Jeeves' Story

Jeeves was my first leopard gecko. I got her from a local petstore in the summer of 2002, when she was just a baby. She was very small, but pretty confident. She soon started basking out in the open.

I was a bumbling beginner alright- I housed her on sand! (A definite no-no for baby leopard geckos.) I also only fed her mealworms, since I didn't know any better.

She grew into a cuddly, big girl. In February 2004, She weighed 68 grams. I was enthralled, and spent hours watching her, watching me. She was really mellow. She used to climb up high (for a leo) on a branch in her tank, and just chill out at the very top. It was her awesomeness that made me realize what great pets reptiles are- I had never realized they had so much personality.

In Fall of 2002, I got Myrtle, and they became tankmates. Again, the bumbling beginner, I housed them together despite the difference in their sizes (not extreme, but too much- and I didn't quarantine her either!).

And so my colony continued to grow. Jeeves was always there, with the knowing grin of the matriarch. In February of 2004, to my horror, I learned about the dangers of leaving uneaten crickets in the tank. Jeeves had lacerations on her tail and back. I took her to the vet, and she recovered, but still had scarring.

Just as I was converting over to silkworms, I saw Jeeves vomit one night. She was in solo housing, while I waited for her to recover fully from the cricket bites. I was concerned, but not as concerned as I should have been. She wouldn't eat for the next few days, and I assumed it was because of the new prey items. I told myself that I would wait for one week, and then take her to the vet if she hadn't improved. To be honest, I was reluctant to pay for a vet again, since I had just been there with her, two weeks or so beforehand.

I found Jeeves dead about a day short of the deadline I had set. I was heart-broken, and I still am. Though I was crushed, I made sure to take her to the vet for a full necropsy the very same day. It turns out that she died of a massive infection from an inflamed egg yolk. She may have had the infection because of her high-fat diet. Perhaps, if I had gotten her to the vet sooner, she would still be alive. I have learned my lesson, though at a terribly high cost.

I miss her terribly. I don't even have any pictures of her. She wasn't a flashy gecko. She was just a 'normal' with a big heart. To this day, Myrtle will not accept any other female cagemates. Every time I have tried, she has attacked them viciously. But with Jeeves, she didn't seem to mind.