What products would be good for a leopard gecko?

Question

Such as: Tank size, lighting, heating, feeding, etc...

Answer 1

HOUSING

One or two adult leopard geckos can be housed comfortably in a 10-gallon aquarium. Of course they would appreciate a larger cage, so you might want to consider a 20-gallon long or 30-gallon, especially if you may want to expand your collection or consider breeding. A screen top for the aquarium is not necessary to prevent your leopard geckos from escaping because they do not have toe pads that would allow them to climb glass, but you may consider purchasing one for other reasons. I strongly recommend you get a screen top if you have cats or small children, as both could be hazardous to the health of your leopard geckos. A fine-mesh screen top may also be important to you to prevent crickets from escaping the aquarium by climbing the strips of silicone in the corners.

Multiple female leopard geckos can be housed together (if approximately the same size), but sexually mature males are territorial and will fight. A male and multiple females can be housed together without problems, but they should not be introduced until they are of a safe breeding size (45 grams for both males and females). If you purchase a young male and female leopard gecko and plan for them to live together in the future, you must raise them to adult size separately. Males grow faster and get larger than females, and a drastic size difference can develop if young males and females are housed together. The larger animal (male) is better able to compete for food, often stealing it away from the smaller animal (female) or terrorizing them away from the food. Additionally, males become sexually mature at a smaller size than females, and will breed with females as soon as they are able to reproduce. I have heard of female leopard geckos as small as 25-30 grams laying eggs, but breeding at this size is often too stressful and can cause health problems, in addition to reducing the female's lifetime reproductive potential. To put this in human terms, a 13-year-old girl can have kids, but it is just not a good idea!

If you are raising multiple females together in one cage be mindful that sometimes one female grows faster than others, and as discussed above can out compete smaller cage mates for food. If a drastic size difference does develop you should separate the largest animal from the smaller ones.

SUBSTRATE

REPTILE CARPET IS THE BEST AND SAFEST WAY TO GO

HEATING

All reptiles require a temperature gradient that will allow them to select the temperature that best suits their needs at that moment. Sometimes your leopard geckos will want to heat up, other times they will want to be cooler. The best way to heat your gecko enclosure is with an under-the-tank heater. I recommend the Zoo Med Repti Therm U.T.H. These come in various sizes; choose the one appropriate for the size of aquarium you are using. The heat pad should be placed all the way on one side of the tank, creating a thermal gradient. You can peel the back of heat pad and stick it directly onto the aquarium, but once you stick it to the tank it cannot be removed (if the tank breaks or you decide to use it on a different cage). I have found it works equally well to place a piece of wood or book under the tank of a proper thickness that it will push the heat pad directly against the glass. Heat tape is another alternative and it works equally well for heating leopard gecko enclosures.

You should have a thermometer available to check the temperature gradient of the enclosure. I do not recommend you purchase a fancy dial-type reptile thermometer that sticks to the side of the tank, as these are more expensive than what you need and will only give you the temperature of the air inside the tank. It is more important to know the surface temperature of the areas where the gecko actually resides. I recommend stainless steel backed aquarium thermometers that you should be able to find in most pet stores.

A thermometer of this type will allow you to take the temperature of the sand surface at various places within your gecko's cage, most importantly the hot spot above the under-the-tank-heater. You should know these temperatures and check them at least every two weeks. The warm side of the cage should be at 90° F. If you find the warm side of the cage is hotter than 90° (which is often the case with the Repti Therm U.T.H.) you can decrease the temperature by using a lamp dimmer (Lutron Lamp Dimmer, available at Home Depot). I recommend using the type that allows you to just plug in, rather than the type that requires you to cut the cord for the under tank heater.  

  



Leopard geckos are typically not active during the day and DO NOT require a basking (heat) light or any UV bulbs. They prefer to remain in a dark hiding place during the day, and bright lights constantly shining in their eyes can stress them out. I have seen instances where people who have used basking lights on their leopard geckos have caused them to become stressed to a point where they stopped eating and the geckos eventually died. Red bulbs are better because red light is invisible to leopard geckos, but you should be able to meet the heating requirements of your leopard gecko with an under-the-tank heater alone.

Hot rocks or heat stones are another alternative for heating that you will commonly see for sale at pet stores, but I do not recommend using them with leopard geckos (or any other reptiles). These are ceramic rocks with a cord coming out of it (leading to central heating element). The hot rock does not allow you to control the temperature of the stone; it just heats to whatever temperature was set by the manufacturer. When I was younger I used heat stones for years with iguanas and never had any major problems. But I have heard horror stories and have seen pictures of reptiles that have been burned by hot rocks that have malfunctioned or ran too hot. Again, you should be able to provide the necessary heat for your leopard geckos with an under-the-tank-heater alone.

  

SHELTER

Leopard geckos are nocturnal, and in the wild they remain hidden under rocks or other debris during the day. For these reasons, they appreciate some sort of shelter to hide in during the day. The shelter can consist of may things: paper towel roll, small cardboard boxes (bottom third of a cracker or cereal box), small plastic cottage cheese or margarine containers, or the white deli cup you brought your gecko home in (if you bought your gecko at a reptile show). Each of these shelters should have a hole cut on the side large enough for the gecko to enter. It is good to have several shelters in your cage, one on the warm side, one on the cool side. There are a lot of choices available if you want to get a fancier shelter for your gecko. Many different shelters are available at your local pet store or reptile show including ceramic caves, half rounds of wood, or you can fashion your own hiding place out of loose rocks attached together with silicone caulk (used for constructing aquariums). If you do make a rock cave with loose rocks, be very sure that it is sturdy and will not collapse and crush your gecko.

SHEDDING AND MOIST SHELTER

Leopard geckos shed their skin like all reptiles and amphibians, and leopards shed their entire skin all at once. Frequency of shedding varies, depending on the age and growth rate of the gecko. Babies shed much more often than adults. You will know when your gecko is preparing to shed because its colors will get duller, and then it will turn whitish immediately before the shed. Leopards usually eat their entire skin in the process of shedding. This strategy is important for wild leopard geckos for two reasons. First, they expended the energy to make the skin; they aren't just going to let it go to waste! Second, bits of lizard skin in an area may tip off predators that they are in a good place to hunt tasty lizards.

Usually the gecko is able to pull the shed off easily, but sometimes they have problems, especially if they do not have the proper humidity during shedding. You should always check your gecko after it has shed to make sure it was able to peel all the skin off. Leopard geckos often have problems with removing skin from their toes. If shed skin is not removed promptly from a toe it will become constricted, and as the lizard grows the toe will become constricted to the point where the shed skin can cut off blood flow to the toe. If this is not caught in time the toe can die and fall off. This is not a big problem, as it usually heals quickly, but I think they are happier with all their toes!

A moist shelter should be provided so your gecko can have access to high humidity when it is shedding. I have found leopards usually prefer the moist hiding place, even when they are not in the process of shedding. The moist shelter can consist of a small plastic container. A plastic cottage cheese container with a hole cut in the side works well, or you could use a Rubbermaid sandwich container with a hole cut in the top. I typically use peat moss as the bedding in the moist shelter, but cypress mulch (Zoo Med Forest Floor Bedding) works equally well. You want to keep the peat moss or cypress mulch moist, but not sopping wet. Below is an example of a 1.8-quart Rubbermaid container that I use for moist shelters and egg-laying boxes for my adult leopard geckos. This is a group of female Rainwater albino hets and a Rainwater albino male. Note: container top was moved for this photo.

If you do find your gecko has some retained skin after shedding, you need to lend a helping hand. Place the gecko in a small plastic container lined with warm, wet paper towels. Put a top on the container and let the gecko sit for 30 minutes. High humidity will develop in the container and this should loosen the skin enough to allow you to remove it easily with a pair of tweezers. If the skin has not loosened enough for it to be removed easily, leave  

Answer 2

Our gecko is quite happy in his 10 gallon tank (although he is growing fast and I may have to get a bigger one someday).  An undertank heating pad is really important although I have neard yes and no on the UV light.  I have one and turn it on every couple days just in case, but I don't think he cares for it very much.  

Out of all the items we have bought for our leopard gecko he absolutely LOVES the empty paper towel tube the most.  He turns around inside it and it rolls around a little bit.  It is adorable to watch!

Answer 3

Here are some things you would need for a leopard gecko (not necessarily in order of importance).

1. Tank: about 10-20 for a baby or 15-40 for one or two adults.

2. Under tank heater (UTH). Leos need belly heat for proper digestion of their food. You should get one that's about 1/3 to 1/4 the size of the bottom of the tank to create a warm and a cool side for thermoregulation.

3. UVB light. Not absolutely necessary, but it helps supplement heat from an UTH and can provide a natural daylight affect or a nighttime affect.

4. Crickets and mealworms. Crickets should be smaller than the space between the leo's eyes. There is a shotage of mealworms right now due to a disease that a lot of them had, but I think you can find them online.

5. Calcium supplement dust. You need to shake the crickets and mealworms in calcium powder supplement to add needed calcium for the gecko.

6. Gutload. Gutload is basically food for your crickets and mealworms. You can use cut-up fruit or vegetables, or they sell cricket and mealworm food at pet stores.

7. Hides and food/water dishes. A single leopard gecko needs at least 2 hides, (one on the warm side and one on the cool side of the tank) but more is better. One hide should be humid. That is, have a material like paper towels or moss in the bottom that you spray with water periodically to create humidity. This aids in the gecko's shedding process. Make sure you put the humid hide on the warm side of the tank. For the water dish, make sure it's not too deep so that your gecko could drown.

8. Digital thermometer. To monitor ground temps in your leo's tank.

9. Substrate. It is very important for leopard geckos to have a solid substrate on the bottom of their tank (such as paper towels or Repticarpet). Repticarpet is like a thick piece of felt that is available at pet stores. DO NOT use loose substrate like sand, wood shavings, etc, especially for juvenile leos. They can easily get impacted by ingesting some of their substrate.

Good luck with your leopard gecko! There are also lots of caresheets available on the internet for them.

Answer 4

I have 2

-You would need (im guessing u have 1.)

a pretty big tank like 15-40 gall.

-Get a light a the pet store that gives them vitamin D.

-I just use a light but you could get a heated rock

-I feed them 12 crickets every week and like every other day in between that I'll feed them like 2 or 3 mealworms

-Oh yea and for the crickets and food make sure that before you feed them to your geckos make sure you sprinkle some POwdered nutrional supplement on  the crickets so the geckos get calcium and other vitamins

-misc: Make sure you have something for them to hide in and when you put the light in put it on one side not right in the middle so that way if the gecko gets too hot it can cool down in the other area where the light isn't at

GOOD LUCK!!

Answer 5

human meat.