Leafy Street

Rhacodactylus auriculatus

Toes is no stranger to motherhood, but for Ohio, this is all a novel experience. This year, I decided to introduce my gargoyle geckos as a throuple. For the first time, I was actually able to document the breeding process on camera. From 8pm (lights out) to around 10:30pm, I sat and watched their first night together. At first, nothing. I eventually went to bed, but around midnight, my eyes popped open. Call it mother's intuition or whatever you will, but I just had a feeling something was going down. Toes and Fingers were locked. The lead-up typically involves a lot of biting and shaking, but the main event is weirdly calm. And when it's complete, the female tosses the male off. Or in this case, she sure did. Fast forward three months, and we have the photos you're looking at today. Should I have kept track of who the mother was? Probably. But now it seems like we're in for a fun experiment.