A Gecko Named Steve

This summer I inherited a 5 gallon aquarium/terrarium tank.  Since I didn't have to pay for the tank, I decided I would accept it and buy a low maintenance pet for my class this year.  I was looking to buy a salamander or one of those cool looking frogs.  However, I found out that salamanders and cool looking frogs are not $5 like I had suspected, nor are they readily available.  I was disappointed, but made the best of it and decided to purchase a leopard gecko.  Now these geckos don't have the ability to stick to objects but they do like to climb.  I was planning on spending maybe $50 total on my classroom terrarium.  This, however, did not come to be.  Oh no, you have to buy eco friendly grass to line the tank, a water dish, a log for him to hide in, and objects for him to climb on.  Not to mention the can packed full of dead crickets you must purchase in order to feed your gecko. PLUS, I had to buy a lid to put on my terrarium, I was not fortunate enough to inherit one.   So, $180 later, I take my gecko and accessories home and set up my terrarium.

I was excited to have a class pet for my kiddos.  I had him at school during testing days and showed each student our class pet as they came into test and check out the room.  I could tell they were all excited and anxious to learn about our gecko.  I told them that in the first week of school we would be able to name our gecko.  I, being the amazing teacher that I am, kept my promise.  Using my smart board, I set up a grid and took suggestions for names.  We had some clever suggestions: Cash, Johnny, John, Phenius, Ferb, Cody, Zack, Dim, Spots, Dots, Boston, Jake, Steve, etc.  Now, since this is a class pet we had to make the decision as a class, so, we took a vote.  The first round each student got 3 votes each, the second round they got 2 votes each, and the last round they got 1 vote each.  Well, I guess you can summize from the blog title that the class voted on the name Steve; Boston was a close second.  So, we now have a gecko named Steve.  I did think it would be a bit more of an exotic name, but you know 8 year olds, very literal.

Steve is a good class pet, he hides most of the day, eats when he is fed, and used the bathroom in the same spot in his tank.  Steve, however, eats bugs.  So I have a class full of 25 kiddos who have become obsessed with catching bugs to feed Steve.  It is not enough that I have a can packed full of dead crickets in my refrigerator but now I have kids coming in proudly bringing me bugs just like a dog brings their owners a dead bird.  I've had crickets, beetles, spiders, and flies brought in so far.  Alexandra even went as far to catch a fly while out on recess.  She came into the classroom with her hand tightly clenched and exclaimed, "I caught a fly!"  Just as I was about to instruct Alexandra to put the fly in Steve's cage, she proceeds with, "I ripped his wings off so he can't fly anymore!"  Wonderful, a can full of crickets and a fly with ripped off wings.  I did not know this pet would cause so much humor in our classroom.

Now, I told you Steve was misplaced in his 5 gallon tank.  Here's the story:  I walk into the classroom after the weekend and start getting things set up for the day.  Since it was a Monday I decided I would check Steve's water and give him a cricket from my refrigerator.  I walk by Steve's cage, and tap my fingers lightly on the tank, this usually gets him to come out of his hiding space underneath the log.  I go to the refrigerator, grab the can of crickets, walk back to the tank and Steve had not come out of his hiding place.  I take the lid off and lift the log, no Steve.  I check under his bridge, no Steve.  I shake the plants, NO STEVE!!  At this point my heart is beating out of my chest and my hands are starting to get clammy.  I'm trying to think of how I am going to tell my kiddos that I lost their precious gecko the first weekend of school.  I  call my boyfriend, Shea, and inform him that Steve was gone.  He asks me if I've looked in all the obvious places in the tank, "There is nothing left in the tank but the grass!"  "Well, he'll turn up."  is all Shea says to me.  I don't think he'll understand the devastation these kiddos will feel if Steve is gone.  As I start to put objects back into Steve's cage and figure out how I'm going to break the news to my class, I notice a corner of the grass in the tank lifted and a small bump in the middle of the grass.  I lift the grass, and sure enough, there is Steve, asleep on the bottom of the tank, underneath the grass.  Now I found Steve, but I was afraid he had suffocated to death underneath the grass.  Instead of picking him up to see if he was dead, I decided to poke him with a stick.  Not such a good idea!  Apparently Steve doesn't like to be woken up by the poke of a stick, Steve hissed at me.  I was able to get him to crawl onto the stick and I put him back on top of the grass and put his cactus on the corner of the grass in which he tunneled under.  So, Steve was found, crisis #1 averted, I'm sure there are many more to come!