Leopard Geckos

Leopard geckos are the best “starter” gecko in my opinion. They will never grow too big to be held, with an adult size of about eight to ten inches. They come in a rainbow of colors and patterns. Most leopard geckos available in pet stores have been captive bred for many generations, are accustomed to people, and are good eaters. All in all they make great first pets.

A ten gallon aquarium makes a great cage for a leopard gecko, or even a male and female pair. You’ll want a long twenty gallon aquarium if you decide to keep a male and two females, just don’t house two males or they’ll fight, possibly to the death.

Leopard geckos are not climbers, but they will appreciate a few rocks in the cage that they can rub against when shedding. A hiding cave is also necessary as these are nocturnal geckos and need a place where they can feel safe to sleep during the day. There should also be a moist cave that can be made by placing a plastic box lid under a second hiding cave and putting damp vermiculate or moss inside. Mist inside this moist cave daily to help with skin shedding. I like this method best because I can hide the edges of the lid with stones and make the area look very natural, but still offer my geckos what they need to stay healthy.

Another method for a moist cave would be to simple head out to Walmart and purchase a plastic shoe box. Cut a 1 ½ inch diameter hole in the lid or the side to serve as the entrance, and place your damp bedding inside.

I like Calci-sand in brown for decorating an ADULT leopard gecko cage, but any geckos under five inches need to be kept on paper towel or cage carpet. A shallow water dish needs to be constantly available, and unlike other geckos the leopard will actually lap water directly from the bowl, which is really cute! Like a tiny scaley puppy dog! I put a small river stone into their bowl to keep crickets from drowning in there and fouling it up.

Leopard geckos need a cage temperature of about 80-88 degrees F for the daytime, but it can go as low as 70 at night. My cages are generally around 82 degrees F constant, it’s easier to manage breeding females this way. Because Leopard geckos are nocturnal they don’t need a UV light, although it won’t hurt them to have a little of it. Too much though might burn them.

For breeding I would recommend one male with either one or two females and giving them a nesting box along with their dry and moist caves. The shoe box design, as above for moist caves, is the best nesting box I know of. Never house two males together. A male will vibrate its tail rapidly when it sees another gecko. If the other gecko in turn vibrates its tail, then each of them knows the other is male, and a fight will occur. If, however, a male signals his presence via the tail shaking and the other gecko does not respond in like fashion, then the male knows that the gecko near him is in fact a female. This behavior is also one means of determining their sex.

Sexing your gecko by "peeking under the tail" is not very difficult. Male geckos are larger, heavier in the neck region, have a line of small pores on their belly between their hind legs which are just in front of the anal opening or vent and they exhibit two swellings at their tail base and just past the vent. Females lack the large size, in general, and the pre-anal pores and post-anal swellings are missing. Sex can't be easily seen until your gecko reaches 5-6" in total length. Most of the geckos sold in pet shops are females because they can be housed in groups, and because most wholesale breeders tend to incubate for females.

Leopard geckos are sexually mature at 10 months of age and usually lay their first pairs of eggs of the season from January to August. First-time females will sometimes only lay a single egg, but a sure sign that you have done a good job raising your female gecko is seen when two fertile eggs are laid in the box of moist soil you have been providing. From then on, a clutch will always consist of two eggs unless your female is old or sick. Older females may lay 10-16 eggs per season. A fertile egg feels like a stale marshmellow while an infertile egg looks and feels like a half-filled hotwater bottle.

Eggs are easy to hatch, but are temperature sex dependent, here is a basic guideline:

For male babies, incubate the eggs at 90 degrees F for the first four weeks than gradually lower the heat down to a stable 88 degrees F. Gradually means by about one degree every other day. Very slow!

For females, incubate the eggs at 80 degrees F for the first four weeks than gradually increase the heat up to a stable 88 degrees F.

For a random mix of both sex you can incubate the eggs at 85 degrees for the first four weeks than gradually increase the heat up to a stable 88 degrees F.

You’ll notice that all of the eggs end up getting incubated at 88 degrees F after the first four weeks. That’s because sex is determined during those two weeks (four to be safe), after which the need for varying heat is no longer necessary. Also, if you expose male eggs to a constant 90 degrees some of the babies may die from heat stress, and on the opposite end females that are incubated their full term at 80 degrees F will never achieve the brightest and most radiant colors they are capable of. Both problems are better managed by using the method above.

Male eggs may start hatching as early as 30 days while females may take up to 100 days. This is due to the temperatures the eggs were incubated at and the rate of growth at those temperatures. Using the method I described you should be able to narrow down your hatching times to get all your babies hatched out by about 35-60 days after they’re started.