Leopard Gecko

Home · History · Selecting · Sexing · Housing · Food · Heat · Breeding

Name: Leopard Gecko
Order: Squamata
Family: Eublepharidae
Scientific Name: Eublepharis macularius

Above: Leopard Gecko, Eublepharis macularius.

History

Leopard geckos are found in some parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Leopard Geckos are different from many of species of geckos. They do not have lamellae on their feet which means they don?t have an exceptional ability to climb (particularly not glass). Another difference in the Leopard Gecko is that they have eyelids, which is uncommon for geckos. A male can reach a length of 11 inches with females slightly smaller growing 9-10 inches. Leopard Geckos consist of yellow and dark purple bands with black spots. Breeders have developed morphs by breeding different colored geckos and over many generations have developed high-yellow, striped, leucosticte, jungle, ghost and even albino Leopard Geckos.

Selecting and Sexing

When selecting your Leopard Gecko look for signs of health. Leopard Geckos are popular making it easy to find a healthy one. Look for dried skin around the feet, if there is some present, this may be an indication of housing conditions that did not enable proper shedding of the skin. A healthy Leopard Gecko will have bright eyes, bright colorful skin, should be alert and have a nice fat tail. Even a hyper one that runs and jumps is healthy, although that is not typical of their behavior. Try to see the gecko eat and/or drink.

Male Leopard Geckos are distinguished from females by the presence of large, femoral pores right before the vent (see below). These are shaped as a V above the vent and easy to see. You may see that the male has more visible and larger femoral pores than the female. While females also have these pores, they are much less pronounced. Male leopard geckos also have a distinguishable bulge just past the vent at the base of the tail where the hemipenes are stored. The male has a large powerful body with a big head, followed by a strong neck. Their tail is also bigger and shorter than the females. The female has a slim body and a smaller head and neck than the male. This is easy to see, when you have two adults side by side.


Left: Leopard Gecko Male, Eublepharis macularius.		Right: Leopard Gecko Female, Eublepharis macularius.

Housing

When housing Leopard Geckos males should be kept apart from each other. Leopard Geckos like many other herps are territorial and males will suppress other male geckos until death or separation. One or maybe even two geckos, depending on the number of hiding places, can be kept in a 10-gallon tank. Otherwise one male can be housed with 3 females in any standard 20-gallon aquarium. If your intentions are for breeding a "harem" system can be utilized. This setup consists of usually one male and as many as 10 females. Multiple containers, such as a sweater box, house the females and the male is moved from one container to the next breeding with each female. If you are planning on having multiple Leopard Gecko colonies, a rack system will prove to be the most space saving and efficient setup (see picture). Hiding spots should be available in the housing containers. These can be constructed from empty containers around the house such as an empty margarine tub, Tupperware container, cardboard box or for more realistic looking effects, pet stores have different types of hiding objects. You do NOT want to use tree bark, sticks or anything of the sort from outside. These may contain parasites and contaminate your herps. Leopard geckos shed their skin on a regular basis. An enclosure with high humidity should be provided to enable proper shedding of the skin. This can be done by simply dampening a moss, peat or shredded paper to layer the high humidity hiding place. If this is not done often times the result will be the loss of digits, as the old skin clings to the reptile and may cut off circulation to their extremities. A shoebox makes a good high humidity hiding spot. Simply cut an opening and fill half of the container with the chosen materials. The substrate or flooring in your terrarium can be of several materials. Newspaper, sand, lizard litter, reptile bark, Astroturf, and peat moss are all examples of substrate that can be used. Be cautious with sand, if an over abundance is ingested by a Leopard Gecko, it could cause serious problems (be very cautious with baby geckos with sand). Beware of substrate that claim to be harmless if ingested, there are no standards or regulations on these materials.

Feeding

The adults will eat adult sized crickets, large mealworms, king mealworms, and occasional pinkie mice. Adults should be fed every other day and juveniles everyday. During breeding season adults should be fed everyday. It is important to provide calcium supplements to prevent nutritional disorders. This can be done in a few different ways 1)gut loading - this is were the crickets are fed the calcium and vitamins, 2) dusting - place the insects in a plastic bag with the powder supplements, shake the bag until insects are dusted with the powder or 3) fill a dish with calcium powder and the Leopard Geckos will eat it straight from the dish. For water to drink Leopard Geckos will drink from a small dish. Water should be changed every 2-3 days. Misting the terrarium once or twice a day can also me a source of water for your geckos.

Heating

Like most reptiles Leopard Geckos are cold-blooded and require a heat source to warm their bodies. For your geckos a ceramic heat emitter (CHE) can be used. A CHE is more efficient than a heating lamp and will last longer than a light bulb. Leopard Geckos being nocturnal do not require a full spectrum bulb or even any light source. An under-the-tank heating pad can also be used to heat your terrarium. One end of the terrarium should be heated to 86-88 degrees; the other end can range from 70-80 degrees. One problem with a heat lamp is that the light may affect their nocturnal instincts and that the heat must be maintained throughout the night. Maintaining a warm temperature is essential when keeping leopard geckos. Digesting food, regulating their immune systems and other problems can arise if this is not done. A heat rock is something that should be avoided if at all possible. These have been known to short out or even cook your pet because they are laying directly on the rock.

Breeding

Leopard geckos are very easy to breed. To stimulate breeding, leopard geckos should have a 4-6 week period of reduced temperatures and/or just shortened days if using a light source. Two weeks prior to a reduction of temperature, leopard geckos should NOT be fed in order to allow their digestive tracts to clear, however, water should still be provided. The temperature should be slowly lowered over several days to a low of 60-65 degrees. The geckos should be checked a few times a week during this cool down period for any signs of illness. Any gecko exhibiting signs of illness (puffed out throat pouch, gaping mouth etc..) should be immediately removed from hibernation and warmed slowly over a few days to normal temperatures. After the 3-4 four-week hibernation period, the geckos should be warmed up over a few days to normal temperatures and food should be given. It is IMPORTANT that the female geckos are fed frequently with dusted food providing sufficient amounts of calcium and vitamins to fatten the tail. The tail is a storage place for fat; the female will use this while developing her eggs. Do not be alarmed if the female does not eat for a couple weeks after breeding. Older females may only lay one egg per clutch. Normally two eggs per clutch are common and may be seen from the under side of a gravid female just above the vent. A clutch is the process of developing and laying the eggs. A female may have 2-4 clutches per season. Abnormal behaviors such as digging and moving things around are also indications of becoming gravid. Once any of these symptoms are observed put in a nest box. This is essentially just another high humidity hiding space (see housing). It may take 10 to 20 days after conception for the eggs to be laid.

Above: Female Leopard Gecko, laying eggs.

Incubation

If the egg-laying chamber is on top of the heat source, it is important to check the egg-laying chamber often so the eggs do not dry out. After the eggs have been laid, they should be removed and artificially incubated. The eggs may dent in, mold and start to give off an unpleasant odor. Fertile eggs will normally not dent or grow mold. If the eggs start to grow mold simply clean them up. Make a solution 9 parts water and 1 part bleach, quickly dip the eggs in the solution and within a few hours the mold should be gone. A foot powder can be sprinkled on and around the eggs to help prevent mold. If the mold continues to come back keep cleaning the egg(s), thought this may be an indication of an infertile egg. If dents start to appear raise the humidity, a healthy egg will take in the moisture, and the dent will fill in. Allow 6-10 weeks for the eggs to hatch. Leopard geckos are temperature sex dependent; temperatures in the high 70's low 80's will produce females. High 80's low 90's will produce males. The recommended temperature for incubation is in the mid 80's that will produce a mix of sexes. Females that are produced from low temperatures tend to be more aggressive and usually sterile. Baby leopard geckos can be set up and maintained in a similar manner to the adults, in a smaller cage of course. Shredded paper towels or newspaper should be used for substrate with the young hatchlings. Their small digestive track will be unable to pass things such as sand and can many times cause impaction that will lead to an unfortunate end. Hatchlings may not eat for a week after hatching; they will shed once before beginning to eat. Baby leopard geckos will take crickets and small mealworms that are no larger than 2/3 the size of their head. A high calcium and vitamin diet should be fed to these hatchlings every day. At 10-12 months a Leopard Gecko is full-grown.