Leopard Geckos

Facts about Leopard Geckos and Leopard Gecko Ownership

This is Lizzie, our female as a baby when we first brought her home.

History

The Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis macularius) in the wild is partial to the dry desert regoins of Asia, India, and Pakistan. These lizards stood out to scientists because they have moveable eyelids, something other lizards do not possess. About 35 years ago this breed became a popular pet and was bred in captivity. They are not taken or “harvested” from the wild for pets. They are almost a different species after spending so many generations out of the wild. Leopard Geckos are related to the African Fat-Tailed Gecko. Both species store food energy in their tails.

Shedding:

Leopard Geckos shed their skin about once a month, more when they are growing fast as younglings. When lizards are about to shed their coloration will become lighter, and they will eventually turn a whitish color and start to peel. During this time they need a higher humidity to help them get their skin off. If lizards can not get their skin off their face or out of their nosterals they can actually soffocate on the skin. Irregular skin shedding can also be a sign of disease or malnutrition, and the lizard should see a reptile certified vet. Leopard Geckos can get some skin diseases, fungus, and bacterial infections. These cases should be seen by a vet. I have also seen dry skin mistaken for an infection, Make sure you mist with a mist bottle and water at least once a day, this will lesson chances of skin problems. In my personal experience I have rarely had a health issue with my lizards, but knowing where a certified reptile vet is located is a must in case of emergency. The process of shedding is quick and not messy at all. I can first hand compare this to my Columbian Red Tailed Boa, who is more expensive of an animal, takes more space, less handle able, and sheds messy balls of bark and skin rolled up  in her cage. Leopard Geckos will often eat their skin after they shed. In the wild they did this to leave no trace behind for predators. In captivity it is thought that they eat their skin for vital nutrients. They have tougher skin for a gecko, to navigate rocky and sharp climates in the desert and grasslands. Their skin is bumpy on the top side, and smoother on the bottom side. They might rub up on their housing or the side of the tank to help themselves shed. I have also seen mine biting at the skin and pulling it off. This is all normal.

Temperature:

Everyone should know that lizards thermoregulate their temperature. Meaning they have to move from cold to hot places to keep their body the right temperature, not like ours where our blood pressure and muscles regulate our body temperature. This is why the body shivers when we are cold, it is the bodies main defense against being cold. Shivering is your body contracting and expanding muscles in small movements similar to muscle spasms. Lizards do not do this. When lizards get too cold they simply stop eating and/or die. That is why it is important to have a hot and cool zone in your terrarium. In the cool zone I suggest setting the water and food dishes. In the warm zone a basking rock for extra heat. That is if you are using lighting as a heat source. With hot pads just center them on one side or the other, same with a heated rock. Leopard Geckos are actually ectothermic. This means they sun bath during the day and store the heat up so they can be awake and active at night and hunt and eat.

Cleanliness:

Leopard Geckos are my recommendation for families with young kids who are begging for a pet that they “will take care of”. One of the reasons why is this topic. Leopard Geckos are known for being cleanly. They only poop in one section of their cage, usually away from their food source. This not only makes them smart, but easy to clean up after. Their excrement is much like hardened bird poop and is usually small, solid and easy to pick up. If something is internally wrong with your lizard a good sign might be runny stool. Take them to a reptile vet as soon as possible. Other than scooping poop every so often I also wipe the sides of the tank down, to take the drips from the spray bottle off the glass so that tank looks better and if more presentable. Every once in a while crickets will die in the terrarium before they are eaten. If they are dead usually a Leopard Gecko will not eat them and their bodies will have to be cleaned out. Proper cleaning of the terrarium will ensure better chances for your lizard to not get diseases or bacteria. Think of it as a vaccination for your lizard. It’s health depends upon you.

Physical Traits:

Leopard Geckos are known for being rather large for a member of the gecko family. They can grow to be between 8”-11” long as adults. They have fat tails. When a lizard does not have a fat tail it means he is not getting the nutrients he needs to become big and strong. They can actually shed the whole fat tail as self defense when they are severely frightened. It does grow back, during which time they need extra nutrients and calcium powder. They can also easily get infections and disease after a tail loss, so a clean terrarium is a must. In captivity Leopard Geckos are more bright in coloration than in the wild. Certain types have been bred and albinos are frequent. There are many different types of color. Most Leopard Geckos do have spots, but some albinos can not have spots so that is not necessarily an identifying factor of this species. There are many types of coloration, and breeders bred new colors everyday so it is hard to keep track. Here are several pictures and names of different types of Leopard Geckos and their colors.

Food:

Leopard Geckos eat crickets, mealworms, and wax worms. They can also eat “pinkys” if they are large enough but I have never personally tried this and do not recommend it. They will get a fatter tail from it, but will get little nutritional value out of the mouse. I would feed a mixture of mealworms and crickets. I feed my lizards 3 times a week. It is recommended to feed Leopard Geckos every other day. You can see my guide to raising your own mealworms here. Or you can buy them from the store and keep them in the refrigerator. They hibernate when it is could and can last up to 5 months, although they won’t if you feed them to your lizard regularly. My female loves crickets more than mealworms, so she gets mostly crickets, with calcium powder at least once a week. She hunts them down with ease, spying one flicking the end of her tail and then lunging and swallowing it in a couple bites. They are interesting to watch hunt, and for the most part do not mind an audience. I feed my lizards at night before bed because they are nocturnal and hunt and eat at night.

This is Lizzie and my boyfriend watching T.V. together. She loves being handled, but too much handling can cause stress and anorexia. This is not an everyday play time animal. They do prefer to be in their safe terrarium environment. 

Habitat:

10-20 gallon tank is recommended on most websites for a Leopard Gecko. I personally recommend a 20 gallon long tank. This will give enough room for even the biggest Leopard Geckos and plenty of space for food and water dishes and large hide outs and backing rocks. I have both my lizards in 20 gallon tanks. My female in a long size tank. Leopard Geckos are used to a desert climate, but shed most easily in 50% humidity. You can buy an expensive humidifier, but I just bought a $1 misting bottle and spray a couple squirts at least once a day, if not twice around shedding time. Certain reptile approved plants can help retain moisture. I recommend Fluker’s Reptile Moss. It is inexpensive, and should be used in corners, and in the hideouts. The Gecko can also use this to help shed. As mentioned at least one hideout is necessary. I first bought a coconut shell hut for my babies when they were small. They quickly outgrew it, now one of my lizards has a large fake rock with compartments and hallow. My other lizard has a little plastic house bought from a pet store. I have also seen moss stuffed Tupperware with lid and a hole cut in the side for lizard access. I just recommend taping the cut area so your lizards belly does not get cut or scraped entering or exiting. I felt the rock was the most appropriate and least stressful as it looks like something from their natural wild environment. In reality this probably does not matter, and I only have the one for my female because they are very expensive. As long as they have at least one if not multiple places to hide. My male used to dig under his water dish in his calcium sand. I only recommend reptile approved faux turf, or calcium sand. Real sand and bark can get stuck in their jaws or swallowed causing major health issues if not death. I put a couple fake reptile décor plants in my tanks, and a couple flat river rocks to climb and sunbathe on. My male lizard has his own heat rock, which he loves. These are expensive however, and I got mine second hand. I always liked the look of a background sticker on the tanks. I have never bought one though.

This is Lizzies tank set up, the food and water dishes are just below those sticks. We have tken them out because she did not use them. Her real basking rock and climbing rock. The climbing rock is also hollow and serves as he house/hideaway. You can see the egg carton for the crickets behind it. Calcium sand is used as substrate in both, but we have since switched to an easy to clean reptile turf. 

FAQ:

If I get two Leopard Geckos can I house them together in one large terrarium?
No. Do not for any reason, even for a 5 second cage clean up put two adult lizards together. When I first got my female as a baby we had her around 6 months when we got the male as a juvenile. We housed them together for a couple months before separating them because we had concerns about her eating most the food. Around a year later we were changing the substrate in his tank and decided to just set him down inside her tank for a few minutes. Wrong decision, I learned my lesson the hard way. She ran across the terrarium to him and bit him in the head and started to drag him across the tank. We got her to release him and immediately took him into the vet the next morning (the incident happened at night). I was worried he may have a broken jaw, brain damage, and lost his eyesight. You could literally see where she bit him. He was badly bruised, the skin cracked in some areas. She missed his eye by about 1 millimeter. It was swollen originally but went down by the time we saw the vet. He said he would have lost the eye if it was any closer. He tested the jaw movements and was very knowledgeable. He did not break his jaw, but the vet said he might have brain damage. I have not noticed it if he does, he is a sweet lizard. He comes out and up to your hand when you reach in his habitat, although he has always been more quick and skittish than my female. The vet visit was cheap however, and we did learn he was under weight for his age, and he was prescribed a wax worm diet to gain some grams. The scale they weighed him on was the cutest thing. The total was only around $50, I was expecting more, but still could have been a tragic serious accident. Even though they are housed together as juveniles as adults they must never be put together. This is one example of what can happen in just 30 seconds.

My Leopard Gecko is not eating.
This could be serious. Many diseases and infections can cause anorexia is lizards. High stress is usually the cause but it can be caused by Coccidia, or Metabolic Bone Disease. The only way to know for sure is a vet visit to a certified reptile veterinarian. My city only has one in the whole town, and luckily he is inexpensive. $45 dollars for a basic visit.



What if I want to breed my Leopard Geckos?
Check out some Leopard Gecko sites like this one. If you are serious about breeding good luck! I personally do not believe in breeding, and try to get most of my animals adopted from families who no longer want them online, or the humaine society. Often times there are reptiles listed on Craigslist, and petfinder.com. The local Humaine Society has even had hermit crabs and lizards too, although usually they send them to a herpetological society to be properly cared for by experts. Although the most interesting thing about breeding Leopard Geckos is that the temperature range of egg incubation actually determines the sex of the lizard. You can have all males or all females or keep it at the middle range and get a various number of each. It is very interesting actually. I once looked into breeding and hatching because our male and female were housed together for so long before separated, but she never laid any eggs so she never got pregnant.


Sources:

http://www.leopardgecko.co.uk/documents/leopard-gecko-morph.htm
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/reptiles/iguanas/leopardgecko.html
http://www.leopardgecko.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_gecko
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_fat-tailed_gecko

I have owned three Leopard Geckos in the last 15 years, I highly recommend them. My next article in this series if how to use a Leopard Gecko to teach you kids responsibility and pet ownership. They are ideal pets for children and adults alike. Thank you for reading my blog posts! 7 views from Russia! I am particularly honored because my Dad traveled through Russia on his last trip, when he passed away he had just entered Mongolia, so this has been particularly appreciated.