the expo calmly, checking out all the gorgeous & rare animals. there was a satanic leaf-tailed gecko (awesome), & a ton of boas this time, but none i would've wanted more than vasuki. (i promised myself i'd only buy a second snake if it were an IMG/azabache boa, which are usually several thousand dollars.) i spotted the mourning geckos aj wanted, & he bought two. they're pretty cool - they're parthenogenetic & live in lesbian colonies & scissor each other to stimulate egg production. (no, really!)
after the expo, daniel bought a large rubbermaid container for their monitor lizard, since it was a long drive back to seattle & the pillowcase she was sold in wasn't too comfortable. (this is a baby lizard that's about a foot long in the body, plus another foot of tail, & will grow to be 5' long & 60 pounds - no small beast.) then we went off to another spot i'd found for us - about twenty minutes away was a reptile-centric pet store with a big venomous zoo. it's no use linking to their site, as they're going out of business... but after we checked out all the beautiful dangernoodles in the venomous room, we got a huge surprise - i discovered that all animals & new equipment in the store were half off. aj had played with a fully-grown rainbow boa (aka glitternoodle) at the convention & fell in love with its beauty & uncharacteristically calm demeanor, but couldn't spend $400 on him... & the shop had a young rainboa for $250 $125, plus the full 10gal tank setup they were using for $40. the snake was heavily in blue, meaning she was going to shed soon & would probably be snippier than usual, but was super chill & friendly. aj was sold in a second, & i mocked him for going from zero pets to six pets in the span of a few hours. X) at my suggestion, he also took home the larger tank he'd eventually need for her, for $35 instead of $70. amazing. daria & daniel also got the rest of what they'd need for their monitor lizard & saved a ton.
we went outside & packed the car with new purchases, & drove a few minutes away to the pie house we'd passed on the way. daniel wanted to post some pics of their new lizard, & opened up the plastic drawer... to find no lizard. there was a cut-out handle in the drawer, & she must have stuffed herself through it to escape. we searched the car frantically, but couldn't find her. we drove back to the reptile shop & searched the underbrush & trees in the area, but couldn't find her. it was heartbreaking to immediately lose such a sweet lizard that they'd expected to have for decades. i thought she was still in the car - how could we have missed 2' of lizard jumping out of the vehicle while packing it? - but i sure couldn't find her.
downtrodden, we stopped for food & ate in the car. daria was exceedingly upset, & she & daniel got out to hug & cry. aj & i sat in the back, talking quietly about our purchases... & i heard a scraping. that was DEFINITELY the sound of a lizard claw in the dashboard, i'd bet anything. i banged on the window & yelled that THERE IS STILL A LIZARD IN THIS CAR. we couldn't see her, & though aj had also heard scraping, we still had no proof. slightly less downtrodden but not willing to risk their hearts, daria & daniel got back in & we drove to a gas station to fill up & try to flush her out.
on the way, daria had the idea to take a video up under the passenger dashboard... & finally we had proof. the video showed a monitor eye & one big foot, & the whole mood of the front seat changed. we tried to lure her out with food, but she wouldn't come on her own, & was clearly getting stressed. we could see her back behind an air compressor or something; daniel tried to get under the dash, but couldn't reach her - as the smallest in the group, i volunteered. after we removed what we could of the dashboard - the glove box & air vent - i found myself upside down in the footwell with one hand very carefully on her tail & the other at her ribcage, urging her to come out. she stuck her face out at me & i couldn't stop laughing; i took an amazing picture, but realized she wouldn't fit to go forward, & i couldn't keep a hold of her if she backed out. i got her to back up & turn around, but then she was well out of reach. we decided to finish the drive back to seattle, & would just let her de-stress & relax & keep offering food. she got up there on her own; she'd come out when she got hungry enough.
i went home, mixed up some food for sobek, put him in his new home, & went to bed. i was quite happy to wake the next morning to a text from daniel that they got her out safely (the best comment on daniel's twitter was, "oh, you uninstalled your in-dash monitor") & were ready to come pick up the 75gal tank i'd sold them to make room for vasuki's custom enclosure, currently being built.
so THAT was dramatic! & now you deserve pictures. :) here's sobek on the way home from the expo:
first night in the viv, a typical state of geck:
finally getting cozy (sorry for the rough lighting, still learning how to photograph a white lizard under full-spectrum lights):
there will certainly be more to come. oh, & the amazing photo i took of the dashboard monitor:
safe the next day in daria's arms:
so big welcome home to sobek! & feel free to add crank1923 on snapchat if you want to see a shitton more of him & vasuki. *nods*
the portland reptile expo came around a second time this year. wearing my lizard plugs & my homemade toa much kise shirt, i drove down with daria, daniel, & aj. we all had acquisition goals this trip - daria & daniel to buy a giant lizard of some sort, aj to outfit his high-humidity vivarium (that he built inline with mine) with some cobalt dart frogs & maybe a couple mourning geckos, & obviously i've been preparing for a crested gecko. ideally i wanted a young lizard but not a hatchling (since my vivarium is too big for a hatchling & it might not be able to find the food), with a tail (they can drop them like most lizards, but don't regenerate a lost tail; the tailless ones are referred to as 'frogbutt'), & i was looking for female because males tend to be all, "yo, here are my balls! *shoves them against glass* LOOK AT THEM." classy.
we got to the expo early, & i did a fast lap around the entire floor to scope out the cresteds on offer. most were various shades of tan, yellow, orange, & brown; i best liked the white/cream/"moonglow"/whatever cresteds (wow), but i didn't realize how set on one i was until i tried to find a gecko to buy. prices ranged from $20 to $250; i suspected the one i wanted would be even more expensive in its rarity, but i didn't want to plunk down $300 or more for a lizard. i saw a few female whitish cresteds, & went back to a couple tables several times, but they just weren't exciting me. by this point, daria & daniel had found their lizard, a young black-throated monitor (more on that later), & i'd helped aj find three beautiful dart frogs. i was starting to think i'd be the only one not bringing home a new pet.
then aj asked if i saw rain city geckos's booth. i hadn't; nearly their entire table was leopard geckos, so i must just've missed that they had a couple cresteds. i stepped over, & saw him. he was older & male, but a perfect creamy white with black spots - termed "dalmatian" - & a healthy tail. the owner chris let me take him out to handle - he was friendly & alert, & immediately i went back on the other preferences i had. a fully-grown gecko won't get lost in the tank, won't be so flighty or need to be hand-tamed, is unlikely to have tail problems ("floppy tail syndrome" is a thing)... yeah, he'll probably shove his balls in my face, but i wouldn't have to worry about egg retention or pay SO much attention to calcium levels as i would with a female. & since he was older, the price tag was just $60. DONE.
i had his name picked out from my egypt trip - sobek is the egyptian crocodile god & is associated with protection, & i knew it'd be a perfect match to vasuki's etymology; i was so glad to find a gecko that suited the name.
we spent another hour walking the expo calmly, checking out all the gorgeous & rare animals. there was a satanic leaf-tailed gecko (awesome), & a ton of boas this time, but none i would've wanted more than vasuki. (i promised myself i'd only buy a second snake if it were an IMG/azabache boa, which are usually several thousand dollars.) i spotted the mourning geckos aj wanted, & he bought two. they're pretty cool - they're parthenogenetic & live in lesbian colonies & scissor each other to stimulate egg production. (no, really!)
after the expo, daniel bought a large rubbermaid container for their monitor lizard, since it was a long drive back to seattle & the pillowcase she was sold in wasn't too comfortable. (this is a baby lizard that's about a foot long in the body, plus another foot of tail, & will grow to be 5' long & 60 pounds - no small beast.) then we went off to another spot i'd found for us - about twenty minutes away was a reptile-centric pet store with a big venomous zoo. it's no use linking to their site, as they're going out of business... but after we checked out all the beautiful dangernoodles in the venomous room, we got a huge surprise - i discovered that all animals & new equipment in the store were half off. aj had played with a fully-grown rainbow boa (aka glitternoodle) at the convention & fell in love with its beauty & uncharacteristically calm demeanor, but couldn't spend $400 on him... & the shop had a young rainboa for $250 $125, plus the full 10gal tank setup they were using for $40. the snake was heavily in blue, meaning she was going to shed soon & would probably be snippier than usual, but was super chill & friendly. aj was sold in a second, & i mocked him for going from zero pets to six pets in the span of a few hours. X) at my suggestion, he also took home the larger tank he'd eventually need for her, for $35 instead of $70. amazing. daria & daniel also got the rest of what they'd need for their monitor lizard & saved a ton.
we went outside & packed the car with new purchases, & drove a few minutes away to the pie house we'd passed on the way. daniel wanted to post some pics of their new lizard, & opened up the plastic drawer... to find no lizard. there was a cut-out handle in the drawer, & she must have stuffed herself through it to escape. we searched the car frantically, but couldn't find her. we drove back to the reptile shop & searched the underbrush & trees in the area, but couldn't find her. it was heartbreaking to immediately lose such a sweet lizard that they'd expected to have for decades. i thought she was still in the car - how could we have missed 2' of lizard jumping out of the vehicle while packing it? - but i sure couldn't find her.
downtrodden, we stopped for food & ate in the car. daria was exceedingly upset, & she & daniel got out to hug & cry. aj & i sat in the back, talking quietly about our purchases... & i heard a scraping. that was DEFINITELY the sound of a lizard claw in the dashboard, i'd bet anything. i banged on the window & yelled that THERE IS STILL A LIZARD IN THIS CAR. we couldn't see her, & though aj had also heard scraping, we still had no proof. slightly less downtrodden but not willing to risk their hearts, daria & daniel got back in & we drove to a gas station to fill up & try to flush her out.
on the way, daria had the idea to take a video up under the passenger dashboard... & finally we had proof. the video showed a monitor eye & one big foot, & the whole mood of the front seat changed. we tried to lure her out with food, but she wouldn't come on her own, & was clearly getting stressed. we could see her back behind an air compressor or something; daniel tried to get under the dash, but couldn't reach her - as the smallest in the group, i volunteered. after we removed what we could of the dashboard - the glove box & air vent - i found myself upside down in the footwell with one hand very carefully on her tail & the other at her ribcage, urging her to come out. she stuck her face out at me & i couldn't stop laughing; i took an amazing picture, but realized she wouldn't fit to go forward, & i couldn't keep a hold of her if she backed out. i got her to back up & turn around, but then she was well out of reach. we decided to finish the drive back to seattle, & would just let her de-stress & relax & keep offering food. she got up there on her own; she'd come out when she got hungry enough.
i went home, mixed up some food for sobek, put him in his new home, & went to bed. i was quite happy to wake the next morning to a text from daniel that they got her out safely (the best comment on daniel's twitter was, "oh, you uninstalled your in-dash monitor") & were ready to come pick up the 75gal tank i'd sold them to make room for vasuki's custom enclosure, currently being built.
so THAT was dramatic! & now you deserve pictures. :) here's sobek on the way home from the expo:
first night in the viv, a typical state of geck:
finally getting cozy (sorry for the rough lighting, still learning how to photograph a white lizard under full-spectrum lights):
there will certainly be more to come. oh, & the amazing photo i took of the dashboard monitor:
safe the next day in daria's arms:
so big welcome home to sobek! & feel free to add crank1923 on snapchat if you want to see a shitton more of him & vasuki. *nods*