Care Sheets

 

Leopard Geckos

“Eublepharis Macularius”

 

General Info

Leopard geckos are known to the scientific community as Eublepharis Macularius or also known as leos for short.  Leos are desert ground dwelling, nocturnal (active at night) geckos.  Leos originated from the Middle East- specifically Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.  Adults grow up to be anywhere from 8-12 inches long and weigh about an average of 50 grams.  These mid-size geckos are extremely docile, have loads of personality, don’t require a lot of space, and are extremely easy to care for.  When cared for properly, leos can live up to about 20 years and these care sheets will help you maximize their life, as well as the quality of life they live.

 

Housing

Leos are easy to house and don’t require a lot of room, in fact a pair of leos can be housed in 10 gallon tank, while a trio can fit into 20 long tank.  Of course your leos would like to have more space if possible.  A mesh screen top is not required but highly recommended for your set-up to prevent your other pets or children from getting into the leos’ cage; this also helps keep the crickets from the escaping. The top also gives the ability to provide lighting, if you would like, but lighting for leos isn’t required since they hide during the day.  Keep in mind when housing multiple leopard geckos together that you can’t house 2 males together as they are territorial and will fight, possibly to the death.  Also if you choose to put a male and a female together, then just know they will probably breed so make sure they are about the same size and are of proper breeding age prior to introduction.  Two female leos can live together, usually without problems, as long as they are about the same size.  Similar size is important to keep from the larger leo from picking on the smaller one or from competing for the food.

 

Substrates

Most people recommend that leos should be kept on sand since it provides an easy spot cleaning and is pleasing on the eyes, but I do not recommend this at all.  I have had many problems housing leos of all sizes on sand, mainly impaction from ingestion and prolapses due to irritation.  I recommend using reptile carpet or even paper towels, I am working on getting a different type of substrate manufactured and hopefully will be offering it sometime next year. 

 

Heating and Lighting

Lighting is an optional feature for a leo setup but is recommended in order to help the leos know what time of day it is.  I use the Zoomed UVB bulbs so if my leos do decide to come out while the lights are on then they get some UVB rays from the light which provides vitamins.  Like I said before lighting is not required but doesn’t hurt to have either. 

 

Heating on the other hand is a requirement, so the leos can regulate their body temperature, digest their food properly, and the heat helps with humidity for shedding purposes as well.  A temperature gradient is needed for the leopard geckos so they can regulate their body temperature, due to the fact that leos are cold-blooded reptiles that can’t internal regulate their own temperature.  A temperature gradient means that one side of your set-up is warmer than the other.  This can be accomplished by many different types of heating elements such as heat pads, heat tape, heat cord, heat lamps, or a combination of these heating devices.  For my display set-up I use a heat pad and a red heat lamp to control the temperature.  I recommend the hot side staying at 86°F-90°F and the cool side staying at around 80°F.  These temperatures can fluctuate a little but I wouldn’t go lower than 78°F on the cool side or above 91°F on the hot side.  In order to control the heating elements, you should either use a thermostat or a rhetrostat (dimmer) and have thermometers placed at both ends of your tank to make sure that the temperature is staying correct.  I recommend using Zoomed Labs heating devices, which I sell on my supplies page.

 

Shelters and Furniture

Shelters or hides are very important when setting up your leos’ tank.  Shelters allow your leos to hide from the light during the day and rest.  Hiding keeps their stress level down and provides them with a sense of security.  In the wild leopard geckos live in caves and giving them a place to hide simulates this.  It is important to provide several different hides in your tank, especially if you have more than one leo.  At least place one hide at the cool end and one at the hot end so your leo can feel comfortable at either side.  Also one of these shelters must be filled with a substrate that is moist; this is called a humidity shelter.  The humidity shelter is vital in helping your leo shed and keeping their skin healthy, if they cannot shed properly then pieces of skin may get stuck to their body and can cut off circulation to their extremities such as their toes and cause them to be neurotic and fall off.

 

Cage furniture is also a good idea for a stimulating environment for your leopard gecko.  Since leopard geckos live on the ground they love to climb rocks and other fixtures that you may put in your cage.  When deciding to put furniture in your cage, choose stable furniture so it can’t fall over and injure your gecko when it’s climbing on it and exploring.  Other than safety and space consideration, your gecko will love basically anything that it climb and explore on.

 

Food, Water, and Supplements

Leopard geckos are insectivores, meaning that they eat live insects, and have a diet that mainly consists of crickets, mealworms, waxworms, and sometimes will eat leopard gecko food that Zoomed has.  Make sure that you gut load your insects before feeding them to your leo to make sure they have all the proper nutrients in them that will directly benefit the gecko.  You can purchase insects for your leo at bait shops or almost any pet store such as Petco or Petsmart.

 

Keeping a shallow dish of water in your leos’ cage will help with the humidity and your leo will occasionally drink from the water dish as well when needed.  Changing the water on a frequent basis is a must to maintain a healthy environment.

 

Vitamin supplements are strongly recommended in ensuring your leos’ health.  Dusting crickets and mealworms before feeding in a calcium powder will give your leo any vitamins that is lacking in your leos’ diet.  I recommend using the Zoomed calcium powder without D3, since crickets and mealworms have enough D3 to suffice.  Also putting a dish with the calcium powder into the cage and allowing your leo to access whenever they needed is a good idea and will help prevent health issues such as bone disease or calcium deficiency.

 

Cage Maintenance

Regular cage maintenance is very important in ensuring the health of your leo.  How much maintenance depends on what kind of substrate and cage set-up that you use. If you use sand then scooping out the sand where they defecate on daily basis is recommended.  If you use reptile carpet or paper towels then cleaning up as needed, typically once or twice a week is a good idea.  Leopard geckos defecate in the same place in the cage, kind of like a bathroom area, so once you figure out where that is in your cage and clean that area regularly should suffice.  Doing a deep cage clean is recommended at least bi-monthly using a disinfectant and deodorizer.  Make sure when choosing a disinfectant that it is reptile safe, such as Wipe Out by Zoomed Labs or Quat Plus from Big Apple Herp is recommended.

 

More Info

This care sheet should get in you started in maintaining a healthy environment for your leo but if you would like more information on leopard geckos or have a specific question, please feel free to contact me with your question to info@csmgecko.com.  Also I have links to books that I recommend for more info under the supplies tab and in the books sub tab.