How to Properly Care for Your Leopard Gecko

If, like me, you are an animal lover, but have limited space or live in an apartment where pets are not allowed, then turning to the reptile world may be a solution to your dilemma. Consider a leopard gecko. They are excellent for first-time reptile owners because they are relatively easy to care for, take up little space, can live up to twenty years, and will actually become quite tame once they’ve reached adulthood.

The leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius, is found in the wild throughout the northern parts of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Although they are still plentiful in their natural habitat, the ones purchased at the pet store are captive-bred. There is plenty of information obtainable about breeding them, because for decades, the leopard gecko was the only lizard being bred in captivity generation-after-generation. Nowadays they are available in a wide variety of colors and patterns due to the process of selective captive breeding. You can choose from high yellow, jungle striped, leucistic, ghost and even albino.

Leopard geckos are terrestrial, which means they live on the ground, and they are nocturnal, mostly active at night. The adults tolerate handling quite well, but it is recommended that you limit this to an occasional thing. Remember, they are not puppies. Above all when handling, never pick them up by their tail. Be especially mindful of this if children are involved, as they can sometimes be rough without meaning to be. The tail may look sturdy enough, but it will break off leading to an unpleasant surprise. Don’t panic if this should happen, however, because the tail can be regrown, but it’s best for everyone involved not to put it to the to the test.

Description

A leopard gecko has a triangular head and a large, heavy tail used for storing fat. They can grow up to 8 or 10 inches. Its skin is bumpy and heavily patterned to camouflage it from predators. They have moveable eyelids but lack toe pads.

Environment and Housing

Since leopard geckos have some very precise environmental needs it is recommended that you have the proper environment set up before you bring your new leopard gecko home. A few days of testing would be best so that you can determine if the proper temperature and humidity can be maintained. I know you’re anxious to bring your new pet home, but proceeding with caution will lessen the stress on both the gecko and you.

Leopard geckos may be kept in a glass aquarium or terrarium — do not use plastic that offers 10″ x 10″ of floor space for each gecko living there and that is at least 12″ high. Avoid placing the gecko cage on t he floor and maintain a temperature of 82-88 degrees F for both day and night. Make certain to have a screen top for your cage to prevent escapes, essential if you have young children or cats.

The following are some things you need to take into consideration about the inside of the enclosure:

1. Substrate

   Use paper towels or newspaper as a substrate for the cage bottom. These might not be the most attractive substrates, but they are the safest and cost the least.

   Never use sand or gravel as a substrate since geckos may eat this material, either on purpose or scooping up a mouthful or two going after their live food, and become impacted. This is a severe blockage of the digestive tract, and can eventually lead to the death of your gecko.

2. Heating

   The top three ways of heating the cage are: One is to use a red or black night incandescent heat light. For a 10 gallon tank a 60 watt bulb should be fine, depending on room temperature. Place the heat light on one end of the cage. Doing this will keep that side warmest and allow the gecko freedom to choose to move to the warmer side with the light or to the colder side without the light as needed to regulate body temperature. Another way of heating the cage is to use and under tank heat mat. Place it under the bottom glass on one side of the tank. This also gives your gecko a warm and a cool place to go. You can also use reptile heat tapes.    

   Be very careful about heating the cage correctly because nature has designed leopard geckos so that they are ectothermic, meaning that they cannot produce their own heat, so their body temperatures depend on the external environment, unlike with humans who rely on their internal metabolism.      

   Never use a hot rock or heat rock: Hot rocks heat unevenly and are notorious for causing severe thermal burns.

3. Hiding Areas

   A 6″ long plastic container or shoe box will do for a hide box. You should have at least two hides in the enclosure one near and one farther away from your heat source. Geckos need a warm hiding spot and a cold humid hiding spot. Put one hide box on the side with the heat light and put the humid hide box on the side that does not have the heat light. For the humid hide box, fill the container with moist peat moss and cut a 1 1/2″ diameter hole in the lid or side to serve as an entrance for your pet. A humid hide box is needed so that the gecko can go in it to shed. The humidity helps ease the old skin off, which, incidentally — fainters beware! — the gecko will then eat. The humid box should be cleaned out every week and kept moist but not soggy.

4. Activity Areas

   There should always be some open space for your gecko to roam around in . Cramped quarters will stress out your pet.

5. Basking Areas

   You should have at least one basking spot in the enclosure for a single leopard gecko.

6. Warning

   Male leopard geckos should never be housed together as they will fight and may even kill each other. A male can be housed with several females without any problem.

7. Shade

   Never let direct sunlight strike your cage, since it will overheat quickly, the glass acting like a magnifying glass to the sun, and kill your pet.

Feeding

1. Food Dish

   Use a gallon jar lid or shallow plant dish to serve as a food bowl.

2. Water

   Provide water in a shallow bowl that won’t spill. This should be cleaned out weekly.

3. Diet

   A diet of mealworms and crickets will suffice to keep your leopard gecko healthy. Keep in mind that captive geckos do not have access to the types of feeder insects that they would in the wild. If you want, it isn’t a bad idea to provide some variety in feeder insects to create a more balanced diet. Feeder insects you may want to use are silkworms, mealworms, butterworms, and crickets with the legs on one side of the body pulled off. No, this isn’t just plain old cricket abuse. There is a very good reason for doing this. Crickets will bite your geckos while they sleep, and these bites are prone to infection, so if you pull off one side of their legs then they cannot move around the cage and get to the gecko while he is unaware. This is also a good way to prevent them from climbing out of the cage, something to keep in mind if anyone in the family is squeamish about insects. Gutload feeder insects for a day before putting them in with the gecko.

4. Vitamin/Mineral Supplements

   For young geckos feeder insects should be dusted every other feeding or place a small feeder dish with supplement in it and some mealworms in the cage. For adults and babies a shallow dish or a plastic lid in the cage with a teaspoon of calcium powder on it will do nicely. The geckos will lick the calcium powder as needed. You will still need to dust feeder insects every other feeding though with a vitamin supplement for your baby and young geckos. Adults use a vitamin supplement once a week.

Daily Chores

1. Remove any waste matter, shed skin and other debris.
2. Clean and disinfect objects soiled by fecal matter.
3. Replace substrate if necessary.

Weekly Chores

1. Thorough cleaning and disinfecting of the enclosure. For the safety of your gecko wash the glass of the enclosure only with water. Chemicals may sicken or even kill it.
2. Thorough cleaning and disinfecting of all interior items.
3. Replace substrate if necessary.

Reproduction

Mating and egg laying usually occur in winter or early spring. A healthy female gecko will lay two fertile eggs. An interesting fact about leopard gecko eggs is that they will continue to expand and grow after being laid. However, this will not happen if the conditions are not right, so you will need to make sure you use the right incubation and have the correct amount of moisture. Eggs should be set in a container with about 3 inches of damp vermiculite, sand, or peat moss. They should be buried no more than halfway. Any clear plastic container with holes cut in it for circulation will serve the purpose. Regulating the moisture content is vital. Too much water and the eggs will grow fungus. Too little and they will dry out.

Incubation

Incubating the leopard gecko eggs in a Styrofoam incubator is the best way to go. It’s fairly cheap and will hold many eggs in their containers. An incubator will also do the job of regulating the temperature. They come with a large window so that you can check on the eggs without opening it and causing the heat level to fluctuate. Temperature determines what sex the gecko will be. If the eggs are kept warmer during incubation, around 92 degrees F, they will have males. 80 degrees F will produce females. Do not go any lower than 75 degrees or higher than 95 degrees F. It will kill the eggs. Eggs will hatch within 6 to 12 weeks depending on the temperature.

It may sound like a lot of work caring for one or more leopard geckos, but it can really be fairly easy. All you have to do is be a responsible pet owner and make certain that your gecko’s basic needs are met. If you aren’t prepared to do that, then the answer is simple. Don’t get one. And if you can’t manage even that much, then you certainly aren’t a good candidate to own any other type of pet either. But if you treat your leopard gecko well and are willing to take the time and follow the recommendations above, then you will be the proud owner of a happy, healthy, sometimes intriguing, always entertaining, fun pet.