Leopard Gecko Overview
Leopard geckos, Eublepharis macularius. are one of the most widely kept pet lizards in the U.S.
Their small size, even temperaments and relative ease of care make them great beginner reptiles. Not only that, but their beautiful colors and the wide variety of morphs available from private breeders, keeps them popular among experienced keepers as well.
They were the first lizard I ever owned, and I still love them to this day!
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet
| Care level | Beginner |
| Temperament | Calm and docile |
| Native to | Afghanistan, northwest India, Iran and Pakistan |
| Average size | Males are 8-10”, females 7-8” |
| Cage requirements | 20 gallon aquarium |
| Temperature | 82-88 degrees Farhenheit |
| Humidity | 30-40% |
| Preferred food | Insects |
| Feeding frequency | Feed babies daily, adults every 2-3 days |
| Lifespan | 15-20 years |
In this guide, I’ll be covering all of the details about the care and husbandry of leopard geckos. I also wrote an article on the costs of owning a leopard gecko in case you need more information.
Quick Facts About Leopard Geckos
- Leopard geckos are one of the few geckos to have eyelids. I know it sounds weird, but most lizards in the gecko family don’t have eyelids, and must lick their eyes to keep them moist.
- Another thing that separates them from other geckos is their feet. They have toes with claws rather than sticky pads. Of course this means they can’t climb the sides of an aquarium like other geckos.
- They can communicate with sound. You don’t hear about this much with other lizards, but these guys can make soft chirps, squeaks, barks and similar noises when they are excited or if they feel threatened.
Notes For New Leopard Gecko Owners
I am writing this guide with new gecko owners in mind. It’s my intent to give you all of the information you need to successfully keep a healthy and happy pet with a long life.
I know many of you will also be first time reptile owners as well. Here are a few notes specifically for you.
Give your leopard gecko 1-2 weeks to acclimate to its new home.
I’m always excited when I get a new reptile, and want to handle it right away!
Your new gecko needs some time to make its new house become its actual home. It’s going to be scared and in unfamiliar territory, with an unfamiliar large beast (you) constantly lurking around.
Observe it from a distance. Give it fresh water every day. Feed it appropriately, and clean up any poop you see, but give it enough time to become comfortable with its home before teaching it to become comfortable with being handled.
Keep a journal.
Reptiles are extremely good at hiding illnesses and injuries. The sooner you can catch them, the better you’ll be able to help your pet.
Here are some things you’ll want to keep a record of.
- Weekly weight
- Date of each shed
- Feeding information – dates fed, how much they were fed etc…
- When they poop
- Any noticeable behavior changes
Not only will this enable you to catch signs that your gecko is sick or injured early, it will also give your vet valuable information if you need to take your pet to see one.
Keep an emergency kit ready.
An emergency is for something unforeseen. If you knew it would happen ahead of time, you’d be prepared and it wouldn’t be an emergency! Have the supplies ready ahead of time, and you won’t have to worry.
You’re going to want to keep a few basic medical supplies in this kit in case your gecko has a minor problem.
- Tweezers
- Betadine for sterilizing wounds
- Clotter to stop bleeding – can be found in the dog section of many pet stores. It’s used when accidentally cutting the quick when trimming a dog’s nails. You can also use flour or cornstarch.
- Neosporin without pain relief to treat wounds
You will also want two additional things in your emergency kit. Two things that are the most commonly overlooked.
These might be the two most important items in your leopard geckos emergency kit!
- An emergency vet fund. Exotic vets tend to be a little pricier than normal ones. I’m not talking thousands of dollars, but you should always have $300-$500 put back for a trip to the vet.
- Back up heating kit. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to people whose power goes out in the winter and they have no heat. If it’s just an hour or two, it’s no big deal. When it lasts longer, you have a BIG problem. And to make it worse, everyone around you is having the same issue, and are scrambling to buy the same supplies you need. Have it ready ahead of time!
Only purchase a gecko from a highly reputable breeder. I prefer to use XYZ Reptiles. They have consistently provided me with healthy pets.
Leopard Gecko Temperament And Handling
While these guys don’t enjoy as much handling as other lizards, like the bearded dragon, they rarely bite and are typically easy to handle.
Taking them out for a few minutes each day is usually enough to acclimate them to handling.
Many people like to hand feed their geckos using tongs or tweezers, as we’ll discuss in the feeding section, which also leads to them becoming more accepting of handling.
Do not pick you leopard gecko up by the tail!
Leopard geckos have tails which can easily come off if they are pulled on.
This is part of their defense. If a predator grabs their tail while they are running away, they can pull free and leave the tail behind for the predator to eat while they escape to safety.
These guys are fine for kids as long as they support their body when handling them, and don’t pull on their tail.
Leopard Gecko Size
Leopard geckos are one of the smaller lizards in the pet trade.
Babies typically measure 3 to 4 inches when they hatch, and only weigh around 2 to 5 grams. That’s less than a quarter of an ounce!
The average size for an adult female is 7 to 8 inches, with a weight of 50 to 70 grams, or 1.7 to 2.5 ounces.
Males are larger at 8 to 11 inches. They weigh an average of 60 to 80 grams, or 2 to 3 ounces.
It takes around 18 months to two years for leopard geckos to reach adult size.
Leopard Gecko Housing Needs
A smaller sized lizard means a smaller sized enclosure.
Floor space is more important than height for these little guys. You’ll never need anything taller than one foot, unless you have items and décor for them to climb on. Make sure your pet can’t reach the lid of its cage if you are using a screened top.
Front view enclosures specifically designed for reptiles are a much better choice.
- They do a better job of maintaining temperature. Aquariums with screen lids leak a lot of heat through the top. Leopard geckos derive a lot of their heat from heating pads, but you still want to control the ambient air temperature.
- Your leopard gecko will feel less vulnerable. A front view enclosure keeps the sides and back opaque. This helps your gecko feel more safe and secure.
- It is easier to clean and maintain. It is much easier to reach straight into an enclosure rather than over the top.
- Your leopard gecko will feel safer when you pick it up. In the wild, animals that attack a leopard gecko are usually coming at it from above. With a front view enclosure, you are reaching in at your pets own level.
Babies and juveniles can be housed in an enclosure equal to the size of a 10 gallon aquarium. That is usually 20″x10″x12″. Adults will need the equivalent of a 20 gallon aquarium, which measure 30″x12″x12″.
Can Leopard Geckos Live Together?
This is one of the most highly debated aspects of owning a leopard gecko.
I used to house my females together years ago in groups as large as five, and kept my males in individual enclosures. I no longer breed leopard geckos, but would probably house them separately today.
Can leopard geckos live together? Leopard geckos in the wild live in small, loose colonies. This suggests they are able to live together without issue. In captivity however, they do not have the same unlimited space to escape one another should a conflict arise. It is recommended that pet leopard geckos be housed separately.
If there are little skirmishes between a couple of geckos in the wild, the weaker one can get away. They have ample space to avoid one another. These lizards might be small, but they can seriously injure one another.
If you do decide to house leopard geckos together, you should follow these rules.
- Never have more than one male leopard gecko in a single enclosure.
- If keeping multiple female leopard geckos together, they should all be approximately the same size. Larger females will bully smaller ones.
- You can keep one male with several females, but be aware that they WILL breed!
- Never keep sub-adult female leopard geckos with males. They will attempt to breed.
- Add at least 10-20 gallons worth of floor space to your enclosure for each additional leopard gecko.
Décor For A Leopard Gecko
The only things you absolutely need inside of the enclosure beyond a water bowl and substrate, are some hiding places for your geckos.
In the wild, leopard geckos are most active at dawn and dusk, and sporadically throughout the day. The rest of the time they prefer to hide and rest in cool, dark places.
Providing some hide boxes is important to their overall health.
It allows them to get out of the heat and light, and cool off.
Just as importantly, it provides them with security if there is too much activity in the room, by giving them a place to hide.
I’ve always preferred to keep at least 2-3 hide boxes in my enclosures.
One hide will be a high humidity box to help your leo when it sheds. Keep this located at least half way on the heat mat, and keep moist paper towels, sphagnum moss or a moisture retaining substrate in it.
You should also keep one hide box on the hot side of your enclosure, and one on the cool side.
If you are using an enclosure that is larger than a 20 gallon aquarium, you may want to include additional hide boxes and decorations. Big enclosures are fine as long as there is not a ton of open floor space. Leopard geckos like to feel secure by always having somewhere to hide.
Leopard Gecko Temperature Needs
Leopard geckos thermoregulate just as all reptiles do. This means their body doesn’t generate its own heat, and they rely on the surrounding air to regulate their temperature.
The goal for you as a reptile keeper is to provide a good gradient for your pet.
One side of the enclosure should be in the high 80’s, while the other side is kept in the low 80’s. (note: all temperatures are listed as Fahrenheit.)
The best way to accomplish this is to keep a basking area on one side of the enclosure that is around 88-90 degrees. This will keep one side warm, and the other side a little cooler.
You should also keep two thermometers in the enclosure, one for each side, in order to monitor the full range of temperatures throughout. You can raise or lower the temperature on the warm side of the cage by moving the basking light closer or further away.
If you are using an aquarium, make sure you are directing the basking lamp through the top of the cage, and not directly at the glass. You should also make sure any enclosure you use is not sitting in direct sunlight.
Night time temperatures can be kept as low as 70 degrees. Unless you keep your home super cold at night, the normal ambient temperature should be just fine.
Do Leopard Geckos Need A Heating Pad?
This is another hotly debated topic, often fought over in forums and on Reddit. Some people believe they need belly heat in order to properly digest their food.
Do leopard geckos need a heating pad? No, leopard geckos do not absolutely need a heating pad in order to survive. Leopard geckos thermoregulate and need warmer temperatures to stay healthy. Their metabolism slows down when they get cold. In fact it slows down to the point where their body will stop digesting food. Proper temperatures can be maintained through heat lights, under tank heaters, or a combination of the two.
Under tank heaters (UTH) do provide a few benefits to leopard geckos however.
- You can leave your UTH on 24 hours per day. This provides warm areas at night when the heat lights are turned off.
- An UTH can be placed under a hide box. Your gecko will spend a lot of time in its hide boxes.
- Geckos in the wild will often come out after the sun goes down, but while the ground is still warm. An UTH will mimic this.
Be sure to use a thermostat if using an UTH, and read all safety precautions.
Leopard Gecko Lighting
Traditional thought in regards to lighting for captive leopard geckos is that they are mostly nocturnal and do not need UVB lighting.
Recent studies have contradicted this theory however.
It is now known that 1-2 hours of UVB lighting each day is very beneficial to your leopard gecko both physically and mentally.
Ultimately the choice is yours. People have been keeping these lizards successfully for years without offering UVB lighting.
I personally always strive to achieve the healthiest possible environments for all of my reptiles, and prefer to keep an incandescent UVB light on for the first couple hours in the morning and the last 2-3 hours in the evening before I shut off all the lights.
Humidity For A Leopard Gecko
Leopard geckos are from arid areas in the middle east, and therefore do not require a lot of humidity.
What is the ideal for a leopard gecko? Leopard geckos need a humidity level that averages between 30-40%. That is generally the humidity in an average home. You might decide to give your leopard geckos a light misting in the morning, and that is OK. Just be sure to not saturate the bedding, or soak the cage too much.
One time you definitely DO want to mist is when they are shedding.
I like to add a puppy pad under their hide boxes, and mist the pads each day with a little water. This way your gecko will have a humid hide box to help with shedding.
Leopard Gecko Substrate
Leopard geckos are a popular pet, meaning there are a lot of people who own them. As you have seen in this article, this can lead to differences of opinion as to which husbandry practices are best.
Substrate is another area that is sometimes debated.
Some people prefer sand, while others say to stay away from it. Some prefer reptile carpet, while others fear their nails may get snared in the fibers.
At the end of the day the choice is yours. I will tell you what I recommend however, and discuss pros and cons of alternative choices.
What is the best substrate for a leopard gecko? A combination of play sand and topsoil makes an excellent substrate choice for leopard geckos. 30% sand and 70% topsoil helps maintain the perfect humidity, provides a natural looking enclosure, and prevents the gecko from ingesting too much substrate. Be sure to use a topsoil that is free of pesticides and fertilizer.
Leopard geckos live in desert areas, but not the sandy desert areas you might be thinking of. Their natural substrate is made up of rocks, compacted clay/gravel with a little bit of sand.
A good alternative to the substrate I recommended would be to use a hard surface, like tiles. They’re convenient and can be used to add aesthetic appeal to any enclosure.
Leopard Gecko Feeding And Diet
One of the most enjoyable aspects of owning leopard geckos is watching them eat.
These little guys can be hearty eaters that go at it with enthusiasm! They don’t just gobble up their food either. They love to hunt! (even though they’re only adequate hunters at best)
You’ll see them stalking their prey, their little tails shaking with anticipation before they pounce and gobble it up.
And what is it they’re gobbling up? Insects!
Leopard geckos are insectivores.
This means you’ll have a wide variety of foods to offer your pet, which is important because they need variety to be at their healthiest.
Here is a good staple diet for leopard geckos.
- Dubia roach – Probably the most all around nutritionally balanced insect for your gecko
- Super worms – Wide variety of sizes so you can have little ones for babies, and larger ones for adults.
- Mealworms – Equally as nutritious as super worms, just different. This offers a wider variety of nutrients to your pet. They have a pretty hard exoskeleton which might be hard to digest, so I only feed them once or twice per week.
- Gut loaded crickets – Only feed one at a time so you’re sure your gecko has eaten it. Crickets can harm your pet if left unattended in the enclosure.
- Hornworm – Relatively expensive compared to the other insects, but extremely healthy.
- Silk worms – Not quite as healthy as the insects described above, but they still offer some benefits that the others don’t. It’s good to throw these in once a week or so.
- Wax worms – No nutritional value whatsoever, but if you like to spoil your pet, feel free to offer these once per month. This is like a special desert to them! Deserts are fattening though, and so are wax worms. Not the good fat either, so keep them to a minimum.
Food Size
You want to feed your geckos food that is no larger then the space between their eyes.
Food that is too large can be hard for them to get down their throats, and can cause injuries or a choking hazard.
Leopard Gecko Feeding Frequency And Amount
I like to feed baby and juvenile geckos for 3-4 days in a row, then skip a day to make sure they’ve had time to digest all of their food.
You can either feed them 5-7 small insects at once, or 3-4 in the morning and 3-4 more at night.
Adults can be fed every other day. Obviously you’ll move to larger insects as your pet grows, but you can maintain the same number of 5-7 insects each feeding day.
Leopard Gecko Feeding Methods
Believe it or not, there are different ways you can feed your leopard geckos.
There is no “right or wrong” way, but people do have different preferences for how they like to feed their pets.
- Feed in a bowl – You can simply put insects into a feed dish or bowl for your pet to eat. Make sure the dish is shallow enough for your gecko to get into, but deep enough to prevent the insects from getting out.
- Tong feeding – This is where you use feeder tongs, or long dull tweezers to basically hand feed your lizards one insect at a time. It’s fun to watch them pounce on the food, and allows you to bond a bit with your pet.
- Dropping the food in front of them – Leopard geckos aren’t the best hunters. It’s fun to watch them try to hunt, but they often miss things like crickets, and end up just slamming face first into a wall or hide box. Dropping the insects into the enclosure right in front of your gecko and allowing it to eat before dropping in the next one, makes it easier for them, and is also fun to watch.
Be aware the leopard geckos are known to stop feeding sometimes.
This is usually not an issue, and does not always mean there is something wrong.
I wrote an article about leopard geckos not eating if you would like to learn more.
Supplements That Leopard Geckos Need
Most lizards kept in captivity need supplements added to their food in order to stay healthy, and leopard geckos are no different.
The biggest and best supplement you can offer your leopard gecko is gut loading the insects you will feed to your pet.
Gut loading means to feed the worms, roaches or crickets a healthy diet 24 hours prior to feeding them to the gecko.
You should feed them foods like squash, carrots, broccoli, leafy greens and turnip stems in preparation of feeding them to your lizard. In this way, the nutrients from those foods will be passed on to your gecko.
Beyond gut loading the insects, there are three primary supplements that leopard geckos require.
- Calcium
- Vitamin D3
- Multivitamins
Calcium is what helps reptiles grow and have strong bones. The thing about calcium however, is it will not be absorbed into the intestines and spread throughout the body without the help of vitamin D3.
Vitamin D3 is what you get when sunlight or UVB rays are absorbed through the skin and activate vitamin D.
I mentioned earlier that you should offer a couple hours of UVB light to your geckos each day, but that is still not enough to provide them what they need to stay healthy and prevent things like metabolic bone disease.
Leopard geckos also benefit from things like vitamin A and E.
Fortunately there are numerous commercial products that encompass all of these things. You can easily find powders that have a blend of calcium, vitamin D3 and multivitamins online or in any retail store that sells reptiles.
Here is what I recommend.
Dust your insects with a multi-powder supplement, like I described, every time you feed.
You can do this by either picking up the insect with tweezers and rolling it through the powder, or putting the insects into a Ziplock bag, adding a little powder and shaking them up.
In addition to this, you should keep a small bowl of calcium carbonate powder in your geckos enclosure at all times.
Calcium carbonate powder is calcium without the vitamin D3 and other supplements. Your geckos will actually eat this powder as they feel the need to take in more calcium.
It’s important that this is only calcium carbonate though. Putting the other powder in a bowl for them to eat can cause a vitamin D3 overdose, which can be more deadly than a calcium deficiency.
Water
A clean dish of water should be provided for your leopard gecko at all times.
I prefer to use a shallow dish, and I keep it on the cool side of the enclosure so it doesn’t raise the humidity much.
Nothing more about water other than make sure you keep it clean. I like to scrub the dish and refill with fresh water every morning.
Health And Lifespan For A Leopard Gecko
Leopard geckos are for the most part a hearty species of reptile with few inherent health issues.
Most leopard gecko health issues are caused by poor husbandry.
Following everything I have pointed out in this guide should lead most of you to a healthy pet that can live 15-20 years or more, eventually passing away of old age and natural causes.
I do want to point out a few health risks that are common with these lizards however, in order to reiterate some points I have made above and impress on you the importance of good husbandry.
- Chronic malnutrition – It should be obvious from the name, but this is when the condition of the gecko is very sickly due to a poor diet. It is the number one health issue for leopard geckos, which then often leads to a ton of additional health risks and diseases.
- Nutritional Secondary Hyperparathyroidism – Another health concern caused by poor diet. More specifically, it is caused by feeding your gecko too many crickets and mealworms, and not enough other insects. This can cause your lizard to become lethargic, have poor sheds, possibly deformed limbs and sometimes they aren’t even able to lift themselves off the ground. It can take months of expensive veterinary treatment to cure, and some of the conditions can effect the lizard for life.
- Intestinal Impactions – This is when your lizard takes in things that are not digestible such as sand. The effect is basically severe and potentially life threatening constipation. If you decide to use sand as a substrate, make sure it is a smooth play sand which can more easily pass through the digestive tract, and not construction sand. You should also feed your geckos in a dish or separate enclosure to prevent them from ingesting it.
Leopard Gecko Availability
Leopard geckos are one of the most widely kept lizards in the reptile pet industry.
They can be found in nearly any retailer who sells reptiles, online, through private breeders and at reptile shows.
They come in a wide range of morphs and colors too!
As for the price, you can find them for as little as $15 – $20 for a normal one, or you can pay a few hundred for a highly desired pattern or morph.
Summary
I love leopard geckos. They were the first lizard I ever owned.
They are easy to keep, good for kids and fun to watch. They have lots of personality and charm, and make good pets.
They are also one of the more colorful reptiles in the reptile world, making them enjoyable to look at.