FAQ about Leopard Geckos

Life Span: Leopard Geckos can live to be 20 years and over when raised and cared for properly.

Size: At adulthood(which is reached by about 18 months of age), males can be expected to be about 9 inches, adult females 8 inches. Some leopard geckos have grown to 12 inches.

General Description: Adult leopard geckos are yellow on the top with black spots all over them. The tail is banded white and light black, they are white on the bottom. Young are banded black, yellow and some white.

Scientific Name: Eubledharius macularius

Expected Cost: From $20.00 to $80.00.

Sexing

Males have a row of V-shape pores right above the base of their tails. The male sex determination can be made when the gecko is 1 month old.

Group Living

It is best to house geckos in individual cages from one another. If you are going to put leopard geckos together, you should have only one male if you also have females because (WARNING!) males will fight due to their territorial instincts once they are in contact with a female. Females are less aggessive toward one another, however, they will fight for food. I would not put leopard geckos with aggressive temperments together. If they do fight, one may drop it’s tail and lose all it’s food and some water storage.

Feeding

Crickets, mealworms, waxworms, and pinkie mice. Pinkie mice should be a treat for adult Leopard Geckos and do not have to be a part of the staple diet. All food must be no longer than the length of the gecko’s head and must be no wider than half the width of it’s head. Once a week, food must be dusted with calcium powder or gut-load food from a pet store or enriched with foods high in calcium. Any uneaten crickets should be removed from the geckos cage within 12-24 hours of feeding.

Watering

Water should be kept in a shallow water dish or other shallow container. Water must be changed every 2 to 3 days.

Nails

Leopard geckos have tiny claws that don’t hurt and they do not have to be cut.

Shedding

Mine sheds about every three weeks. Leopard geckos skin does not come off in bits or pieces; they bite on to their skin and eat it to get vitamins from it, so there is not going to be any skin in your cage.

Activity

Leopard geckos are the most active at night, but may come out during the day.

Handling

Leopard geckos are very tame and once you get them in your hand they are clam.

Noise

Leopard geckos generally do not make any noise like most geckos such as the Tokay, House, or the Barking geckos. However, they can hiss and/or chirp when they are frightened or displeased with the way they are being handled.

Housing

One or two geckos can be kept in a 10-gallon tank with a secure top. The top should be kept on even tough they can’t easily get out, you need to keep it on especially if you have a cat or dog.

Substrate

Kids play sand, reptile cage carpeting(astroturf), or newspaper. Observe your Leopard Gecko closely if you use sand as your substrate, it may eat sand and suffer or die from sand impaction.

Hide Box

You can find a hide box at a pet store, or build one yourself with clean pottery. The hide box is also a good place to create a humidity chamber, geckos need an area in their cage to be maintained around 80% or greater humidity in order to shed properly.

Heat Sources

The temperature in your gecko’s terrarium should be kept at 84-88F. This can be accomplished by using one or a combination of the following:

  • A heat pad
  • heat absorbing rocks
  • incadescent bulbs
  • a heat rock

Some heating methods may cause temperature fluctuations that can cause your Leopard gecko to become too hot or too cold. Always be sure to cover heat rocks with a layer or slate or sand to prevent the gecko from lying directly on it and possibly burning itself.

Illnesses

There are 15 diffrent illnesses known to affect Leopard Geckos, the main one being sand-impaction. Many leopard geckos have been found with large amounts of sand in them so if you are keeping sand in your cage be careful.

Tail Loss

A leopard gecko will normally drop it’s tail if it was in a fight with another leopard gecko; males will always fight and the females will fight only for food. If you have leopard geckos in a group they may fight and if one does drop it’s tail take it out right away and take very good care until it starts regrowing it’s tail. If it drops its tail in a cage with sand take it out right away. Leopard geckos lose all of their food and some water supply when they lose their tails.
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