Emotional Support Gecko!

Hello!

I've been through a lot in the past and as a community member, I know it can be tough for many people to feel okay or even in the now. So I decided to share a cute/funny story about my pet lizard.

I have always been really allergic to furry friends. I have a pet betta and while water can be really therapeutic (despite my betta behaving like a puppy 24/7), I felt I wasn't getting the touch and comfort I really needed from a pet.

I decided to visit a pet story to search for a non furry friend and while it was hard, my eyes landed on the majestic leopard gecko!

The first leopard gecko I got was a dark brown female baby named Juneau and I loved her to pieces despite her tummy issues (she had a lot of constipation problems so I had to give her special food and baths) until she ran away one day into our wall through a tiny cut in the carpeting. I placed her on a towel after a bath and she bolted after smelling something I believe and I couldn't grab her in time so I was pretty shocked. No one knew there was anything behind the carpet or cabinets for her to get into and I was devastated for a month.

Yesterday, I got a new gecko because I was having problems with nightmares again (specifically about finding my gecko and my mom killing it which was extremely upsetting). This is a boy and his name is Remy!

After weeks of not feeling rested and feeling physically ill from sadness, I finally feel a bit better despite still missing Juneau. I'm still hoping she comes back but until then, I'll love Remy with all of my heart by himself. It's odd to tell people that my emotional support animal is a lizard and not a dog, cat, bird, rabbit, or anything else (as much as I love birds!!) but there is something special about my geckos that makes my days brighter and feel just a little softer.

Another added bonus is that I have some random freckle on my stomach, directly above the belly button, and Remy is supposed to be an albino but he has this adorable same sized freckle looking spot near his tail so I feel like it was a perfect match. He's healthy too so we know it's just a paradox spot, aka a spot that is rare for the morph of the gecko.

So yeah! There's a little about me and hopefully this was a fun little read about my even tinier pets