Housing
Basic
housing requirements for a single adult leopard gecko are; a 20G Long
aquarium preferred, a 10G will work just as nice but have much less
floorspace. A lid isn't needed unless you have small children or cats,
then a lid with a LOCK is extremely recommended/necessary to maintain
your gecko's health. If you plan to house more than one leopard gecko
together a 20G Long is the Minimum size for an enclosure of two-three
adult leopard geckos. NEVER house two males together as they will fight
potentially to the death OR a juvenile female with a male as the stress
of attempted mating and possible pregnancy can cause severe health
problems even leading to death. Additionally a heat source or UTH(under
tank heater) will be needed on the bottom of the tank to provide belly
heat to the geckos, which is how they digest their food. The heat pad
should cover 25%-40% of the floor space and be placed at one end of the
tank. This is done so that the geckos can thermo-regulate their body
temperatures. DO NOT use hot-rocks, these can develop hot spots and
burn your gecko and possibly lead to death from those burns. Leopard
geckos are happy with an ambient air temp of 85-89*F during the day and
roughly a 10-15*F drop at night.
A heat lamp may be needed in cooler months to help keep the ambient air
temp. inside the tank during the day/night which will drop
accordingly at night with the air temp inside your house. A red night
bulb is recommended so that it does not affect your gecko's schedule.
The flooring or substrate
as it is called can be as simple as paper towels though more expensive
options are out there. Here at Gecko Hut we use paper towels, the
cleanup is easy, quick, and allows us to monitor our geckos' health.
Though sand is a viable option we DO NOT recommend or endorse sand
substrates. Though the risk for adult leopard geckos is low as long as
the grain size is fine (ie. play sand) it is still present. However,
the risk for juveniles and babies is extremely high as they have a hard
time passing the sand and impaction occurs much more frequently at this
age.
Leopard geckos are quiet creatures that usually like
to hide during the day so dark hides are a must to keep your gecko
happy and healthy. We recommend using plastic Tupperware containers as
they are cheap and effective. Cut a hole into the front of the
container approx. 11/2"-2" in diameter to act as an
entrance and fill with either peat moss or coco fiber for bedding. Two
of these "hides" are needed for your gecko, one on the warm side/ DRY,
and another on the cool side/MOIST. You need to make sure to mist the
moist hide daily as this hide will aid in the shedding process. Leopard
geckos eat their shed so don't expect to find it! If you find that your
gecko continually "kicks" the bedding out you may replace with wet/dry
paper towels depending on the hide.
Feeding
It
is recommended that fresh water be available in a shallow dish to your
geckos at all times. If you notice debris in the water such as moss,
dead bugs replace with fresh water.
A primary diet of meal worms and/or super worms
along with weekly crickets is a great start to a healthy and long lived
gecko.These two food sources have great nutritional value and can be
purchased from many great feeder sites on the Internet. Worms should be
placed in a dish that is roughly 1"-2" deep an example would be a P.
Butter jar lid, or glazed saucers(small ones) for potted plants have
worked well also. Worms should be offered to your gecko at all times so
that they may eat as they like. If you notice too many worms escaping
get a deeper dish and/or put less worms in and discard any escapees, they may have
eaten feces or other loose material while free in the cage. Food
should be dusted with supplements daily before feeding. There are
many great sources out there, but we suggest buying the vitamin/calcium
powders that you combine yourself before feeding. Crickets need to be
dusted with calcium every time you feed because they contain a high
proportion of phosphorous that in high levels can lead to health
problems in geckos. Too much phosphorous blocks the absorption of calcium. So the dusting helps to keep the
calcium/phosphorous ratio in balance. A dish with calcium and vitamins
should also be placed in with your gecko so that they can take what
they need. A calcium powder containing D3 should also be purchased and
given once every 3-4 weeks instead of the regular calcium.. Vitamin D3
aids your gecko in the absorption of calcium which is needed for
healthy bone development.
All of your feeders should be Gut-loaded
before being fed to your gecko. This is the process of nutritionally
fortifying the insects to make them better for your gecko, bulk chicken
feed or laying crumble can be used as a base while carrots, potatoes,
and other firm fleshed vegetables supply further nutrition and water to
worms. Crickets should also have a gel like substance that provides
additional moisture-an example is Cricket Drink from Fluker's . There
are also many commercial gut loading supplies that work just as well.
Explore the wide variety for yourself and see what works the best for
your budget and your gecko.
There are some very good supplemental food items out
there as well wax worms, butters, silk worms, are just a few of the
many choices. These are a great way to supply additional
vitamins and minerals not found in the staple diet as well as keep your
gecko happy. Always check the nutritional value of a supplemental
feeder, most are high in fat so they should be given as a "treat" so
that you don't wind up with an unhealthy gecko. Remember this is just
a basic overview there is A LOT more information out there just not
enough space here.