|
Leopard Gecko Eublepharis macularius |
|
1. Overview Throughout the reptile community a consensus has been made that Leopard Geckos are in fact one of the heartiest reptiles around. Leopard Geckos hail from the middle eastern countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan , and India. The longevity of these geckos is around 20 to 25 years with optimal conditions. Leopard Geckos can be mildly handled, but you have to remember that they are not puppy dogs, and most do not need our affection to live a long and happy life. I guess I'm trying to say don't over handle them. Use your best judgement. |
|
2. Housing Leopard Geckos can be housed in many different ways. Breeders utilize a racking system to save space with their extensive collections. However, a single adult gecko can be kept in a ten gallon enclosure with appropriate sized hides. Hides can be made out of many different things. The cheapest way is to take a piece of tupperware and cut an appropraite sized entrance into one of the sides, and cover the rest of the clear plastic with duct tape. More naturalistic hides can be found in almost any pet store ranging from $5 to $25 and up. You will need atleast two dry hides, one on either side of the enclosure (warm (88o-90oF) and cool (78o-80oF) end) and one humid hide on the warm end. A humid hide is easily made by taking either a piece of tupperware or margarine container, with the lid, and filling it half way, to 2/3 full with Sphagnum moss. Place the lid back onto the container, and cut an entrance in either the side, or lid of the container depending on how tall the container is. You will need to mist this hide at least once a day to maintain the humidity that the gecko will need to properly shed. Now that you have chosen what type of enclosure you will use for your gecko(s) you now need to think about what substrate you will use. The substrate is the material that is placed on the bottom of the tank that the gecko(s) will live on. Many breeders use Paper Towels because they are economically sufficient and prevent impaction. Impaction is a term used when a gecko injests it's substrate (i.e. sand or crushed walnut shells) and the particles collect in the animal's intestines and, in the long run, kills the gecko. So why take the chance? Leopard Geckos, as with most reptiles, do not produce their own body heat. So a source of heat is required. The prefered way to give the animal heat is with "belly heat", which aids in the digestion of their meals. You can either buy an Under Tank Heater from a pet store (which you would also need to purchase a rheostat or thermostat because they can get nearly 120oF!) I have used the Heating Pads that you can buy at any drug store for my geckos, with no ill affects, and they are much cheaper. If you are using a rack system, you can buy heat tape from The Bean Farm, which would also require the use of a thermostat, but it is more economical for racks. You will also need a water bowl for your animals, as well as a calcium dish (bottle cap with pure calcium in it), and a feeding dish if you are going to use mealworms for a primary source of food. |
3. Feeding Leopard Geckos can be fed a multitude of different prey items. They can be fed appropriately sized crickets, mealworms, superworms, silkworms, roaches, pinkies (for breeding females), and as a treat (1-2 a week) waxworms, which are very addictive. When feeding crickets, you need to remove any uneaten crickets after they have been in the enclosure for 30-45 minutes. Some people say 15-30 mintues, but I don't think that is sufficient time for the animals to decide that they are hungry, stalk the prey item, strike, eat, and hunt for the next one. The rule of thumb for feeding Geckos is that the width of the insect should not be any wider than the space between the eyes of the animal, whether it be crickets or roaches. I don't think that the prey item should be to long, or the animal might have trouble swallowing it (superworms/mealworms). Just use your best judgement. Calcium and vitamin supplementation is very important for Leopard Geckos. You will need to purchase a calcium supplement that has D3 in it, and is phosphorus free (MinerAll-I/RepCal). You will also need to get a vitamin supplement. An "all in one" supplement is produced by T-Rex and Sandfire Super Foods, called "Leopard Gecko Dust: Insect and Cricket Balancer". You can pick this product up at most pet stores. This dust has all the microminerals and macrominerals your growing gecko will need. Dusting is important when it comes to geckos. Hatchling geckos need their prey items dusted with the Calcium supplement every feeding switching off between calcium and vitamins (or just using the Leopard Gecko Dust). Even with the Leopard Gecko Dust, I occasionally switch between it and Minerall-I. Juvenile geckos need their prey items dusted every other feeding, where as adults need their prey items dusted every other - to every third feeding. Breeding females need to have their prey items dusted every feeding. A dish of pure calcium should be left in the enclosure at all times. If you are using a bowl/dish for the mealworms, leave a 1/2 inch layer of either calcium, minerals, or Leopard Gecko Dust in there at all times, in addition to a cap of pure calcium. Dusting insects is easily done by putting them in a Ziploc bag, pouring in the dust, and using the "Shake'n'Bake" method. This should coat the prey item from top to bottom. Gutloading your feeders is especially important. Gutloading is the term used when you feed your prey items food that will essentially be what your geckos eat. Ever here of "You are what you eat"? This applies here. If your crickets/mealworms are fed well, your gecko will also be fed well, and vice versa. You can use a multitude of different commercially available gutloads, as well as home made ones. Easily made gutloads include: oatmeal, baby cereal, and powdered milk. Your feeder insects will also need a source of water which you could provide with those "Gel" cubes, or use Apples/Carrots/Potatoes. |
|
4. Quarentine Quarentine is an essential part of any and all hobbyist's livelyhood. New arrivals, no matter how reputable the breeder may be, need a quarentine period of at least 3 months. Quarentine implies an enclosure, all to themselves. With just the neccesities, no need for to much decoration. Just two hides, a humid hide, a water bowl, calcium dish, and feeding dish. Any sick animals should be quarentined for even longer, pending three clear fecal tests by a vet. Wild caught specimens should be quarentined for at least a year. I know, you are asking, but why? And I'll tell you. Most diseases that our beloved geckos can contract take 2-3 months to incubate inside of the animal. This means that if you didn't quarentine the infected animal, not only would it surely die, but so would the other geckos in your collection that you had introduced it to. There are to many horror stories of whole collections being wiped out because of lax quarentining. Why take the chance? |
|
5. Sexing Sexing these animals is very, very easy as long as they are six-seven months old (40 grams). First off, you need to flip them over and look at the base of their tail, where it meets their body. Males will have a "V" shaped row of (pre-anal) pores with a "waxy" substance covering them, and two bulges (hemipenes) at the base of their tail. Females will have the pores, yet they will be less distinct and will have no "wax", and their bulges will be smaller, if visable at all. At one year of age, males will have a more broad head. |
|
6. Breeding As with sexing, breeding Leopard Geckos is realitvely easy. These reptiles, unlike most, do not need a cool down period. The only thing that is required is that they be at least 45-50 grams a piece with little more than a five gram difference. I wait until the female is at least 60 grams before even thinking about breeding her. This makes the chance that she could become egg bound decrease. Egg boud is the term referring to the incident in which the gecko can not pass the egg through her system. Even with treatment, it could lead to death. If all the proper husbandry issues detailed above are met, breeding should be a piece of cake, and enjoyable for you and your geckos. One copulation can be all the sperm that the female needs for the whole year, meaning that they can retain sperm. This means that with one instance of mating, the female can produce clutches throughout the year. Most breeders keep their males and females serperate all year long, except for the breeding season. Thus, they introduce the male into the female's enclosure, or the female into the male's enclosure, and monitor them. It does get a little rough, be forewarned. The male will tail rattle, then bite her tail and back, working his way up to her neck, where he'll move under her tail and copulation takes place. If the female is unreceptive, she will bite back, and will also tail rattle. After they have mated, it should take anywhere from two weeks, to a month for her to produce and lay eggs in her humid hide. Incubating: Incubating is fairly easy. First off, you need to purchase an incubator. The one that most hobbyists and breeders use is the Hovabator Incubator, which can be purchased from LLL Reptile. This comes with a thermometer to calibrate the incubator to the proper temperature which could take anywhere from one hour, to a day. You will also need to buy a bag of Perlite, which can be purchased from any Home Improvement store, in the gardening section. Then you follow the instructions outlined in Albey's Incubating page. Leopard geckos are temperature sexed, thus, the temperature at which they are incubated at determines their sex. At 80o-83oF you get females. At 87o-89oF you get males. And at 85oF you get a mix. Note: Gravid females will need all of their prey items dusted with calcium to help with the developement of the eggs. Also, a week or so before they lay, their apetites should cease and they will begin to dig in their humid hide. Hatchlings require the same basic needs as the adults. Although, they would benefit from a slightly smaller enclosure (i.e. A sterilite shoebox container) and apropriately sized hides. They will not feed until their first shed which should be around three to five days of age. The hatchlings would also benefit from seperate enclosures which would cause the amount of nipped tails to decrease. Also, the competition for food would decrease, and they would grow quicker. Just remember to remove any uneaten crickets after about an hour and use paper towels as substrate. Also monitor the temperatures. Although they do benefit from higher than normal temperatures (90oF on the warm end), they can easily over heat in such a small enclosure. So watch them diligently. |
|
7. Shedding Shedding problems often occur. This is usually a case of having insufficient humidity levels in the humid hide, but is nothing exceptionally huge, unless gone untreated. If the patches of skin are left (particularly on the tail and toes) it can cut of circulation to the growing animal, and those digits or tip of the tail will die, and fall of. Toes cannot be regrown. But tails regrow, but never to the same cosmetic apperance as what the original looked. If your gecko's tail does fall of, don't panic. Just keep them by themselves, in their own seperate enclosure. Treat the tip of the tail with neosporin or polysporin, and keep the cage emaculate. It should grow back, but never how the original looked. To remove the unshed skin simply place the gecko into a tupperware container with luke warm water up to the belly of the animal. Also make sure to punch holes into the lid of the container. After 30 minutes of soaking, take the gecko out and gently rub the unshed skin between your fingers, use a Q-tip to gently peel the patches off, or carefully use a pair of tweezers to grasp the skin and peel off. Be careful, if the skin does not easily come off, do not force it. If the unshed skin is forced to come off, the skin underneath could be damaged. If after two or three more soaks the skin still doesn't come off, I'd recommend taking it to the vet. |
|
8. Veterinarians Veterinary care is an essential part to the health of your gecko. If you can not afford the needed veterinary visits, do not purchase a gecko. If you have any question that your reptile(s) may be sick, immedidiately take them to the vet. I'm not saying that if they don't eat one day, take them to the vet. I'm just saying that if they are lethargic, haven't eaten in a month, haven't deficated, and have lost quite a bit of weight, you'll need to take them to the vet. |
|
9. Recommended Reading The Leopard Gecko Manual: Philippe de Vosjoli |
|
10. Review
Breeding Requirements:
|
|
11. Credits |
|
The Leopard Gecko Manual: Philippe de Vosjoli Kingsnake Leopard Gecko Forum |
