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The main thing is that the housing must be secure, must be well ventilated and must be adequately sized. For a baby leo something 12” x 6” would be a minimum, and for a single adult 24” x 12”. If you are keeping two or more adults together then this should be increased. The more space you can give them the better really.
The housing should contain at least three ‘hides’ or ‘caves’ for your leo. One of these should be placed at the warm end of the housing, one at the cool end and the third one should be a moist or humid place to facilitate shedding. There are many purposefully manufactured hides available which look natural and are usually easy to clean. These can be expensive though and a home-made hide will be appreciated just as much by your leos as long as they provide a dark and secure place for them to go.
Your housing must also have a suitable substrate or floor covering. As leos can easily ingest their substrate it is advisable not to use anything loose. Paper towels or newspaper, although not very attractive, make a very practical substrate. Slate tiles, lino or repti carpet also carries no risk of ingestion and are make a more natural substrate. Sand is a much debated topic but many breeders keep their leos on sand with no problems. However if you are going to do this, use it only for fully grown leos (ingested sand would cause more risk for babies) and do not use ‘calci-sand’ which you may see advertised. Although this is supposed to be harmless if swallowed it is not! I personally keep my adult leos on sand as it allows them to burrow but I also feed them in seperate feeding boxes so they cannot accidentely swallow any substrate when going for their food. Proper supplemented feeding will minimise risks of reptiles ingesting their substrate however very loose substrates such as wood shavings or aspen should never be used.
Artificial plants, vines and rocks can all be used to create a natural looking environment and give your gecko things to clamber about on. Although not naturally climbing species I have witnessed my leos climbing up their vines & branches on numorous occasions. Plants are great to provide additional hiding spots for leos - free standing ones can be purchased or more often hanging plants with suckers to stick them to the vivarium. Make sure your leopard gecko’s housing is kept clean: Water should be changed every 2 days at least, every day preferably or if there is any faeces in it. Faeces should be removed daily and the whole tank should be cleaned and substrate replaced every couple months. Leopard Geckos tend to go to the toilet in the same place every time in their vivariums - if this happens to be the water dish remove it for a couple weeks until they find a new place. Of course you will need to offer them a drink of fresh water regularily.
The housing should contain at least three ‘hides’ or ‘caves’ for your leo. One of these should be placed at the warm end of the housing, one at the cool end and the third one should be a moist or humid place to facilitate shedding. There are many purposefully manufactured hides available which look natural and are usually easy to clean. These can be expensive though and a home-made hide will be appreciated just as much by your leos as long as they provide a dark and secure place for them to go.
Your housing must also have a suitable substrate or floor covering. As leos can easily ingest their substrate it is advisable not to use anything loose. Paper towels or newspaper, although not very attractive, make a very practical substrate. Slate tiles, lino or repti carpet also carries no risk of ingestion and are make a more natural substrate. Sand is a much debated topic but many breeders keep their leos on sand with no problems. However if you are going to do this, use it only for fully grown leos (ingested sand would cause more risk for babies) and do not use ‘calci-sand’ which you may see advertised. Although this is supposed to be harmless if swallowed it is not! I personally keep my adult leos on sand as it allows them to burrow but I also feed them in seperate feeding boxes so they cannot accidentely swallow any substrate when going for their food. Proper supplemented feeding will minimise risks of reptiles ingesting their substrate however very loose substrates such as wood shavings or aspen should never be used.
Artificial plants, vines and rocks can all be used to create a natural looking environment and give your gecko things to clamber about on. Although not naturally climbing species I have witnessed my leos climbing up their vines & branches on numorous occasions. Plants are great to provide additional hiding spots for leos - free standing ones can be purchased or more often hanging plants with suckers to stick them to the vivarium. Make sure your leopard gecko’s housing is kept clean: Water should be changed every 2 days at least, every day preferably or if there is any faeces in it. Faeces should be removed daily and the whole tank should be cleaned and substrate replaced every couple months. Leopard Geckos tend to go to the toilet in the same place every time in their vivariums - if this happens to be the water dish remove it for a couple weeks until they find a new place. Of course you will need to offer them a drink of fresh water regularily.
Geckos require a temperature gradient in their housing to enable them to thermo-regulate. The best way in my opinion of achieving these is by using a heat mat, or UTH as they are often called. The heat mat can be placed underneath one end of the housing (if using plastic or glass tank) and inside on the bottom of one end if using a wooden vivarium. It should cover about 1/3 of the floor space. The heat mat should be connected to a thermostat. This will enable you to set a temperature for the heat mat and ensure it doesn’t get too hot. Usually heat mats not connected to a thermostat reach temperatures that could seriously affect, if not kill, your reptile. The thermostat probe should be placed on the bottom of the housing directly above the heat mat. Ceramic bulbs are an alternative to heat mats, they emit heat without light. These, like the heating mats, should be connected to a thermostat and the probe should go below the bulb at the hottest point that your reptile could be sitting. A digital thermometer should be used at the same place the thermostat probe goes to double check the temperatures. The hot end of your housing should be in the range of 28-31 degrees celcius. The cooler end, and ambient air temperature should be in the range 22-25 degrees. Light bulbs should generally not be used for leos, or any other reptile in my opinion, because they cannot be connected to a thermostat thus it is very difficult to prevent them overheating. The light can also disturb your leo, especially if it the only source of heat and needs left on all night. Leopard geckos do not need UV or artificial lighting, but their housing should be placed in a room with good natural light coming in through the day.
Leopard Geckos are carnivorous and therefore should not be offered any fruit or veg. They eat a variety of insects but the most popular feeders are crickets, locusts, roaches, mealworms, waxworms and pinkie mice. Waxworms and pinkie mice should not be fed as a regular diet because of their high fat content and poor calcium: phosphorous ratio. Leopard geckos that eat too many of these can also start to refuse all over food. They are like sweets to your leo! However every couple weeks as a treat or as a way to build up skinny or breeding female leos is fine. Baby or juvenile leos should be fed every day and the more varied a diet they have at this age the more likely they are to be less fussy as adults. Adults can be fed every 2 or 3 days, I feed my adults every 2 days. Up to 10 food items can be consumed in each feeding but this varies on what you are feeding your leos and what size they are. As a general rule of thumb do not offer your leo anything longer then the width of your leo’s head. It is advisable not to leave crickets in with your leo overnight as they are known to munch on sleeping leos! To avoid having to take apart my vivariums to check how many crickets have been eaten and not leave any overnight I feed my leos in a separate feeding box. This also has the advantage of knowing that the leo won’t be ingesting any substrate whilst trying to catch their food. I leave them for 40 minutes and then put them back in. By this time they have nearly always eaten all the food items offered. Most breeders will just feed their leos in the vivarium though.
Leopard geckos also need dietary supplements. Everytime I feed my leos their food items are dusted with calcium powder. The best ones to buy have a high calcium: phosphorous ratio, preferably pure calcium carbonate. I use Zoo Med’s Repti Calcium. Once a week leopard geckos also need a vitamin D supplement. Nutrolbal is one of the most popular ones. In order to dust your livefood put a pinch of the supplement in a plastic sandwich bag, shake in your crickets/locusts/mealworms, give the bag a good shake and then tip out into your leo’s enclosure where you are feeding them. Leopard geckos who are living together can usually be fed together providing you know that each one is getting the same amount of food and there aren’t any dominant leos getting all the food! It is advisable to keep a shallow bowl of calcium power in your leo’s enclosure so that they can lick or eat this if they want.
Livefood such as locusts and crickets can be bought in small plastic boxes from most reptile shops. I transfer these into a larger tub (one with height is useful so that they cannot jump out when you take the lid off!) and that way I can buy about 60 items at a time. Anything you keep your crickets or locusts in must be well ventilated but escape proof too. They do well in warm conditions such as above a heat mat, warm windowsill etc. Mine seem to do really well in the boiler cupboard.To be even more economical you might want to think about breeding your own. I won’t describe it here as it would be going off topic, but if you google it there are many informative sites available. Mealworms also do well in warm conditions if you want them to be active & growing - however if put somewhere cool such as the fridge they can go ito hibernation and thus 'keep' much longer. They would need warmed up gradually and gutloaded at least 48 hours before feeding though. All livefoods must be ‘gutloaded’ before feeding to your leo. You are what you eat. The better fed your livefood is, the more nutrition your leo is getting. I feed my crickets porridge oats, lettuce leaves & potato. I feed my mealworms porridge oats and carrot. Most veg is suitable but avoid acidic things such as orange etc as these will cause diarrhoea in the livefoods and dehydrate them, leading them to die.
Leopard geckos also need dietary supplements. Everytime I feed my leos their food items are dusted with calcium powder. The best ones to buy have a high calcium: phosphorous ratio, preferably pure calcium carbonate. I use Zoo Med’s Repti Calcium. Once a week leopard geckos also need a vitamin D supplement. Nutrolbal is one of the most popular ones. In order to dust your livefood put a pinch of the supplement in a plastic sandwich bag, shake in your crickets/locusts/mealworms, give the bag a good shake and then tip out into your leo’s enclosure where you are feeding them. Leopard geckos who are living together can usually be fed together providing you know that each one is getting the same amount of food and there aren’t any dominant leos getting all the food! It is advisable to keep a shallow bowl of calcium power in your leo’s enclosure so that they can lick or eat this if they want.
Livefood such as locusts and crickets can be bought in small plastic boxes from most reptile shops. I transfer these into a larger tub (one with height is useful so that they cannot jump out when you take the lid off!) and that way I can buy about 60 items at a time. Anything you keep your crickets or locusts in must be well ventilated but escape proof too. They do well in warm conditions such as above a heat mat, warm windowsill etc. Mine seem to do really well in the boiler cupboard.To be even more economical you might want to think about breeding your own. I won’t describe it here as it would be going off topic, but if you google it there are many informative sites available. Mealworms also do well in warm conditions if you want them to be active & growing - however if put somewhere cool such as the fridge they can go ito hibernation and thus 'keep' much longer. They would need warmed up gradually and gutloaded at least 48 hours before feeding though. All livefoods must be ‘gutloaded’ before feeding to your leo. You are what you eat. The better fed your livefood is, the more nutrition your leo is getting. I feed my crickets porridge oats, lettuce leaves & potato. I feed my mealworms porridge oats and carrot. Most veg is suitable but avoid acidic things such as orange etc as these will cause diarrhoea in the livefoods and dehydrate them, leading them to die.
Leopard geckos are relatively laid back lizards. Juveniles especially can be very scared and nervous though if you try to handle them. The one thing to remember is never to grab them by the tail as leos can ‘drop’ their tails and it will use up a lot of energy resources for them to regrow it. Nervous leos will often arch their backs or urinate on you. If you have a young leo, start with very short handling sessions every day letting them crawl over your hands. Do not grip around your leo. It is a good idea always to handle them at a low level, just above a bed or soft carpet incase they wriggle off your hands. As your leo grows older they generally become more accustomed to being handled. I handle mine on the evenings I am not feeding them for a short while.
Just like snakes, leopard geckos shed their skin. This can happen between every 2 - 8 weeks depending on the age or the leo. Younger leos will shed more frequently than adults. Before they shed their skin you may notice them looking pale and dull. A moist hide is a must for a leo to help in shedding the skin. Even if you just use a Tupperware tub and cut a hole in the lid (be careful of sharp edges!) and fill it with moist moss or vermiculite. There are some good shop bought ones available to. I find zoo-med’s repti shelter is very good, for leos. The exo-terra ones have a rather small entrance quite high up so are generally more suited to snakes than lizards. Leopard geckos will eat their own skin once they shed it in order to get back some of the nutrition. Therefore you may not even notice if your leo has shed. However check regularily to make sure there has been no skin left behind, especially on the toes and tip of the tail. If you do notice skin that hasn’t come off, you can put your leo in some very shallow tepid water to soak for 15 minutes, and then try and gently dab it off with a cotton bud or sometimes a pair of tweezers may be necessary.
If there is anything else regarding caring for your leopard gecko you would like to know please feel free to email me using the contact link :) A well looked after leopard gecko can easily live 15 to 20 years!
If there is anything else regarding caring for your leopard gecko you would like to know please feel free to email me using the contact link :) A well looked after leopard gecko can easily live 15 to 20 years!
Caring for Leopard Geckos
Unlike a lot of reptiles leopard geckos are relatively social creatures and therefore can be housed with other leopard geckos in some circumstances. It is not advisable to keep mature males together however as this will lead to fighting and possibly injury of your leos. Also, unless you are seriously intending to breed, do not keep mature males and females together, as you will get eggs! Two or three females should happily live together providing they have enough space and hiding places. Whether you want to use a wooden vivarium, a plastic tub or a glass tank for housing your geckos is entirely down to choice, and budget.