Happy Friday everyone! Another weekend is upon us and I hope you have something fun planned. To get your weekend started on a good note, I chose one of my favourite reptiles to learn about today. Of course I am talking about the one and only Gecko. This little lizard is usually found around the equator in the Southern Hemisphere so that means we need our flip flops and sunscreen for this trip. Let’s Go!

The gecko comes in all kinds of different colours such as green, purple, pink and of course for the boys, blue. These colour variations really make the gecko a beautiful sight to see. They also have a variety of different patterns among the 2000 species thought to be inhabiting earth. If you are a budding scientist and have an urge to name an animal after yourself, then I suggest looking for a new gecko species since it is believed that there are more to be found. Besides it is a great excuse to travel to the warmer southern climates.

If you have ever had a pet gecko then you would know that they are capable of sticking to anything. You will often see them crawling around on the ceiling or the side of their terrarium. In fact, it is thought that the only thing they can’t stick to is Teflon. How about that for a non-stick frying pan commercial. So how do these cute and colourful lizards stick to all of these substances? Well, that is a good question that has a complicated answer but basically the gecko has about 14 000 tiny little hairs on every square millimeter of their foot pad. These tiny, stiff hairs allow the gecko to hang upside down, climb the side of anything or just show off in front of other lizards. You might be thinking that it would be impossible for them to walk if their feet are constantly sticking to things. This would be true but the gecko is able to peel their toes back to relieve these attractive forces and move. This is why it looks as if your pet gecko is double jointed. The truth is the gecko’s toes are designed to bend the opposite way from our fingers and toes. There you go, the next time you have company over and your pet gecko is stuck to your guests “balding” head, you will be able to explain why he is able to do that.

Have a great weekend!