Sage holding Ellsa the albino python.

While shopping for crickets at a local reptile store near home, my granddaughter Sage wanted to hold some of the animals.  At first her mother said she couldn’t hold the albino python who just happened to be huge!  Next she asked to see a turtle, and her mother told her she would have to ask the man behind the counter.    So Sage walked up to the counter, and asked him if she could hold the Albino Python….Of course she did!  His reply was “sure, why not!”

Sage hasn’t any fear of snakes, and always wants to hold them when she goes into a reptile store.  Usually she asks to hold something like a Green Tree Python, and fortunately they don’t let her.  Her uncles had snakes, spiders, frogs, & anything else boys love growing up.  Our home was most definitely a Zoo in the most vivid sense.  One of her uncles had snakes up to just recently, so Sage had a good taste of big snakes early on.

Green Tree Python……
Not great pets especially for an 8 year old!

On this day, after holding many animals, Sage finally asked  to hold an Orange Crested Gecko.  This particular gecko was  without a tail for some reason, and to make matters worse….this species of gecko doesn’t grow their tails back once they lose them.  So he will always be… just a gecko without a tail!  All Sage needed to do was hold this tailless gecko, and her little heart melted.  She wanted this little guy in the worst way, and why…..She said he won’t have anyone to love him without a tail.   Mom said she would have to ask her Dad, and told her that it was too close to Christmas to get something like that.

In the several hours before her daddy got home from work, Sage had gone online and researched this particular gecko.  Her list was lengthy, and she did her homework so when her daddy got home she was ready to fight for the little gecko without a tail.

Dad got home, ate dinner, and set down in his chair to relax……and Sage made her move!

“Daddy can I ask you something?”  He looked up at her and nodded while all the time her mother was watching to see how she was going to do this.  “Today mommy, and I went to get crickets at LLL Reptile, and while we were there I got to hold an Orange Crested Gecko.  He didn’t have a tail, and he needs someone to love him.  So I made this list of all the reasons you should let me have him.

• They only get about 8″ long.
• They eat crickets, and baby food mixed with food from the reptile store.
• They are friendly.
• We can bread him and make money.
• They jump.
• He’s a good buy because he will live another 10-15 years, and I’ll be at least 28 then.

What’s a poor dad going to do, I think he was so amazed at all the research Sage did,  withoutthinking….he said, “sure you can have him!”    Now it’s mom’s turn to be amazed!

Crush the little gecko without a tail

That’s how the family grows to be a Zoo……