We've had a lot of the regular anoles around too. I would put an over ripe banana on the rail of our deck, the flies came to it, and so did the anoles. Little bellies were soon distended with lots of flies. I saw one anole eat five flies within a few minutes. There is another kind of pink and black/gray spotted little guy not a native who hangs out too. Locally they are called Buddy-Roes, and I looked them up but promptly forgot what kind they were. Good to have them around. This is in zone 8b as well.

UPDATE: Today I did a very careful examination of the lizard. I picked him up out of his cage (which he allowed me to do) and observed his physical condition. He does not appear to be suffering from MBD. All of his other bones (besides his jaw) are firm and he is in perfect physical condition. He can walk (but not climb) and has lots of energy. He is fully alert. HIS JAW IS BROKEN.. The actual jaw bone itself seems to have broken on both sides of the jaw under the gecko's eyes, and it seems as if his tendons/ligaments cannot function properly. He CAN open and close his mouth a little. He can lick the tip of his nose but not his eyes. He can exert absolutely no pressure with his mouth. And, if his mouth opens too wide, he has a difficult time closing it. It is apparent that he experienced a collision with the side of his enclosure. I am virtually in tears over this. It's just so frustrating that he is otherwise perfectly healthy. Please, if you have any advice, feel free to contribute. Could a vet fix this situation? Can any of you give me the contact info for a good herp vet (I just want to call one for advice, so he or she could be in any state)? You can view pictures of the gecko with his mouth closed and open by going to the link below. Thank you all so much. Danny Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures

We live in an old queenslander house and it is virtually impossible to seal all the gaps. We share the house with at least 2 Carpet snakes (in the roof or under the house I hope) They regularly shed their skins around the place. The geckos are breeding up - which is great to see, we all love to watch them hunting. We dont spray and the only cockroaches we see usually fly in. I would rather die of gecko poo poisoning than exposure to pesticide. We have numerous spider webs around the verandahs - I just cant bring myself to destroy all that work, and we seldom get redbacks which our more houseproud neighbours have in plague proportions. The gecko poo is nothing compared with the deposits of the micro bat which rests in the toilet and misses every time, instead ,leaving a collection on the floor beside the pedestal - but all this is nothing when I think of the alternative. I dont want to live in an airconditioned, toxic, sealed up box so I just live and let live and hope that the carpet snakes dont come through the open doors and into my bed while Im in it.

A local nursery? Wow. I can't imagine asking one of mine to order it for me. I've just never seen them as being that accommodating. As a bulb or a plant? The ones I've been looking at ordering online are sold as small potted plants. I assumed they didn't get very big in pots. Black Magic never did much in a pot (2 leaves at a time), about a 14" pot, so I figured I would have to plant any colocasias in the ground going forward. If they get nice and full in a pot I will re-think this. How big of a pot did you use? Looking at pictures online, it looked like Blue Eared Gecko is shiny and Black Ruffles is velvety. Was that your experience? How tall would you say each got? And you have Red Eyed Gecko as well? I love lime green: lime green and purple are my accent colors on my patio! I have not seen that one, but will look for it. For the first time last year I planted 2 of the common elephant ear (C. Esculenta) in the ground and one in a pot with other annuals. The 2 in the ground took off and were lush and full. The one in the pot only produced one leaf at a time. All were started in advance in the house to get them woken up and rooting. Which has made me hesitate to order these more exotic ones, as that pretty much makes them an annual if I have to plant them in the ground. I DID dig up my C. Esculentas last fall and store them, which was a lot of work to dig and separate. But most did not make it through the winter in my cool dark basement closet.