Leopard Gecko Care

General Information:

Leopard Geckos are among the most popular geckos kept by reptile enthusiasts. They come in a variety of colors and patterns, have great temperaments, and are easy to maintain. Leopard Geckos can easily be handled 5-10 minutes each day without getting stressed. This makes them an ideal pet for anyone looking to purchase their first reptile.

The Leopard Geckos we keep today are very different from their descendants in the wild and have different housing and substrate needs because they were born and raised in captivity. We use and highly recommend each of the items in the sections below. All Leopard Geckos have basic needs such as fresh water, appropriately sized food, heat, and shelter. With these basic items, your new leopard gecko will thrive as he makes the adjustment to his new home.

Housing:

Juvenile Leopard Geckos (15-35 grams) can be housed in a 10 gallon glass aquarium with ease, and can even live in this space for the remainder of their lives. We do recommend that adult geckos above 70 grams be housed in a 15 gallon tank. You may house several females in one enclosure together, just make sure you watch them carefully to prevent bullying over food or territory. When introducing new geckos to an existing habitat, you should introduce the two or more females outside of their proposed enclosure in a 'safe' area and let them get used to each other before introducing them to their new home. This will help you monitor them for bullying.

You should never house male leopard geckos together as they are highly territorial and can injure or possibly kill each other. Another good rule of thumb when housing geckos together is to make sure there is no more than a 10 gram difference in their size.

Substrate:

We highly recommend using paper towel as substrate for your leopard geckos. It is clean, sanitary and inexpensive to use. As as alternative, you may also use non-printed newspaper or reptile carpet. Under no circumstance should you use sand as a substrate for your leopard geckos as it may cause impaction and possibly lead to death.

Heat - Leopard Geckos eat and digest their food best when belly heat is used. They must have a 'hot spot' in their enclosures so they can thermoregulate their body temperatures throughout the day. We recommend purchasing a reptile heating pad($10) for the bottom of the warm side of your tank and a rheostat ($15) to help control the temperature and maintain a constant 90-94 degrees on the hot spot. You want to use a thermometer or temperature gun to measure your temperatures at the bottom of the tank where the leopard geckos belly touches the substrate. Ambient heat/belly heat of above 94 degrees is extremely too warm for your leopard gecko! Be sure to maintain the other end of the tank at room temperature (70-74°).

Shelter - Leopard Geckos are nocturnal and must be provided with a dark, moist hide at all times. This can be filled with moist paper towel, sphagnum moss or vermiculite. Ideally, there should also be another hide on the opposite side of the enclosure.

Supplements/Water - We use Rep-Cal supplements for all of our reptiles. It is very important that your gecko is provided with access to fine powered calcium at all times, as well as fresh water. You can accomplish this by providing a separate dish filled with calcium, or by dusting the food items with calcium regularly. We also highly recommend providing your animals with a regular vitamin supplement as well, you can dust your feeders with this once a week in order to provide your animals with the proper amount of nutrients.

Feeding:

We feed mealworms, dubias, superworms and crickets at our facility. You can purchase feeders from your local pet store or online directly from the feeder suppliers if you need large qualities. Be careful not to feed your gecko anything larger than 3/4 the size of their head to prevent choking. Providing a variety of foods is highly recommended. It is also very important that the food you supply is ‘gut loaded’ to provide the proper nutrients for your gecko. You can use any commercial gut load, or provide the feeders with a mix of cereal, dog/cat food, leafy greens, and/or carrots.

Handling and Quarantine:

We recommend quarantining your new gecko for a minimum of 30 days. When beginning to handle your Leopard Gecko, we recommend that you offer your hand slowly with your palm up, before picking up your gecko. Never pick up your gecko by its tail, as this may cause the tail to “drop”, or detach and it may become vulnerable to disease and infection.

©2010 Brittney Gougeon - Do Not Duplicate Without Permission