This last Saturday, Eliza Hansbrow got the news from her dad.

"What do you mean we're done with geckos?"

The freshman studying accounting with a minor in Chinese learned her family had sold the last hundred geckos from their reptile breeding business.

Although the business continues, the sale marked the end of the family's years of breeding geckos, fully shifting the operation to breeding frogs. Hansbrow had grown up around geckos as a big part of the business, and now they were gone.

The Early Years

Her family’s business, Gecko Daddy, located in Spanish Fork, Utah, began years before she was born. What started as a way for her father and uncle to earn some extra money grew into a reptile and amphibian breeding operation that ships animals around the world.

Over the years, the family developed several leopard gecko color variants and built up collections of rare frogs, including giant monkey tree frogs, Burmeister's leaf frogs and more.

As the business grew, Hansbrow’s family made large-scale renovations to their home, including a full greenhouse for frog breeding. At their peak, the Hansbrows cared for thousands reptiles.

Hansbrow said it's a full-time job taking care of the animals in their collection. The hours fluctuate depending on the amphibians' needs.

Hansbrow explained that her Saturdays often looked different than her friends growing up.

Her friends would go up to her door and ask "Hey, can Eliza hang out?"

The response of her parents would often be, "No, she has to clean her geckos and ... her frogs first.”

Growing Responsibility

As Hansbrow grew, so did her responsibilities.

Caring for the animals brought late nights, early mornings and unexpected emergencies. Sometimes her father would wake her in the middle of the night for surprise tasks.

Hansbrow recalled that her father would burst into her room while she was fast asleep and say, "Get up. I need you to crawl into the greenhouse and very carefully get this [frog] nest out of there."

She explained that the experience has influenced the way she handles responsibility today.

“You learn very quickly that if you don’t take care of something, it’s going to die,” Hansbrow said.

The Future of Gecko Daddy

Before coming to BYU-Idaho, Hansbrow worried about leaving the family business behind. While gone, there would be animals to care for, and one less set of hands to help.

"I was [worried about] what [would happen] to the animals I was taking care of," Hansbrow said. "What would happen to all of the ... things I was doing to make everyone else's jobs easier?"

This concern has only grown since she decided to take over Gecko Daddy when her dad retires.

Hansbrow said the decision came after talking with her father before leaving on a mission for the Church.

Since then, she has become more involved in the business and has started thinking about where she wants to take it in the future.

Hansbrow explained that studying accounting at BYUI was part of that plan. While she had considered studying zoology, she decided she needed to learn more about how to run the business, as she already had more than enough knowledge on the animals she cares for.

Her hopes are to continue expanding the business and eventually create an educational space where people can learn more about reptiles and amphibians.

Hansbrow said that even with the geckos gone, there is still a lot of work to do.

Her family continues to care for thousands of frogs, and Hansbrow said there are new species she wants to work with one day.

After spending years caring for these animals, she said the work has taught her to find enjoyment in difficult things.

“Just have joy in what you are doing,” Hansbrow said. “Even when it’s hard, you can always have fun.”