Meet Lizzie

Victoria decided some time over the summer that she really wanted a pet turtle. I guess it was because she had a chance to win some from her friend's vacation bible school. She didn't win, thank goodness! In the meantime, I had her research about taking care of turtles. We found out that they carry diseases and can be kind of smelly if their tank isn't cleaned out periodically. It sounded like too much work and nastiness to me.

We have some friends in our ward who have a crusted gecko. Karissa played at their house one day and fell in love with their's. I found out more about this type of lizard. They mostly eat a fruit powder, their tank doesn't need to be cleaned all the time, they don't smell, and they only need to have their tank sprayed with water daily. These friends brought their lizard over when they came for a play date. Victoria was sold and so was I! I told her she could get one for her birthday.

 After her birthday (that was too busy of a weekend to do anything about it) I took her to Petco. I had already bought a "tank" (plastic bin like the one our friends had their lizard in), and drilled some holes in the lid. At Petco, they mostly had leopard geckos, so we bought one of those, thinking their wasn't much difference, plus they look pretty cool. Well, they need to be fed fresh crickets every-other-day. I didn't think we'd be catching them all the time, which meant I'd have to go buy them a few times a week or create a cricket tank. I was not thrilled about that idea. Plus, the leopard gecko was too reptile-ish for me. I don't know, something about it made me more squirmy, After discussing it and researching more, we decided I needed to take it back and exchange for a crusted gecko. They had one left at Petco.

Now, we have a nice, easy-to-care for and not-creepy-to-me lizard named Lizzie. I actually think she's kind of cute! We haven't held her much yet, just here or there. They're supposed to have some time before they receive a lot of handling. They actually do well with kids, though.

This was with the first decor in her home, before redecorating. She's up on the right-hand side.

This is how her home looks now. Jason got her a little tree, which she loves!