Leopard Gecko

 

A leopard gecko is a great choice for a pet for a verity of reasons.  If you are the type of person that likes a pet that you can watch and not have to interact with, a leopard gecko could work for you.  They are the type of reptile that can be put in a cage, feed twice to three times a week, and have their cage cleaned, and they will live a very happy life.  In this case it would be like having fish but you don’t have to worry about the water and a leopard gecko is more fun to watch when they are hunting for their food. 

So a leopard gecko could work for that type of person but lets say you’re not that person and you would want to hold the gecko.  This is fine also it just takes some patents.  As long as you have the time to teach your gecko that you are not going to hurt it, eventually it will just chill out in you hand or on you shirt.

Another reason why they are a great pet is because they are easy to care for.  They do not require a humid tank which eliminates a watering system.  If you like what you have read so far keep reading and find out just what a gecko would need.

 

 

Availability

 

            Geckos come in MANY different colors and patterns.  As with anything the rare colors will coast more and the common ones will be less.  These prices always range from about $40 all the way into the thousands.  We are reasonably priced.  J & J leopard geckos usually gears to the population looking for a pet not for an extremely rare gecko.  We do have a verity of colors and patterned geckos but we do not produce anything that would cost any where near a thousand dollars.


Size

 

            A hatchling usually measures between 2 to 3 inches right out of the egg (this measurement includes the tail).  An average adult female will be about 7 to 8 inches when fully grown.  A male can be about 8 to 10 inches when fully grown.  There is a type called GIANT and they are as the name says and they can measure close to a foot in length.

 

 

Life Span

 

            On average a leopard gecko will live 6 to 10 years.  If you breed your leopard gecko you will lower those numbers a little because it does put a little more stress on their body.

OK so I want a leopard gecko.  What am I going to need?

 

            Cage:

                        First is the cage a 10 to 20 gallon fish tank or breeder tank is a great choice.  If you only want one leopard gecko a 10 gallon will work but it isn’t big enough for more then that.  The 20 gallon will hold up to 2 to 3 geckos comfortably.

                    Sand:

                       We recommend the reptile calcium sand.  Leopard geckos need calcium, by having sand made out of calcium it makes sure that they always have calcium to eat.  When they hunt for their food they will miss every now and then and get a mouth full of sand.  By using this sand you make sure that you gecko is not eating something harmful.

         Hide:
                      This is a place for the gecko to go and hide when they want to sleep or when they are scared.  The rule of thumb is having at least the same number of hides as geckos.  We usually put one more in the tanks.  These are also where you gecko is going to rub up against to help it shed.  When shedding you should spray the hides with water.  This will help with shedding and your gecko will lick the water up also.

It is also a good idea to have a “Zoo Med Repti Shelter 3 in 1 Cave”.  These serve as hides and also as moist place to help with shedding.  You can fill the chamber with moss or vermiculite and add water.  

        Lighting and Temperature:
                   The best way to heat you new leopard gecko's home is to use a heat lamp.  They will also need a UV light that stays on for about 10 to 12 hours.  There are maufacturers that make dual lights with a timer (these are the ones we use by r-zilla), but any heat and UV light will do.
                  The temperature of the cage should range from about min to upper 80's during the day to the low 70's at night.

                    Food: 

                     There are many different options out there on what to feed your new leopard gecko.  We have tried many of them and decided this works best.  We feed our geckos crickets.  No bigger then the size of their head or else they can’t digest them.  That is the main source of food.  On your crickets you should put calcium powder and leopard gecko vitamin supplement.  This makes sure that they are getting all the nutrients they need.  As a treat we give our geckos waxworms.  These are as healthy as potato chips are to people therefore we give them no more then five each once a week.  Again there are other options but we find this works best and keeps the geckos healthiest.

        Water:

                   You should keep a shallow bowl of water in the tank.  Some geckos prefer to drink from a bowl while others will not touch the water in a bowl.  Until you know what your gecko prefers we suggest keeping a bowl and misting all rocks and possibly the side of the tank with a squirt bottle.

                   Leopard geckos live in the desert in the wild and they are used to drinking the morning dew.  You will be creating morning dew by misting the rocks and possibly the side of the tank.