The Little Gecko Who Could
I am so excited to write this post! It's a story you just can't make up!
I order in plants from wholesaler's throughout the country to stock the nursery - a few of the vendors are located in Hawaii. Hawaii is of course a great location for growing orchids - it's even dubbed the "Orchid Isle" since it's climate is perfect for growing many species of orchids and epiphytes.
My most recent shipment from one of my Hawaiian vendors arrived to me on 11/5. I took some time to unpack the shipment as I was dealing with heating issues in the greenhouse, so many of the plants just stayed in the house for a couple days while I sorted everything out. Eventually, and over a couple days time, I moved everything back out there.
On Friday 11/7, I was walking down my stairwell in the house getting ready to leave for my full-time job and I noticed something up in the corner of the walls near the ceiling - about 30ft up from the bottom of the stairs. I panicked thinking it was a roach or some other large insect until the closest inspection I could manage on the stair revealed it was in fact not an insect, but a tiny gecko! Yes, a gecko!
Look at him waayyyy up there!
This little friend had tagged along in my plant shipment all the way from Hawaii!
Later that evening, I was able to recruit my fiance, Alejandro, to help me get our 20ft ladder into the house to retrieve the little guy into some tupperware so we could get it isolated and run out quick to get it some supplies. I climbed up, delicately got our new friend into the tupperware, and quickly realized he was not in great shape...
His tail had been damaged, likely in the shipment, and he seemed very lethargic - I determined he was dehydrated and likely a bit cold in our 65F house. We whipped up a seedling heat mat and let the tupperware sit on it, with a pillowcase underneath to prevent it from being too hot.
Alejandro and I left for the nearest pet supply to get him a terrarium and supplies - he was looking up every detail on gecko care on the way! That's when we realized our new buddy was a gold dust day gecko.
When we came back we checked on our gecko friend, and sadly he/she had passed... we arrived to it's care too late.
The next morning, we lovingly buried the little gecko near our home, immortalized underneath a buddha figure in our garden to serve as some protection for him.
A few days pass and now it is Veteran's day. I am off from work and tending to the greenhouse, happily watering the plants. I am about to pull a rack of plants off the shelf for watering and notice something on one of the dendrobiums - NO WAY, IT'S ANOTHER GECKO!
I don't think I've ever ran into the house quicker! Alejandro and I grabbed the tupperware again and successfully rounded up the little lizard and brought him inside. He was much more active and seemed in a lot healthier of a state than our old friend.
Alejandro and I whipped up the terrarium, equipped with live plants, wood branches, a heat lamp, a UV lamp, and a food dish to establish a new home for the gecko. We lovingly named our new gecko Amuro, after an anime series we adore called Gundam. Amuro was released into his new enclosure and he got right to adjusting.
Amuro has been with us two weeks, and is an active, curious, and sassy little lizard! It has been such a pleasure to watch him hunt fruit flies and "sun bathe" under the lamps. I'd say he is a happy fellow and Alejandro and I are now becoming very well versed in reptile knowledge. We are putting together a new vivarium for him that is quite a bit larger and much better equipped.
It does seem a little creature such as Amuro was meant to come our way and we are grateful for it! Please welcome Amuro as E.B. Orchid's "luck charm" and VIG (very important gecko)!