Care Sheet for Geckos: LeopardAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 2.50 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 05/12/2004 |
Main Category: | Lizards |
Sub Category: | Geckos: Leopard |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Zucchini |
Years Experience: | 1 to 2 Years |
Species: | Leopard Geckos |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | none |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Leopard Geckos are nice, hardy lizards. They are a pretty easy lizard to take care of and are very good-tempered.
The way to tell one sex from another is by looking at the underside of your lizard. If your lizard is male there should be a very noticable "V" shape near its tale, which is called the vent. Females are less noticable and are very hard to see. I do not breed my Leopard Geckos so I cannot tell you the specifics about breeding your Leos. SORRY! |
Mostly Active During: | Night |
Substrate and Water Needs: | There are many substrates on the markets but most of them are not suitable for your Leo. Do not use wood chips do too toxins in the wood. I must also say not to use calci-sand. Calci-sand can tempt you Leo to eat because it has large amounts of calcium, these could block the intestine leading to impaction. I use a substarte called Desert Blend for my older Leopard Gecko since it is made out of peices of Chestnuts and if swallowed will easily pass through your leos system without the risk of impaction. For younger Leos I use paper towels and not sand or any other substrate because the large grains can be hazardous to your Lizard. As far as water goes.... you should provide an inch deep water dish on the cool side of your enclosure. If you never see your Leo drink don’t worry because they seldomly do. Leos actually get %92 percent of their water by asorbing through their skin since they do this it is important for you to mist their cage. Misty their cage also aids in the shedding process. |
Lighting and UVB: | Since Leopard Geckos are nocturnal they do not necessarily need UV lights. All they need is a heating lamp with an incandescent light bulb. However UV rays are important for your Leopard Gecko to get. UV rays help your Leo grow so you can either get a UVB lamp or you can occasionally bring you Leo outside to get some natural rays. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | The normal temperature for a Leo during the day is 85-90 degrees F on the hot side. The cool side should be around 77 degrees F. The over all nightime temperature should be about 70 to about 76 deagrees F. To provide nightime heat you can use a heating pad which you stick at the bottom of the tank or a red light which also lets you watch your Leos at night since Leos cannot see Red light. |
Heating and Equipment: | All was basically stated above on lighting and UVB abd Temperatures and Humidity. |
Caging Provided: | You should use nothing smaller than a 10 gallon tank, and a 10 gallon tank is only really good for babies. 10 gallon tanks are too small to house adults in so you should probably consider getting a 20 or more gallon tank. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | Leopard Geckos man source of food are crickets. Their diet consists of about %90 percent circkets, %8 mealworms, and %2 wax worms with the occasional pinky mouse. Don’t feed baby Leos mealworms because their hard exterior shell is very hard for the babys to digest properly. And you should’nt feed waxworms to Leos to much sue to their very high fat amount. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | You should either gutload or dust your crickets. Dusting is when you dust your crickets with a calcium supplement and gut loading is when you sprinkle the food that the crickets eat with a calcium supplemeny. I prefer dusting cause that way i know my Leo will get the proper nutrition. Crickets can be fed fish food, dog food and fruit and vegetables. Remember to feed your crickets nutricious food because if your crickets eat candy and your Lizard eat those crickets thats not very good if u no what im saying. |
Maintenance: | Fairly easy. |
Some Words on this Species: | Leopard Geckos great lizards to begin with due to their loving personality and fairly easy matinence. |
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