I Just LOVE it!

Man.
What a last couple of months it has been!
We have more dubias than we can feed off, so beginning to separate by size, and hopefully soon we’ll be selling them. We have a nicer collection. We visited our FIRST expo. We have plans to help out at a table at the next Wilsonville. We have four species of geckos. We bought our first snake. We are STILL getting fertile eggs from our Sallymander girl. Brindie started laying fertile eggs. Our leo has laid eggs. We have TEN crestie eggs incubating. We have started plans on a non-profit.

Boyyyyyyy howwwwdy!!!
The highlight of my last couple months was the expo. I saw a fair variety of animals at that expo, helped a crested gecko lover with getting her crestie back up to health, and picked up my two newest babies. Matcha, my male golden pinner, and Balloon, my first gargoyle gecko. Balloon stole my heart from the moment I saw her. She’s a little nervous when handled, but she is a sweetie. I do not know who produced her, and I suppose I don’t really want to know who did, because whoever did fed her baby food, and then bred her. Due to this, she has some serious MBD damage to her hips and tail. Although she now doesn’t suffer from any effects of it, the damage is permanent. So we won’t be using this girl as a breeder ever. She’ll be in a good home with food, and hides, and loves and snuggles for the rest of her reptilian life. After getting Balloon, I do expect to get one or two more gargoyles in the future—just not for awhile.

The Expo!!!!!! OHHHH the expo! We went to the Emerald City Reptile Expo. It was a two-day show, and the first Emerald City Reptile Expo. It was really cute! I expected a ton more vendors, but, I assume that next year they’ll have more, now that more people know about it. At least I hope so! Maybe if they do it again next year, I can be a vendor or maybe help out at a friends’ table. Since it was my first expo, it was so much fun for me. There was a lot going on, and we met a few really cool people. Ihkura being one ;) HI IHKURA!! And Saille. It was really great meeting them and hope to see them again!! (Don’t tell anyone, but they both got to see me bawl like a little baby when I picked up Matcha and Balloon, which was pretty embarrassing and not good for the mascara.)  But despite there not being a ton of vendors, I had so much fun! I got to see a ton of animals I’d only seen pictures of, and met these cute little dart froggies. Jason expects to buy a few in the future, so we might be getting into frogs in the next few years as a nice little side project.

For the upcoming expo in Wilsonville, I am helping out a couple who we are friends with at their table. We will most likely have a couple babies on the table, if by then no one sells, and also might be selling some shirts. What are the shirts for, you say?
Well, the shirts are for another little project I have been working on with some local friends. We are opening up a non-profit organization and club. It’s called Western Oregon Reptile Keepers. It’s been keeping me fairly busy. With technicalities, logo design, mission statements, it’s been a whirlwind of FUN! I love it! I am hopeful to do more events this year, and definitely hopeful for at least one by September. If it doesn’t happen that early, I won’t be disappointed, but that is my goal for right now. Getting shirts, designs, donations and sponsors going for now. Just have to focus on that at the moment J But it’s so exciting!! (If you are interested in this non-prof, please email us at westernoregonreptilekeepers@yahoo.com) We did an event her in Coos Bay for the Snake Awareness Day, but we wound up doing it a little late. No matter, the turnout was great! Check out our Snake Awareness Day page on our website. www.geckosonthebeach.weebly.com/snake-awareness-day.html

On top of the babies we have, and the fifteen geckos in our collection, we have TEN crested gecko eggs incubating. Our Sallymander is super stubborn, and even though she cooled for 3 months, she started laying more fertile eggies. So far, six of them. SIX. Man. That girl can really pump them out, the little baby maker. She has good calcium, and still has a good weight, so as long as she’s safely laying, I don’t mind. The only thing on my mind for that is—where the heck is all this retained sperm coming from!?!?!?!  And whoa girl! Where are we going to keep all these babies if you keep spitting them out!!!? She and Brindie are both laying now, so who knows how many babies we’ll actually have this year! Not that I mind, again. We’ll just have to get a few more KKs than expected this year, and some more shelving. Our leopard girl, Baylie has laid 3 clutches this year too. She looks so miserable when she is gravid. We let her eat as much as she wants, almost after she’s laid a clutch. As long as she’s getting her calcium, I don’t really mind. She lays every clutch outside her moisture hide/lay box. Unfortunately two of them had both not made it. We have one clutch incubating, but we think it might be the moisture hide she dislikes. At least, that is what another breeder suggested. Perhaps the coco fiber doesn’t do it for her. Regardless, we ordered some sphagnum moss for her and the rest of our crew as well so that maybe she’ll feel more secure depositing her eggs in there. Hope that the issue is that simple.

We are really hoping for good things to happen this year. Great things! Marvelous things! Every day, I am one step closer to being the best keeper that I can be! And I just love it! I JUST LOVE IT!!