# Leopard gecko caresheet



## Burf

*Eublepharis macularius* Leopard gecko.

The leopard gecko grows to between 8 to 10 inches. The normal colour morph has a white belly and a yellow body with black spots. These geckos are also covered in little "warts". Unlike most geckos, this species lacks the lamellae on its toes and therefore cant climb smooth surfaces, but is still very agile. Leopard geckos have a long, fat tail used to store fat. Care must be taken when handling as they can drop their tails if threatened. The tails will grow back, but will look deformed.

A 24"x12"x12" vivarium would be suitable to house a pair of leopard geckos. If you do decide to house more than one specimin in the same enclosure care must be taken in ensuring that you haven't got more than one male as males will tend to fight. Females can be housed together happily, as can females with a single male.

For young geckos you MUST paper towels or somthing similar as the substrate. This is because it is easy to see when it is soiled but most importantly it removes the risk of impaction. When the gecko is fully grown (in around 9 months) you should ideally continue to use paper towels but because they dont look very good, you may wish to use an alternative. I use a sand with a very fine particle size. Whatever you use you must make surre the particles are small enough to pass through the gecko without causing impaction or big enough for it not to be able to fit it in its mouth.

For a humid hide, use a plastic container with something that will hold moisture will in the bottom. I use paper towels but you could use vermiculite or moss. Then cut a hole in the top of the tub. This will create a humid place for the gecko to go when shedding its skin. Without this humidity it will have problems shedding properly and could end up with old skin left on its toes, nose or the tip of its tail. You must make sure that there is at least one humid hide per gecko in the vivarium.

The other essentials to have in the tank will be a source of fresh water, a dish containing calcium powder. It is also nice to include places for the gecko to climb on and hide under.

The enclosure should be heated to around 88oF and alowed to drop down to 68oF at night. For heating, I recomend using a heat lamp/ceramic bulb as the main source rather than a mat. This is because it is much easier to control a constant temperature and is a more natural source of heat. You could use a mat if you wanted though. Just put it under the substrate. What ever method you decide to use, make sure you have a good thermostat and monitor the temperature regularly. UV lights aren't neccessary for this species.

Feed your gecko with a variety of insects (crickets, mealworms, waxworms, cockroaches etc...) but make sure they are all well gut-loaded and dusted in a calcium powder. This calcium is especially important for gravid females. There are also vitamin powders on the market which you may wish to use. You could also suppliment a fully grown gecko's diet with the occasional pinkie.

In the time I have had my gecko, I have encountered two problems. One was that it stopped eating for a few weeks and lost quite a bit of weight. The only way that I could get it to eat again was to hold a cricket in tweezers and dip it in water. Then i touched the geckos nose and made the nose wet. The wet nose seemed to irritate it and it would lick the water off. If i held the cricket there while it was licking, it would eventially lap up the cricket and eat it. I repeated this every day for about a week untill it regained its strengh and it started eating properly again.

The other problem I had was it decided to shed its skin outside the himid hide and there was skin left on its nose and toes. I decided to leave it alone for a couple of days and see wether it would come off on its own. It didn't. To try and remove it I used a damp cotton bud And gently stroked the old skin and after a while it came off.

It is nearly impossible to sex an immature leopard gecko but it is fairly easy when they are fully grown. Males will tend to be longer and have broader heads. Males will also have very distinct pre-anal pores and two "balls" behind the cloaca.

I'm not going to go into the breeding process as i have had no experience with it. Perhaps someone else could provide that bit???

Think thats about all I can think of at the moment, I will add more as i think of it.


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## Burf

A pic of my setup


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## Burf

Thos shows the pre-anal pores and the bulges. (Its a male)


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## TormenT

wow thats sweet


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## Burf

This shows colour and size


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## TormenT

ive really been thinking of getting one...... thanks for the info i think i will, thanks for the info ill take pics wheni get it, that setup of urs is HOT!


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## lemmywinks

nice









cant wait till i get my albino giant


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## Burf

albino giant, lucky bastard!!!!!! Thats gunna cost you a bomb!

Is it going to be a "tremper" giant?


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## lemmywinks

he is just a lil guy right now, maybe 4" and is only like 45$!!. im not positive about what a tremper is. what exactly is it? either way im still gonna be happy


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## BoomerSub

Someone should pin this, it'll answer a lot of questions.

-PK


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## lemmywinks

BoomerSub said:


> Someone should pin this, it'll answer a lot of questions.
> 
> -PK


 definatly


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## BoomerSub

lemmywinks said:


> BoomerSub said:
> 
> 
> 
> Someone should pin this, it'll answer a lot of questions.
> 
> -PK
> 
> 
> 
> definatly :nod:
Click to expand...

 Was that post really necessary? I can see how you got to 3.5kiloposts so quickly.

-PK


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## lemmywinks

im sorry









it wasnt really necessary i guess. i was just ageeing w/ you that it should be pinned since it would indeed answer so many common questions people may have about leopard geckos.


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## TormenT

dont throw a pissy fit.... its lemmy! hes the life of the partay!


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## Atlanta Braves Baby!

I think we should create more of these caresheets.


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## Burf

"tremper" is a bloke who breeds giant leopard geckos. HERE is his website

I would be happy to write some more caresheets for reptiles and inverts, any requests?


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## lemmywinks

i have no idea if it came from him. it might have though


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## CrocKeeper

very well done!

I would forward that to Innes Jburf, and have him add it to the write ups he has compiled....


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## Burf

CrocKeeper said:


> very well done!
> 
> I would forward that to Innes Jburf, and have him add it to the write ups he has compiled....


 cheers, will do :nod:


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## blackpirhana

How about a care sheet for Jeweled Lacertas??


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## Death in #'s

nice caresheet

diffrent color morph


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## PunkRockSkater39

Nice care sheet ! that answers alot of my questions


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## WolfFish

j_burf said:


> "tremper" is a bloke who breeds giant leopard geckos. HERE is his website
> 
> I would be happy to write some more caresheets for reptiles and inverts, any requests?


 They are really expensive, but i want one!


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## blackpirhana

Death, I talked to a few breeders/sellers of leopard geckos about the color morph you have. They have an IDENTICAL gecko as you. Guess how much it was going for! Nevermind, you probably don't care....

$200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Burf

blackpirhana said:


> $200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


 my guess was quite close then


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## WolfFish

A ball python caresheet would be useful. Any caresheet on the more common species would deffinately be worth reading.


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