Neonate and juvenile leos should be fed daily until they have reached adult size. Adult leopards may be fed 3-5 times a week. Basically, feed as much prey as the gecko can consume in 15 minutes.

A small dish of calcium powder should be present in the enclosure at all times. Wild leos will selectively eat small amounts of soil to fill some of their mineral needs. Some individuals will readily lap up the calcium powder, and some seem to ignore it, but it should always be provided. Change the dish monthly.

Dusting prey with multivitamin and mineral supplements is recommended, but should not be overdone. Juveniles' prey can be supplemented 3-5 times a week, adults' 1 once a week. Breeding females (including before and during egg production, and for a week or two post egg-laying) should have their prey dusted with calcium supplements more frequently to compensate for the calcium used in egg shell and yolk production.

IV. Housing

The Container: An enclosure for a Leopard Gecko can be relatively simple. This type of gecko does not require a lot of space; a 38 L (10 gallon) aquarium could house a single gecko, a 57 L (15 gallon) could house a female pair. Because males may have aggressive mating advances, avoid housing a male with only a single female so that she does not get too stressed. Housing more than one male together should never be done, as males are territorial and will fight. In any case, before housing any lizard with another, quarantine the new arrival. The enclosure needs a lid, since there is a chance the geckos or their prey may climb cage furniture and escape. It should be made of screen to allow adequate ventilation. Substrate: The floor of the enclosure should have some kind of substrate. Paper towels are the easiest to maintain and most cost-efficient substrate. Carpeting, slate tile, ceramic tile, or even shelf-lining paper are all extremely safe substrates, and are easy-to-clean and cheap. Sand is a much-debated topic when it comes to leopard geckos. The truth is that wild leopard geckos live on hard-packed dirt and rocks that may be strewn with sand. Placing them on only sand in captivity has been done successfully, but it has also caused fatal intestinal impactions in many leopard geckos. Reptile veterinarians generally agree that sand should not be used as a substrate due to the serious impactions requiring invasive surgery to correct, or euthanasia. A more natural approach to substrate is to cover the enclosure floor with piles of large, flat rocks, and have a 50/50 sand/soil mix packed between the cracks. This substrate is far safer than sand, and is much closer to the rocky terrain that leos live on in the wild. Hiding Spots: The geckos will also require at least three hiding spots per lizard: One dry and warm, one dry and cool, and a humidity box. This is so that each lizard has a place to retreat to alone when it wants certain conditions to hide in (although it has been shown that leos will often aggregate in suitable hiding spots, it is best to always provide the choice to be able to hide alone). These hide boxes can be as simple as plastic food containers or ceramic plant saucers with holes cut in the side, but as long as the gecko can fit inside the entrance, turn around, and it is not taller than twice the height of the gecko, different choices are fine. The humid hide is very important to help the gecko shed. Add damp sphagnum moss, plain potting soil or paper towels inside the box, and re-dampen them every other day. Completely changing the substrate inside and disinfecting the hide once a month discourages bacterial and fungal growth. Other Cage Furniture: Other cage furniture, such as rocks, slate or ceramic tiles propped up on bricks, or pieces of driftwood, aren't absolutely necessary, but they add more to explore for the geckos inside. Geckos seem more content with a more naturalistic and interesting set-up that offers extra hiding places and activity areas. Like all animals, leos benefit from exercise, and adding a few "obstacles" between important spots in the enclosure will increase the amount of effort needed to get from Point A to Point B. False rock walls with low shelves (either bought or made yourself) are commonly used, can be very attractive, and the geckos benefit from the extra activity area.

A simple setup for a single Leopard Gecko. Note that several hiding spots are provided: One beneath the basking light, one filled with damp sphagnum moss (humid hide), and one in the cooler region of the tank. This enclosure also displays a more natural substrate choice: Slate rock slabs with soil packed between the cracks.       These geckos are beautiful, curious lizards.

V. Heating, Lighting and Humidity
Leopard geckos need a thermal gradient so that they may properly regulate their own body temperature. This means that you need to create warm and cooler regions, and this can be done quite easily by placing the heating device over or under one end of the enclosure. Daytime temperatures should range from 32°C (90°F) at the hottest spot in the enclosure, and 25°C (77°F) at the cool end. At night, the warm end should be at about 27°C (80°F), the coolest part of the enclosure should not be cooler than 24°C (75°F).

These lizards are thigmotherms, meaning that they warm themselves on surfaces that were previously warmed by the sun during the day. Several heating devices are fine for leopard geckos. Anything that emits light as well as heat, like incandescent light bulbs, should only be left on during daylight hours. Overhead sources like an incandescent bulb or a ceramic heat emitter work fine, but an undertank heating pad also works well. Hot rocks should not be used as these devices are faulty and dangerous. If the room where the geckos are kept gets too cool at night, opt for a heating device that can be kept on all day.

Leos do not seem to require artifical ultraviolet lighting. A photoperiod of 14 hours of daylight to 10 hours of darkness for spring and summer, the daylight can be reduced to 12 hours for fall and winter should be provided.

Humidity in the enclosure should be kept low, under 60% is fine. The humid hide should never be omitted, though.

VI. Taming and Handling
These geckos are typically very well-tempered, and most will quickly acclimate to being held. When trying to pick up your gecko, do not simply grab it from above, leopard geckos do not like to be restrained in a closed hand, and approaching your lizard from above might confuse the lizard into thinking you are a descending predator. Gently coax the gecko onto your hand from the side, they are often very curious so this is not usually difficult. If the lizard feels like it is being restrained or closed in on by your hand, it will squirm to try and escape, or may resort to biting or tail autotomy.


VII. Health
A growing numb

VIII. Variations
A growing number of body colour and pattern, eye colour and size variations has been finding its way into the world of leopard geckos.

Albino (amelanistic): These geckos either cannot produce melanin, or their melanin production is inhibited. There are three known strains of amelanism in leopard geckos- Bell, Rainwater (Las Vegas) and Tremper. All three strains are autosomal recessive traits.
A.P.T.O.R.: An acronym for "albino patternless Tremper orange." Very bright orange, patternless leos. Developed by Ron Tremper.
Baldy: A super-hypo leopard gecko that has no spotting on the head as an adult. A line bred trait. Developed by the Gourmet Rodent.
Banded ( wild type, or normal): The normal leopard gecko is quite attractively patterned with alternating bands of yellow and light pink or lavender, covered in spots from head to tail, and has a white underside. This trait is autosomal dominant.
Blazing blizzard: A combination of the blizzard and albino traits. These geckos have a white body and pink or red eyes.
Blizzard: A trait where the gecko hatches patternless (either white, yellowish [banana blizzard], brownish, pale blue, or black [midnight blizzard]) and remains patternless its entire life. The eyes are blue-black or black.
Carrot-head: This is a line bred trait that retains orange colouration on the head (past the ear openings) as an adult. Developed by Ron Tremper.
Carrot-tail: Another line bred trait where the adult's tail has at least 30% unbroken orange colouration, starting from the tail's base. The more orange on the tail, the higher the price of the gecko. Developed by Ray Hine.	Super hypomelanistic baldy carrot-tail tangerine.
Eclipse: These geckos have entirely black eyes, and are independant from the Mack super snow trait. This trait is autosomal recessive.
Ghost (pastel): An adult gecko that has a faded pattern compared to when it hatched. It may occur with any other variation. A line bred trait.
Giant: The only size variation in leopard geckos to date, this trait is co-dominant. One copy of the gene is dubbed a giant gecko, and within a year will reach 80-110 g for males, 60-90 g for females. The super giant has two copies of the gene; males will exceed 110 g and females will exceed 90 g at a year old.
High-yellow: A line bred trait, sometimes called golden, super yellow or hyperxanthic. These geckos have much brighter yellow colouration, and are often hypomelanistic as well.
Hybino: A super hypomelanistic, carrot-tail and albino combination, resulting in a bright orange gecko, sometimes with white spots (such as the Urban Gecko's "sunglow" line).
Hypomelanistic: A "hypo" gecko has fewer black spots on the body. A line bred trait.
Jungle: A line-bred trait where the colouration is similar to the normal leopard, but the body pattern is assymetrical and irregular, and consists of blotches and marbled patterning with a non-ringed tail. Two subvariations exist- four-eyed, with two light circles above the eyes (often with a black dot in the middle), and bandit, with a band across the snout.
Lavender: Any adult leo with lavender colouration on its body. A line bred trait.
Melanistic: These are notably dark leopard geckos. The only known gene pool was lost in an accident in Ron Tremper's colony, and to date this trait has not been rediscovered.
Patternless: This is an autosomal recessive trait that is often improperly called leucistic (a true leucistic leopard would have a completely white body and black eyes, and does not yet exist). Patternless leos hatch with brown, tan or gray blotches on a light-coloured body. By 10 months of age, the patterning fades and the gecko is almost completely gray, bronze or black. Discovered by Pat Murphy.
Rainbow: Adult geckos that display three or more colours on the body that have no clear borders are termed rainbows. This line bred trait is difficult to reproduce.
R.A.P.T.O.R.: An acronym for "ruby-eyed albino patternless Tremper orange." These leos are very bright orange, patternless, and have red eyes.
Snake eyes: The eye is half normal, half black coloured (divided vertically).
Snow (white): These geckos lack colours except black and white. There are two "versions" of the snow leopard, one is line bred, and one is co-dominant. The line bred snow leopard is not easily reproducable, and varies in consistency. The co-dominant snow leopard gene, the Mack snow gene, is much more reliably reproduced when bred. Mack snows have highly constrasting black and white bodies with a broken, stripeish pattern to their spots. If a single Mack snow gene is present, the gecko is termed a Mack snow, and has wild type eyes. The Mack super snow has two alleles of the gene and has black eyes.
Striped: Another line bred trait with a light stripe from the neck base to the tail, that either continues down the tail or the tail is blotched. This trait was derived from the jungle trait.
Super hypomelanistic: "Super hypos" lack all black spotting on the body. A line bred trait, "baldy" is a variation.
Tangerine (orange): These geckos have varying degrees of orange colouration where they would, in a normal leo, be yellow. A super tangerine leo is exceptionally orange. A line bred trait.
Reverse Striped: A line bred strain where there is a dark dorsal stripe that reaches from the base of the neck to the base of the tail. The tail is mostly light-coloured with light striping or dark blotches. This trait was derived from the jungle trait.

Last modified: Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Sources:

• Bartlett, R.D. and P. Bartlett. 1997. Lizard Care from A to Z. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
• De Vosjoli, P., R. Tremper and R. Klingenberg. 2005. The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos. Advanced Visions Inc.
• Reptile Rescue. 2003. Dr. Gecko. (http://www.drgecko.com)
• Seufer, H. 1995. Keeping and Breeding Geckos. T.F.H. Publications.

RELATED LINKS

INTERNAL	EXTERNAL
Building A Fake Rock Wall	Dr. Gecko
Handling Lizards
Heating Your Herp
Re-Introducing Lizards: A General Caresheet
Substrate Choices