What I remember the most about being a keeper taking care of leaf-tailed geckos was how strange it was being physically intimidated by a lizard that, excluding tail, was about the size of a hot dog. To be fair, Uroplatus are pretty unworldly lizards. When I'd reach in to pick one up, they'd always do the same drill. Stare at me with their eerie, alien-like eyes stick their tails perpendicular to their body, like an alert flag, and then scream. And then, if I persisted in trying to pick them up, then I'd get the bite.
Their defensive displays may have been enhanced by their weird looks, but in terms of defensive fury, the leaf-tails had nothing on the tokay geckos, which would cut the display routine and just go straight for the bite - sometimes when I wasn't even considering picking them up, and was just going for a piece of poop. I did not care for taking care of the tokays.
Neither did anyone else, really - the species has a reputation overall for being a nasty, bitey little thing. Ours at the zoo were former pets which the owner didn't want to deal with anymore. I was so close to figuring out the actual truth at that moment, but just missed it.
A lot of species of reptile had reputations for being difficult species, but the reasons for this could really all be traced back to one thing.
You see, the tokays were all collected from the wild. So were the leaf-tailed geckos. In the early stages of my career, a lot of herps were still being imported from the wild. And with that came a lot of associated problems. Minor injuries obtained in capture that worsened. Heavy parasite loads from the wild exacerbated by the stress of transport. Difficulty adjusting to new diets. And, above all, an overall bad attitude towards humans, based on reasonable past experience. Even the ball python, that most basic of pet snakes, had a reputation of being a poor eater, an animal that just wanted to... well, curl up in a ball.
As zoos began to breed more of their own reptiles (including leaf-tailed geckos - there are several species now breeding readily in American zoos), keepers began to find animals that were hardier, calmer, more tractable, and more inclined to eat and breed. Happily ever after then, right?
Not exactly. You see, there are still some species which, while they can be bred under human care, are still easier and cheaper to just import from the wild, and while many zoos have moved over towards sustainable acquisition, or preferably breeding their own, there are still a lot of imports going on for the pet trade. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that this is illegal and the animals are smuggled, but this is often not the case, and many species are legally imported in large numbers for the pet trade. So, if you're looking to source an animal, be it for a zoo or as a personal pet, and you're going to a dealer or a pet store, it's always good to look for those two letters - CB, for Captive Bred (as opposed to WC, Wild Caught).
You'll have happier, healthier animals, and you won't have to worry about contributing to a system which causes so much stress and hardship on wildlife.
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