The Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis macularius) is a nocturnal ground dwelling lizard native to Pakistan, Western India, Afghanistan and parts of Iran, inhabiting rocky outcrops in deserts and in mountainous regions.

The leopard gecko is one of only a few gecko species that have eyelids.This helps the gecko keep its eyes clean and particle-free in its dusty environment.

Adults grow to a modest 9-11 inches in length, with males normally outgrowing females. In captivity they can live up to twenty years, providing they are kept under the correct conditions.

Like most lizards the Leopard Gecko has the ability to drop its tail when stressed or frightened. In the wild this can be the gecko’s life saver when being hunted by a predator. When the tail disconnects from the body it continues to wiggle and spasm, distracting the predator and giving the gecko time to escape. A gecko will regenerate its tail, but it’s normally shorter than, and not as pretty as its original.

We would suggest a minimum enclosure size of 30cm x 30cm for a single gecko, adding an additional 30cm per gecko. Housing can either be plastic, glass or wood.

Multiple female geckos can be housed together, or can be housed with a single male. Never house more than one male together as males will defend their territory and serious injury, or death, can occur.

Heat
In our opinion it’s best to provide heating from below in the form of a heat mat and with a thermostat set to 32 degrees Celsius. Position your mat under glass or plastic vivariums, but inside wooden ones. Remember to only cover ⅓ to ½ of the enclosure with heat; being cold blooded, your gecko will require a cool end to thermo regulate correctly. Ideally, your hot area will be 30-32 degrees while your cool area will be 21-26 degrees.

Substrate
Substrate is always an arguable subject and everyone has their own opinions. Our advice would be to keep your Leopard Gecko on paper towel or newspaper to reduce the risk of impaction. Please DO NOT use sand as this can cause impaction within the digestive track. Geckos naturally sample the ground, searching for necessary minerals just as they would do in the wild, so prevention is the best solution.

Hide Shelter
Being nocturnal your gecko will appreciate a hide to sleep in during the day and a damp hide to aid in shedding (see health). We suggest placing the dry hide on the warm side and the moist hide on the cooler side of the enclosure.

Water:
A shallow water dish must be available at all times and remember to change water daily. Note: Tap water contains chlorine and will need to be left to sit for 24 hours prior to offering to your gecko. Alternatively, fresh bottled water can be used straight away, or tap water by adding Zoo Med’s Reptisafe.

Food

The main food item of our Leopard Geckos is mealworms (Tenebrio molitor). Hatchlings are started on mini size, moving onto standard size, and our breeders love an occasional giant morio, some of them too much!

We like mealworms for a variety of reasons:

1. They remain in their dish so they do not pass on any infection by eating faeces
2. They do not drown in the water dishes causing vile odours
3. They do not jump out of the cage
4. They can be made available at all times

Other foods also enjoyed are locust, crickets and the occasional wax worm, as a treat. Please be careful with crickets and locusts; only add a couple at a time or they can could and harm your reptile whilst he is sleeping.

Food items should be dusted with calcium powder at every second feeding and supplementary vitamins should be dusted around once a week.

Gut loading - you are what you eat
Remember what your live food eats so does you gecko! For that reason it is imperative that your feeder insects are fed a proper diet.

A good selection of fruit and vegetables, especially carrots, should be fed 24 hours before offering to your gecko. We also add our very own rich gut loading mix prior to feeding (recipe is on our website).

The Leopard Gecko is a very hardy lizard and thrives in captivity. With a good clean enclosure and proper feeding health problems are unlikely.

Shedding
Leopard Geckos will periodically shed their skin. When your gecko is ready to shed you will notice a pale ghostly appearance in the skin colour. Most geckos shed easily but it is advisable to provide a moist hide area to aid in shedding, especially if your gecko regularly retains some shed on his/her toes! Please be aware that geckos eat their shed! Gaining valuable nutrition and hiding the evidence. Do not worry, your gecko is capable of shedding alone and should be given some peace and quiet. Should any of the skin remain on the edges of toes or as usually happens on the end of a nose, then you must assist by dampening the skin with luke warm water, a cotton bud or similar item is useful for this, and with the help of a good pair of tweezers you will be able to remove the retained shed. Interesting point, some geckos have been observed soaking in their water dishes prior to shedding, so this can also be an invaluable aid.

Calcium
Calcium is very important for Leopard Geckos to enable proper bone development. Best practice is to have a small dish, such as a jar lid of calcium in the enclosure at all times. The gecko will help itself and regulate it’s calcium intake as required.

Handling

Leopard Geckos can become very tame with regular contact and gentle handling. They do like to be a little in charge though and will take an instant dislike to you if you persist in holding too tight! They can drop their tail if really frightened, but this tends in our experience to be more likely to happen if involved in a fight with each other. The tail will re-grow, but it will have a different appearance from the original.