Need advice on Leopard Geckos?

Question

I noticed alot of people on here have leos. I am looking into purchasing one. I am new to the whole reptile thing and I heard that leos are great for beginners. I wanted to gather as much information on these little critters as possible. i always go into things whole heartly. I always want to know as much a possible, before I get into something, because pets are something to commit to. Plus I do not know any one who would purchase a pet just to have it die. I have read many care sheets, but I find the best info comes from experienced owners. My eperiences in reptiles include. Caring for 6 Firebelly toads, and caring for a Russian Tortoise...

Answer 1

first congrats on having the intelligence and responsibility to ask about an animal BEFORE you get it..

i would look into crested geckos before a leopard gecko. they can be fed a diet of water, baby food, and vitiman powder as adults, but need crickets when young. they look cooler, and will eat from your hand. i dont have anything against leos, but i like cresteds more.just make sure either way you go that you get a proper uv light, not a plant light, but a reptile uv light, and you shake the crickets in a reptile vitamin powder. thats pretty much it. make sure you mist them also. you should put a water bowl in with them, but also mist them at least once a day or so because in the wild they drink from rain drops on leaves, so they might not readily drink from a bowl. good luck!

www.thecrestedgecko.com



Crested gecko care sheet

Housing:
Crested geckos do well when housed solo, but females can be housed in small groups. Males should not be housed together. If you house a male with a female(s) (only do this with adults), be prepared for breeding and egg-laying. A 20-gallon enclosure is a good minimum size for adults.
Logs, plants (live or fake), vines, and some rocks for basking and hiding are preferred enclosure furniture. Substrate choices can include bed-a-beast (coconut fiber), peat moss, sphagnum moss, and cypress mulch (many people mix and match these materials). Cresteds can easily climb glass will often retire on the sides of their enclosure. For this reason, secure lids are a must.

Heating/Lighting:
Temperatures may range from 70 to the mid-80s. We suggest using low-wattage light bulbs if a heat source is necessary (ie. if you keep your house cool). Place the heat source on one side of the tank only. Red bulbs are nice for viewing nocturnal geckos. We also suggest using fluorescent UV bulbs during the day. When used in conjunction with a timer, fluorescents pronounce the day/night and seasonal cycles and also provide small temperature variations. Using fluorescent bulbs that produce UVB helps geckos metabolize calcium and, thereby, help avoid metabolic bone disease (MBD). For those who would spare no expense for their geckos, we would actually suggest using low-level UVB fluorescent bulbs for all geckos, but especially arboreals.

Water:
We suggest misting cresteds at least once per day depending on the humidty of your town/house. After misting, crested geckos normally drink water from the different surfaces around their enclosure or off of themselves. For this reason, we do not use water dishes but rely on misting to provide our cresteds with water. Make sure the substrate does not remain saturated for extended periods of time. Use warm water when you mist for better results. Also, filtered water is better than straight tap water.

Food:
Cresteds mainly eat crickets and baby food. Peach and apricot seem to be the favorite baby food, but both meat and fruit baby foods can be offered. Young cresteds and males tend to be more cricket oriented. Make sure that small cresteds get crickets no larger that the space between their eyes. Be sure you acquire your crickets from a clean source and feed them fresh food (you may use "gutload" if you like) and water. Do not feed moldy food to your crickets (this can cause serious disease).

Supplementation:
Be sure to supplement the diet with calcium and D3 and vitamins. We suggest a 1.3 ratio of herptivite to reptical calcium with D3. Place crickets in a tall cup, add the supplements and shake to coat crickets. Do this every other day for young geckos and then taper off to once or twice a week for adults (especially reduce the vitamin supplements). Make sure to offer more calcium to gravid females. You may also offer the supplements in the baby food.


www.leopardgecko.com
Leopard Gecko Care

Eublepharis macularius

© 1995 Chris Norman, with additional information for leopard gecko keepers



Range
Leopard geckos are found in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.



Selection
When selecting your gecko look for obvious signs of health. The gecko should be alert and if possible try and see the lizard feed. Make sure the gecko is captive bred and not imported. With the massive quantities of geckos being produced by captive breeders each year this shouldn't be a problem.



Appearance
Leopard geckos are among the largest geckos with adults attaining a length of around 8 or 9 inches. Most leopard geckos have a yellow background with brown spots covering the adults. Juvenile geckos have a predominantly striped pattern that fades to the spotted pattern with age. They also have a very obvious outer ear and differ from many geckos in that they have eyelids and lack adhesive lamellae, meaning they can't walk up vertical services.



Housing
An aquarium is a perfect home although many people have success with plastic sweater boxes. Since they are a terrestrial species, a long aquarium is better than a high one. A 20 gallon long aquarium is adequate for 3 or 4 geckos. Make sure that you only have one male per enclosure as males will fight each other. The substrate can be anything from sand to newspaper. Sand creates the most natural setup, and you can buy playground sand from any hardware store. Rocks and logs can make the terrarium more natural looking and they provide your lizards with places to climb and get exercise. A hide box is also recommended for each lizard for use in times or conflict and for sleeping.



Lighting and Temperature
Leopard geckos are a nocturnal species so no form of UV lighting is necessary. A simple spotlight with the appropriate wattage bulb can provide both daytime light and heat. Daytime temperatures should be around 90 and the nighttime temps can go down in the low 70s. When I say 90 degrees I mean this should be the temperature directly under the spotlight. This will allow the rest of the cage to remain from anywhere to the 80's to room temperature. I feel that it's best to provide any reptile with a temperature gradient and let them regulate their temperature. I have problems with undertank heating pads and hot rocks as they don't raise the ambient air temperature in the tank and their surfaces often produce extremely high temperatures.



Feeding and Watering
Leopard geckos are relatively easy to feed because they will thrive on insects. A staple of crickets along with occasional waxworms and mealworms make a good diet. Adult geckos can also be fed an occasional pinkie mouse. Juveniles can be feed every day and adults every other day. Supplementation is a must for leopard geckos. Two supplements should be used: one that is just calcium/D3 and another that is a reptile multivitamin. Juveniles should be supplemented at every feeding and adults at every other feeding. Gravid females should also be supplemented at every feeding to make up for the large nutritional depletion caused by egg laying. Insects can be coated with these supplements and it's always a good idea to feed the insects a high quality diet so as to "gut-load" them and increase their nutritional value. If your geckos don't mind being handled it may be a good idea to feed them in a separate container. This reduces the chance of impaction from ingesting the substrate in the aquarium and allows for you to monitor how much each gecko is eating.

A shallow water dish should be provided at all times and changed daily to stop bacteria and fungus growth. Allowing leopard geckos access to a moist area is a good idea that aids in shedding. Even though they come from arid climates their burrows tend to have moderate humidity. People can supply this humidity by moistening the area under their hide boxes. Make sure that the overall cage isn't wet or overly humid.



Breeding
Leopard geckos are relatively easy to breed. One male will mate with several females so people tend to keep them in groups of one male to 3 or 4 females. Pregnant females can usually be detected because of a bump on each side of her abdomen. If provided with a laying box females will tend to use it. Something like a cool whip tub with a hole cut in the side that is filled with moist moss or vermiculite will provide an attractive place for the females. Females will usually produce multiple clutches of eggs during breeding season. The eggs should be removed from the egg laying box and incubated in vermiculite with a 1:1 ratio of water to vermiculite by weight. The plastic shoebox inside of a ten gallon aquarium makes an adequate incubator. If incubated at 85 degrees they should hatch in around two months. A higher incubation temperature will produce more females although de Vosjoli mentions that this may result in overly aggressive females. The newborn geckos will not eat until after their first shed (usually after about a week). they can then be started on appropriately sized insects. It's also best to house them separate, such as in plastic shoeboxes.



Price
With so much captive breeding going on the price of leopard geckos has decreased dramatically. In pet stores they still usually cost between $60 and $70, at least they do in Maine at the moment. They can be purchased much cheaper directly from breeders or at reptile expos. It's not uncommon to see them for $20-25 for one.



This is an overview of leopard gecko care. Some recommended reading is:

Brant, Bill. "Leopard Geckos" Reptiles, pg. 16-22, April 1994.

Coborn, John. Snakes and Lizards...Their Care and Breeding in Captivity. Tetra Press. 1987.

de Vosjoli, Philippe. The General Care and Maintenance of Leopard Geckos and African Fat-tailed Geckos. Advanced Vivarium Systems.1990.

Seufer, Hermann. Keeping and Breeding Geckos. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. 1991.

A Note From the Webmaster...
The above article was written by Chris Norman. Based on email I've received and posts I've read through the the years, I have appended the following excerpts are from de Vosjoli's book, The General Care and Maintenance of Leopard Geckos (1990, Advanced Vivarium Systems, Lakeside CA):



Sexing Leopard Geckos
There is little sexual dimorphism between males and females. In general, males are more heavy-bodied than females, with broader heads and thicker necks. The best way to sex them is to look at the ventral side. Males have a V-shaped row of pre-anal pores which exude a waxy substance. Hemipenal bulges can be seen at the base of the tail of sexually mature males. Females have pre-anal "pits" - pores which are not filled nor exuding the waxy plugs. Juveniles can be sexed as early as one month of age with some degree of reliability - if you use a 10X magnifying glass. (page 4)



Temperature-Dependent Sex Determination in Leopard Geckos
Recent studies have confirmed that the sex of leopard geckos is temperature determined. If the eggs are incubated at a temperature of 79F, virtually all of the offspring will be female. At a temperature of 85F, one can expect more or less equal ratios of males and females. At 90F, the great majority of the hatchlings will be males. At 92F, the hatchlings are virtually all males. Furthermore, research has shown that females that have hatched from eggs incubated at high temperatures, called "hot females", will be unusually aggressive and demonstrate male behavior traits and therefore will be unsuitable for breeding. Herpetoculturists, depending on their goals, will have to determine the preferred incubation temperature(s) for their purposes. When large-scale breeding for the pet trade is a primary goal, breeding for females is more desirable because the latter can be kept in groups. (page 27)

Male leopard geckos are harem breeders. As such, they should not be kept with less than 3 females. Being territorial and aggressive over breeding rights, two males should not be kept together. While females generally get along with each other and with males, there may be some incompatibility. This may result in outright attacks, or preventing, actively or through intimidation, others from free access to food, sleeping, basking, or other areas in the enclosure. If this occurs, the individuals must be housed in separate enclosures. For more information, see the Zulich's leopard gecko article.

Answer 2

Leopard Geckos make nice pets. The required minimum equipment is a 10 gallon critter combo(or similar Setup), under tank heater, 8" dome reflector w/ceramic core, night bulb of at least 60-75 watts (Leopard Geckos are nocturnal),
10lbs. calcium sand, sand sifter, ceramic water dish that is oblong or oval shaped and about 1-2" deep, reptile thermometer and decorative hiding place.
Keep the under tank heater and light on the same side of the tank. Be sure the gecko is able to reach up to bask in the nightlight.
Depends on where the gecko is purchased on the kind of live food it will eat. Some prefer crickets, while others only want meal worms. Diet can be supplemented with wax worms. Older geckos like pink mice. Very important to purchase food that is not too large and hard to swallow. Geckos also like to lick an occasional piece of banana, baby pears or peaches. Keep all insects in a separate container until ready to feed. Excessive live insects in the tank, could mean an eyeless or dead gecko.
Leopard gecko coloration changes from hatch-ling to adult and there are many beautiful color variations. We sell tangerine, high yellow, lavender and other mutations.
The gecko will shed the whole skin as it grows and consume it. During that time, mist the cage occasionally to moisten the skin. Have lots of fun with this long lived reptile.

Answer 3

Hi Tom, 1. You can handle your leo everyday if you wish. The more you handle either the more used to you they will get and seem more tame. Leos tails only drop if they are pulled when they are adults. Hatchlings can drop their tails from being frightened. 2. Leopard Geckos are nocturnal so you feed primarily at night or early morning since you wake up early for your school. Leopard geckos can't over eat so feed mealworms or superworms accordingly to the size of the leo you get. I don't recommend feeding crickets because they are natural carriers of pinworms and coccidia. Let your leo eat as much as it wants for 15 minutes. You should dust the prey items with Phosphorus free and D3 free calcium every feeding time and supplement with vitamins every week. Also have a calcium dish in the enclosure at all times. They know when they need it. 3. For substrates you can use paper towels, newspapers, repti carpet, or tile. I recommend slate tile since you still want a more natural setting and it holds heat great. Sand is pretty bad. There is always an impaction risk that I don't ever wish to take. Sand also dries out their toes which can lead to shedding problems.

Answer 4

Hello....it's kind of difficult to name all they need...so it's best if you just look @ sites or care sheets...which is why I direct most people to the reptile store/ site we use...the jest is they need 85-90 degrees warmth, UV light - plant grow lite, best size aquairum if you use that is 20 gal. withe Secure screen tops.. hidey huts, or some well placed logs or short fake plants too so they can hide & lick from when you mist daily their habitats, water dish..one they can soak in if they wish & they are meat eaters - crickets, meal or waz worms, things like that ..start up cost can run around $100 not including the gecko, they are solitary, so usually only one @ a time in one tank / vivarium !!Take Care :)

Answer 5

first i agree with ryan congrats on taking the responsibility to know what your getting into just wanteed to add another great site www.kingsnake.com check out the leopard gecko forum and you can ask more specific questions about the things your not sure about and most every one on there knows what they are taking about. good luck leos are awesome little critters they were my first reptile

Answer 6

See the websites for yourself.
Take care :)

Answer 7

Thanks for answering my fish question! It helped a lot!