Laika and Hazel

Today's focus is going to be on Laika (pictured above) and Hazel. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I decided over the summer to get into breeding crested geckos, and bought Shiraz as my stud gecko. Toward the end of summer there was a reptile expo at the Timonium Fairgrounds and I had been planning all along to go there to look at some female breeders.

My Dad, my brother, and my friend loaded up in my new (used) car I had just bought the night before and set off to the reptile expo. It was the last day of September and it was chilly and windy outside, but plenty warm inside the expo! I have been to reptile expos before but this one was way more crowded than the previous ones I had been to. There were people everywhere. I could tell it was going to be hard to get to some of the tables since crowds of people stood around them, blocking the view. But that was fine. I would just take my time and work my way around while I enjoyed all the different animals that were on display.

One of the first tables I found was Crested Mania's table. Right away their patternless red crested geckos caught my eye. But as I was looking at them, I noticed a rather unique looking gecko. She had a brownish base with yellow flame markings, and had a deep, vibrant red underneath. It was very pretty. The blushing on her chin and stomach was very appealing to me since it's not something I have seen very often. I decided to look around some more since this was the only crested gecko table I had stopped at so far, but that blushing gecko stayed on my mind.

After visiting with other tables I was still in love with the gecko from Crested Mania, so we made our way back over to them. Luckily she was still available! While I was purchasing her, her breeders showed me a picture of her sire. His name is Blaze and he was a stunning specimen. He is a brilliant red with a heavily crowned crest and impeccable structure. With a family that looks like that, I knew this gecko would be a good future breeder. She wasn't quite big enough to breed yet, so she will wait until the 2018 season. I am looking forward to seeing what she will produce.

I decided to name that gecko, Hazel. I thought she deserved a good autumn name since she had all the fall colors (brown, yellow, and red) and since it was nearly October, the name just seemed fitting. Hazel is a very laid back gecko. She is so calm and so easy to handle, and she has a fantastic appetite. Her relaxed demeanor quickly made her a favorite of mine. I think her unique blushing color and her friendly disposition makes her a great choice for breeding because not only does she have the potential to produce some interesting looking geckos, but also ones that are easy to handle!

Before I left the reptile expo I came across a table that I hadn't visited yet. It was the table of Northern Virginia Gecko. They had a lot of crested geckos, and they were all very nice looking. There were so many people surrounding it that I completely missed it earlier. I saw a gecko that instantly caught my eye. It was a red and cream harlequin. She was easily one of the prettiest geckos I had ever seen, and was already the perfect breeding size. Not to mention, I had been wanting a red and cream harlequin for some time now. Her coloring was so nice and I was in love with all the cream she had on her. I decided to go ahead and get her. After all, I felt like she and Shiraz could produce some very nice looking animals.

I named my new gecko, Laika. Laika is a Russian name that means "barker". The first dog to go into space was named Laika, which is how I heard of the name. I liked it because it sounded unique and pretty. I also thought the meaning of it was fitting since geckos make chirping or barking noises. Laika is the jumpiest gecko I own, but once I have her out she calms down enough to handle without issue. She definitely prefers to keep to herself compared to my other geckos and likes to spend most of her time in the cork bark that I have in her tank. It's really cute because she likes to sleep with the tip of her nose sticking out of it, so I can always see her face when she goes in it.