Where Reptiles Go Social

Leopard Gecko - Care

Life Span: The average life-span of a leopard gecko is 15 to 20 years of age; however, some have been known to live longer in captitvity due to proper care.

Size and Weight: Size and weight differ for male and female geckos. The average size of a male leopard gecko is roughly 9-10 inches; females grow to about 7-8 inches in length. Females should be a healthy weight of about 55 grams, and males should be at least 50-60 grams in weight also.

Housing: An adult leopard gecko will live comfortably in a miniumum 10 gallon long tank, or, for those using a rack system, a 16 quart container. The rule of thumb for keeping more than one leopard gecko together in an enclosure is 10 gallons per gecko. NEVER keep two males in the same enclosure! You can keep females together as long as they are roughly the same size, there are enough hides, and the enclosure is large enough; you will need to keep an eye on them for possible bullying. If bullying occurs, you need to seperate them immediately.
There needs to be a temperature gradient in the enclosure; go to "Heating and Lighting" below.

Substrate: NEVER USE SAND AS A SUBSTRATE for your leopard gecko; it can impact and harm, even kill your gecko. Do NOT take that risk!
Good substrates to use for your leopard gecko that are safe are: tile, reptile carpet, and paper towel. Paper towel is ultimately the safest subsrtate you can use. Tile may sometimes get too warm, and the geckos nails may get caught on the reptile carpet. However, if you want the enclosure to look nicer, reptile carpet and tile will do. Reptile carpet comes in the colors green, brown, and sometimes grey.

Heating and Lighting: Leopard geckos NEED a temperature gradient in their enclosures. On the warms side, the temperature should be anywhere from 85 degrees farenheit to 90 degrees farenheit during the day; at night it should be around 80 to 85 degrees Farenheit. On the cool side, the temperature should be 80 to 85 degress farenheit during the day; at night it should be 75 to 80 degrees, even 70 to 75 is okay.
Leopard geckos require mainly belly heat. Heat pads are one of the best ways of fulfilling this requirement.
They don't need much lighting; room lighting will do. However, if you need the temperatures to increase in the enclosure I highly recommend ceramic heat emmitters, used with the Deep Dome Lamp Fixture. The wattage of the bulb depends on the size of the enclosure.

Hides: Leopard geckos need a minimum of two hide boxes, but I suggest a total of at least three. There needs to be one hide on the warm side, one on the cold side, and the third one in the middle.
The cold hide can also serve as a moist hide/ lay box, and you can make it out of a plastic container.

Dishes: I recommend having three dishes available to your geckos; one water dish, a calcium dish, and a worm dish. The water and calcium dishes are a MUST. I keep Calcium with Vitamin D3 in their dish, available to them at all times. I personally like using the meal worm dishes and highly recomend them.

Food: Leopard geckos are insectivores; meaning, they eat insects such as: crickets, meal worms, super worms, and, in captivity, the occasional wax worm as a treat. Do not forget to DUST your pets food with a supplement every meal! Only feed what your gecko can eat in 5-10 minutes, or leave the worms in a dish; take crickets out if not eaten withing

bother and bite your geckos.

5 minutes because the crickets can

Supplements: Leopard geckos need a calcium and vitamin supplement; they are essential to their diet.
The calcium supplement I leave in a dish in their enclosure is: Calcium with Vitamin D3 (the one in the middle). I don't dust with this supplement, because it said that too much D3 in their diet can cause sickness, and they also get D3 from their food.
I dust their food with Calcium without Vitamin D3 (the one on the left) about 2-3 times a week per meal.
I dust their food with a Vitamin supplement, like Reptivite, (on the right) also about 2-3 times a week per meal.