My standard answer to "Mum can we have a gecko" is NO NO AND THRICE NO

[Kbear]

...but please give me your reasons why having a gecko is a BAD idea.

My kids (13 and 10) are pleading, will pay for it and the home for it themselves and DH says yes.

I need good solid reasons. Hit me.

Great reasons everyone, thanks. I knew I was right, there are no good reasons for having a reptile in your house. :)

You have to feed it live food.

We have two and they are cute and harmless. They eat crickets or mealworms. I think the kids may get bored as they are nocturnal...?

Leopard geckos are great starter lizards, but if you want reasons why having a gecko is a bad idea, an obvious one is that the crickets are noisy buggers and you will have some escapees and they will take up residence under/behind the fridge and chirp all bloody night long. Cats make great cricket hunters though, so maybe get a kitten at the same time

The second and only other negative (in your eyes) that I can think of is that I called them starter lizards for good reason. Once your kids get into reptiles, they will not want to stop at a gecko, in my experience