Agreed! 
It’s easy for us to tut-tut, and to wring our hands about all the species that humans spread around the world:
- Pigs and rats, as humans spread around the South Pacific
- British folks trying to recreate British fauna during the reign of the British Empire (in Australia, and in other places)
- Etc.
But I think the 100+ replies above show that there are shades of gray . . .
SoFla (South Florida, in the USA) is one of the most interesting places in the world for introduced (and sometimes invasive) species, due to a combination of factors:
- A relatively rich population that can afford pets from around the world
- A large population centre, which creates a high demand for non-native plants and animals
- A subtropical climate that allows many escapees to survive
- A climate that is prone to hurricanes, which can allow captive animals to escape their pens, and can also “spread things around”
- A shipping hub that receives cargo shipments from around the world, which may be “contaminated” with non-native plants and animals
You can read about some of the non-native organisms found in Florida here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_invasive_species_in_Florida
Do you have any favourites on that list? 
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A relevant post I made on a similarly interesting thread:
If an organism is a non-native invasive it should always be removed humanely from the environment. The controversy should not be what to do with an identified invasive species, but what constitutes an invasive species. It’s the opinion of some scientists that while non-native species add extra strain to the environment, they balance themselves out by participating in the environment (they both consume more energy, but add more energy). This is almost certainly the case in my area of SFL, where the urban environment can no longer sustain native species, but can support adaptable exotic (but not invasive) species. And often exotic species occupy new niches and don’t compete with native species, an example being anole species in FL. The four widespread species (green, brown, bark, and knight anoles) occupy completely different niches (twig dweller, terrestrial, trunk dweller, canopy giant respectively), and apparently seem to coexist. The python issue is more complicated however. Their primary range is some of the last remaining true wilderness in Florida (the Everglades and Big Cypress), rather than an already degraded environment. Are they simply an exotic, or a destructive invasive? The evidence seems to point to pythons having a serious negative impact on native small mammal populations, and thus they should be humanely removed, but that is far from settled. Regardless they are one of the most beautiful and impressive animals I’ve had the privilege of observing in the wild.
In conclusion, if an animal is not sustainable in the environment it needs to be removed. But as humans themselves are part of the environment, we can affect our environment by introducing exotics, which can sometimes improve rather than degrade the environment. So we need to scientifically discern whether an exotic is beneficial or harmful (invasive) to the environment before removing it.
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Is this Hemidactylus turcicus in the US?
With the popularity of Lepidodactylus lugubris as a pet, and it’s parthenogenic nature, it seems like it ought to be a big problem. It is already widespread, but perhaps it’s so small that it doesn’t compete with the adults of native species?
If they were not too damaging, I could imagine worse things than a cute little gecko brightening my day : )
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There are several Hemidactylus in the US. House geckos are probably similar to Brahminy Blind Snakes Indotyphlops braminus, which are parthenogenetic and spread easily, but fill a niche not occupied by native species and because they are so small likely don’t pose any threat to native wildlife. In fact many of the invertebrates geckos (and blind snakes) are eating are probably non-native, since they mostly use urban and suburban habitats. Interestingly, the different introduced species of house geckos do compete with each other; in FL H. mabouia has mostly displaced turcicus and garnotii, which were formerly the dominant species. Lepidodactylus lugubris might be more destructive since I think most of it’s introduced range already have plenty of native geckos, but then again tropical areas (obviously excluding isolated islands) might be more able to sustain a new species without negative effect. Even if a non-native organism consumes more energy from the environment than is natural, it will also input more energy, and potentially will have either no impact or a positive impact, so it’s possible that this is the case with Lepidodactylus lugubris, especially since it’s a small species.
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Large yellow underwings are definitely my favorite invasive species in North America. They’re such cool moths!
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I love starlings, they have such pretty feathers
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My favourites are monk parakeets. Parakeets are always fun and these build their own nests and so do not compete with other species for tree holes. If you see large screeching groups flying around, you can also see that you should never have a (single) parakeet as pet.
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Joro spider :)
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Love your profile picture!
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Just an old drawing I made :)
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