Can a Leopard Gecko Change It’s Spots?

Nope.  They sure do shed a lot, but they can’t change what they are, no matter how much they try — or, more accurately, how much their owners try.

I’ve been looking into getting a buddy for my leopard gecko, Lenny (short for Leonard), and I was informed that it’s vital to know the gender of each one living together in a single tank. If it’s two males without enough space, they’ll have territory disputes and potentially kill each other, and if it’s a grown male and a younger female, the older could potentially eat the younger. You need to have either a male and female of approximately the same age or two females if you want any kind of peace between them. Seems like important information to have, and with it in hand, I decided it was best to specifically get a female, watch their interactions closely, and be ready to pull her out and give her another tank until she was old enough to deal with him.

Then it hit me that though the person I’d gotten Lenny from had always told me he was a male (and, for that matter, called him a Gila monster) but I’d never actually checked. So I did some research, picked him up, flipped him over, analyzed his undercarriage with my roommates, and didn’t find anything to speak of. Trouble is, males have something to speak of. Turns out — as the kid in Mrs. Doubtfire so eloquently puts it — he’s a she, she’s a he, he’s a he he she, she’s a he she.

As of tonight, Leonard is Leanor.

Male -- in case you wanted to know

Female -- yup, Lenny ain't got no junk

And what’s that have to do with anything? What’s the point of this blog? Well, I’m scrapping that one together as we go, but here’s as close as I can come to some meaning — in part because I want to remember this truth myself.

Before I browsed my gecko’s personal parts, my roommate and I had a conversation in which he told me to make an effort to recall and tell myself who I am in

Christ: that I’m saved, chosen, justified, beloved, and marked righteous, capable of everything God calls me to because of the work of God Himself in my life.

I’ve had that conversation with a lot of people over the years — apparently I’m a little hard of hearing in my heart — and though part of me always wants to say it’s a big load of hooey. I know, in my heart of hearts, that it makes sense. If God has permanently, fundamentally changed who I am because of the work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit on my behalf (as Scripture says), then refusing to see it, refusing to accept it, refusing to live out of it and practice it is kinda — really — stupid. It’s akin to continuing to call Leanor “dude.” Just stupid.

So there you have it, the closest thing to wisdom and unified thought I can muster for y’all. I praise God if it means anything to you.