Lifestyle

Gecko Can’t Stop Grinning, and the World is Smiling Back

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Kohaku’s sweet smile is spreading across the internet causing onlookers to wonder, How can a reptile grin be so adorable?

Bored Panda states that Kohaku’s sudden ascent to fame is thanks to YouTuber Taylor Nicole Dean who tweeted a photo of the grinning creature alongside his toy gecko. The admiration for Kohaku spread across social media platforms and now his Instagram has 22.4K followers! Scrolling through the little guy’s feed will have even those who are grossed out by reptiles breaking into a smile.

According to Reptiles Magazine, leopard geckos like Kohaku have “been captive bred in the United States for more than 30 years and is one of the most commonly kept lizards today.” Due to their beautiful, varied colors and patterns, and endearing nature of having a non-stop grin, there’s a large community of collectors and breeders selling geckos for $20 to $3,000.

A gecko can live a healthy life spanning anywhere from 6 – 10 years to all the way up to 20 years-old. Once they’re full-grown, leopard geckos can be tamed to tolerate human touch in about a week by crawling “through loose fingers and hand-over-hand for 10 to 15 minutes per day.” And who could say no to holding something with such a sweet face?