Help me out :)

I'm trying to talk my boyfriend into getting me two baby crested geckos from a breeder I found on this site for my birthday. Already have them picked out so all he has to do is buy em. But my mother would KILL me if I bought them myself. She thinks I have enough animals with my two Leopard geckos. But that's just not true for herpers, is it? We never have enough animals! Hahaha. Which is why I need him to buy them for me, so I can shrug my shoulders and claim I didn't know I was getting them, I just showed Marshall the ones I liked and he got them for me. Shifting the blame lol. So I need some thoughts. I've used the "don't you love me lots?", the "you'd love them too!", and the "I've never gotten an animal as a gift before and it'd be the coolest thing ever for me" cards. I've also told him ideas on how to try to get them before he gets his money from his summer research (he's getting paid more than I am, the lucky turd!) which is also why I'm thinking he should get them for me. Because he will have more money than me by the end of the summer. And he doesn't have a mother who watches his bank statements -.-" I could also pull the "you owe me big time for giving me a near literal heart attack when you let my favorite leopard gecko escape the cage" card...

How have you convinced someone to buy you something you want?

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

How have you convinced someone to buy you something you want?

In a word: Patience.
It took me several months to convince my wife to let me get a pair of ringed pythons (same pocketbook so it made no difference who did the transaction).

If you learn all about them and keep talking about all the aspects of their natural history, etc, he may be more likely to go for it because of your strong interest in them rather than the "they are really cool" or "you owe me/ don't you love me" type requests. It also helps if he is into reptiles too.
Also, make sure you are ready for them well ahead of time.

I agree that talking about how cute they are or how easy they are to take care of, is going to be better than the 'don't you love me' blackmail-type statements. Maybe you can say you will name the pair after the two of you as something sweet.


good luck!

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

How have you convinced someone to buy you something you want?

Well... I've bribed. I was planning to post about it this week/weekend as a matter of fact. I bought something for the boyfriend so he wouldn't be as averse to me buying a new snake (a species he isn't a big fan of).

He is into crested geckos as well, so that's a bonus. We got to interact with some at a local expo and he does like them a lot. I have discussed how easy the care is (I do a LOT of research on animals whether I'm wanting them or not ) and have shown him how cute they are, and talked about how cute they are, etc. That's my main ploy that I should've mentioned lol. I stole the photos of the two that I want from the breeder's website and have been gushing over how adorable they are! And then I started stealing cute pictures of them from the internet and sending them to him.

Oh, and pretty much all of the "don't you love meeeeee" stuff has been jest to his face. It's a terrible ploy that doesn't work very well, which I know, so I don't really use it seriously. And i'd never pull the blackmail for letting my gecko get out card thinking it'd work.

He would never admit it to my face because he's a bit of a butt like that, but he is into reptiles too. Not as much as I am, but a little. Enough to care about them and have fun with them. He actually just a bit ago was playing a video game and stopped playing, completely forgetting to pause the game, to take pictures of my leopard geckos on my phone, because they were being cute! Then I finally got him pause the game (didn't want him to unnecessarily lose a life!) and he went back to taking pictures of the girls, and spent about 20 mins taking pictures of them.

He took those pictures of his own accord too. It made me happy to see that He just suddenly left his game and started taking pictures of the geckos. And then took them out individually to take pictures of them. Super sweet!

Honestly I really hope (and kind of think) he is considering getting them for me and being a butt about it, acting like I "don't need them" or whatever. Hopefully he's actually being good at keeping a secret for once... And it'll be an extra awesome 20th birthday. Either way it's gonna be awesome, because I know awesome people. The gecko gift would make it extra awesome!

Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

Well... I've bribed. I was planning to post about it this week/weekend as a matter of fact. I bought something for the boyfriend so he wouldn't be as averse to me buying a new snake (a species he isn't a big fan of).

I decided to attempt to bribe him. I offered to him I'd get him a chameleon if he got me the crested geckos. He's become a big fan of chameleons lately, so I told him if he got the crested geckos, he could just say the word and I'd get him a chameleon. If he gets them for me in time for my birthday we could get a chameleon at the St Louis Repticon, since he will be doing research about 2 hrs outside STL this summer. That is if he wants one at that time. There's also a local pet store that has nice chameleons that we could actually hold and interact with. That is, unless he decides he wants like a panther... They have Jackson's, Veileds, and Senegals... AAAAAAAAAAND now I'm rambling

It might just work!
good luck and Happy (early) Birthday by the way.

Uh, just a thought ... since you live at home with your mom and all ...

Who foots the bill for feeding/caring for the 2 geckos you already have? Who's gonna foot the bill for feeding/caring for additional animals?

Why would you "bribe" someone to buy geckos for you?

You're going to buy him a chameleon you can "actually hold and interact with" if he buys the geckos that you claim your Mom will kill you if you buy yourself?

Geez, these are living creatures! It's not a game of who can bribe, lie or conive to get herps they know nothing about and can't care for ... and especially when their mommy has already said no!

And chameleons ARE NOT pets you can "hold or interact with", no matter what lies are told by your local pet store.

Yeah, call me old & crazy ... but lies, deceit, bribery, and ignorance of husbandry are not acceptable ... and to come here and ask how to convince someone to buy herps for you?

I realize you must be really young. But geez

Actually, Laura, I'm a college student... I earned a full ride to a private university through my hard work in my studies in high school. I live at home during the summers with my parents. My mother would "kill me" because she doesn't fully understand why I love these creatures. She is terrified of snakes and only kind of likes my lizards I already have. I have paid for EVERYTHING with my geckos and plan on continuing in that fashion. I have money in the bank that I am careful not to spend too frivolously. In fact this summer if I can't get the unpaid internship at the pathology lab to work out with my summer research I've applied for, I'm looking into applying at a new local pet store to get a little extra cash on top of what I will get from my summer research position.

I understand your concerns. There are a lot of people out there who make mistakes and jump into things before they are ready. But I'm not some silly little kid who doesn't know what she is doing. I love my leos and I will love my cresties no matter when or from who I get them. And I will love my leachies and my sand boas and my ball pythons or whatever I end up getting in the future. And I will always give them the best care I can. I always do research on my animals, especially now that I know a little better that I need to do a lot of preparatory research before considering an animal. I am always eager to learn new things, better information.

I'm not doing this frivolously. I'm doing this because I think I am ready to take on the responsibility (and adorableness!) of crested geckos. It will be a fun, new, different experience than what I already have experienced.