Ernie Frances

In case you haven't noticed, student teaching has kept me so busy and distracted that I haven't had time to blog! I realized yesterday that I have been remiss in sharing the newest addition to the family with all of you. His name is Ernie Frances. He has quite a story!

It all began the night my roommate Dana moved in! It was late at night and I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Dana and her mom were already in bed and asleep. I noticed something move on the rug out of the corner of my eye. Curious, I looked closer. It was the tiniest lizard I have ever seen in my entire life!! What was it doing in my bathroom?!?! I had lived in the apartment 3 months with no pest problems and had lived in Missouri for 4 year and never saw a lizard in a house unless it was a pet. I panicked! I tried to wake up Dana (who is from Austin, TX) to find out what to do. How was I supposed to know?? I am from MICHIGAN!! We don't have wild lizards in our houses! She, not even waking up, told me to catch it. So I did. I caught him in a cup and kept him to show the others in the morning.

The next day, I was still worked up about it. Dana and her mom, on the other hand, thought it was no big deal! They have them all over in Austin! Even in their house! I decided to keep him as a pet because he was so little (maybe an inch and a half at the time, tail included) and I couldn't see letting him go in the wilds of Springfield where he would surely die before the day was out. They thought I was crazy! I couldn't keep him in the cup forever so after going to several pet supply stores, I finally found someone to tell me what kind of lizard he might be and how to take care of him. We discovered through the wonders of the internet that Ernie is a Mediterranean Gecko. Those types of geckos hide and stowaway which is why they are quickly spreading out all over the world! We discovered he probably hitched a ride in Dana's boxes when she moved back to Springfield and wandered into the bathroom!

We still have him and he is growing a lot! He is over 2 inches long! I always thought if I had a pet I would get a puppy or a kitten but instead I have a beta fish (Joaquin) and now a lizard (Ernie). But don't worry, you will get to meet him. He is coming for Thanksgiving!

I took this about 2 or 3 weeks after I found him. He was so scrawny and little! He was so small the camera couldn't find him to focus!

Dana's friend Steve made Ernie this HUGE maze to play in!

Okay, so I realize this post definitely makes me seem a little weird...or maybe very weird!

I took him to school when I was teaching the class about reptiles and they loved it! Yesterday he started shedding his scales so I took a lot of pictures so I could take them into class and show the kids.