In Amanda Toussaint’s University of New England dorm, Blink the leopard gecko is legend.

The way he sits on Toussaint’s shoulders as she walks down the hall. The way he gives her – and only her – a quick lick on the nose. The way he wanders around her bed while she studies.

“He thinks he owns the place,” she said as Blink sauntered up her arm.

Toussaint adopted the brown-spotted, bumpy-skinned lizard two-and-a-half years ago from a breeder. Before he was born, the incubator temperature was wrong, killing some of Blink’s brothers and sisters, damaging others. Blink was born blind.

Toussaint was an animal lover who always wanted a lizard. Even though he would need special care, including daily handfeedings, she agreed to take him.

“He was a misfit. He was an oddball,” she said. “I wanted to make sure he got good care, and I knew I could give him that.”

Today, Blink can see, though his eyes are round instead of the normal almond-shaped. He can – and does – eat well on his own.

“He’s kind of chubby,” Toussaint said.

When Toussaint went to college to study animal behavior, she left two cats and two bearded dragons at home. But Blink went with her.

He’d been held, cuddled and cooed at, so he was laid-back, friendly. At just about 9 inches long, he enjoyed walking along people’s arms and meandering around Toussaint as she sat on her bed or studied.

When she walked through the halls of her dorm, Toussaint began carrying Blink with her on her shoulders.

“It was an ice breaker,” she said.

Many other students clamored to hold the little lizard. One instructor asked Toussaint to bring Blink to class. Another offered to gecko-sit him when Toussaint went away.

During vacations, Toussaint brings Blink back home to Lewiston. When it’s a long break, his 10-gallon tank comes with him. When it’s a short vacation, he stays in a tank at Pet Quarters in Auburn, where Toussiant works.

During her shifts, Toussaint takes him out to show customers how friendly lizards can be if they’re given the right attention.

“He’s very sweet, very mellow. He even gives kisses,” Toussaint said, though Blink refuses to kiss anyone but her.

Soon to be a college senior, Toussaint plans to go to graduate school, earn a doctoral degree and work for a zoo in conservation research. It’s likely that Blink will be with her every step of the way.

Leopard geckos can live 20 years or longer.

“Wherever I go, he’s coming,” Toussaint said. “He’s not going anywhere.”