ACCLIMATION AND HANDLING When adding new animals to a collection, all new arrivals should be quarantined (kept seperate from other animals) for 60 - 90 days or untill proven healthy to prevent the spread of disease and parasites to other animals and to reduce stress to the animal being quarantined. Due to the stress of shipping and a new environment, we recommend you do not handle your new Leopard geckos until they become comfortable with thier new surroundings. Provide the new gecko with food, fresh water, a dry hide and a humid hide. It’s not unusual for a new gecko to stop eating for a few days after arrival.

When handling your Leopard gecko it is best to sit on the floor, and let your gecko crawl through loose fingers in hand-over-hand motion for 10 to 15 minutes per day until they are accustomed to your touch. This taming process takes only five to seven days. Never grab or hold a gecko by it's tail, or it might cause the animal to drop it's tail. Always use a hand sanitizer between handling different animals.

CAGING  A 10 to 20 gallon aquarium houses one or two leopard geckos at adult size comfortably. I like to use a turtle / tortoise flat short tank that measure 24"L x 24"W x 10"H for a decorative display. Since they are a terrestrial species, a low enclosure with ample floor space is more apropriate than a tall enclosure. Many breeders, myself included use plastic storage boxes for housing a large collection of animals at a low price. I recommend a screen top on your gecko cage that will support a light fixture, provide good ventilation and keep out bothersome cats or small children, as both could be hazardous to the health of your leopard geckos. Remember not to put two males in the same enclosure. Males will fight each other. Only keep animals of similar size together. Larger animals can out compete smaller cage mates for food. Housing a male and up to 4 females together is acceptable. They have a high level of social tolerance but don't require company. Live or artificial plants, rocks, logs, and hides can also be added for a natural looking terrarium and they provide your lizards with places to hide, climb and get exercise.

Photo examples of our cageing:

  Hatchling Enclosure                Breeder Enclosure                 Single Male Enclosure

Homemade Breeding Rack

CAGE MAINTENANCE Leopard geckos only require minimal routine cage maintenance. Leopard geckos use a defacatorium, meaning they poop the same spot, often in one corner of the cage. A sand substrate allows for simple spot cleaning of feces and dead crickets, and this should typically be conducted at least once a week. Use a 2" fish net to scoop the sand, like a kitty litter box. The sand substrate should be dumped and the entire cage (including water dishes, cage furniture, etc.) washed and sterilized with a mild 10% bleach solution (1 part bleach to 9 parts water) at least once every 6 months. I also use Zoo Med's Wipe Out 1 & 2 for quick clean ups.

For juvenile grow out tanks paper towels are the preferred substrate, however; paper towels do not allow for easy spot cleaning, and should be replaced at least once a week, if not every few days. Sterilization of the entire cage is not required each week, but should be done at least every month. 

LIGHTING AND HEATING The best way to heat your Leopard gecko's enclosure is by using the Zoo Med's Repti Therm U.T.H. (under tank heating) pad or Zoo Med's Repti Heat Cable. Heating devices can be controlled with Zoo Med's Repti Temp 500R Thermostat or the Repti Temp Rheostat. It is best to provide Leopard geckos with a temperature gradient that will allow them to select the temperature that best suits their needs. Heating one end of the cage is best. The warm side of the cage should be 90° F. The cool end of the tank should 73° to 78° F. The temperature in the hide box should be 86° to 90° F . You may be able to meet the heating requirements of your leopard gecko with an under tank heater. Heat rocks may become too hot for Leopard geckos and should be avoided.

For viewing, a low-wattage light can be placed over the screen top and put on a light timer for a 12 hour day / 12 hour night cycle. Leopard geckos are active at night therefor they do not require a basking heat light or a UV bulb. They prefer to remain in a dark shelter during the day. Bright lighting can cause them unneeded stress so a red heat bulb can be used for heating and night time veiwing. Reptiles can not see light in the red spectrum so it still appears dark to them. Note: Juvenile albino Leopard geckos may be very sensitive to light for the first few months.

SUBSTRATES Sand offers the most natural substrate for sub adult and adult Leopard geckos. I recommend Zoo Med's Vita Sand or other calcium sand. Zoo Med's Excavator Clay Burrowing Substrate can be used for a naturalistic terrarium. Artificial turf or a bare tank bottom are always a safe bet.

The safest substrates to use include:

• Calcium sand 
• Bare tank bottom
• Paper towels
• Reptile carpet
• Tile / slate

High risk substrates that can cause impaction if ingested include:

• Playsand
• Pine / Aspen shaving
• Bark / Woodchips
• Dirt
• Corn cob
• Walnut shells
• Gravel
• Kitty liter

  For juvenile grow out tanks and hospital tanks, paper towels, reptile carpet, or just a bare tank bottom, are the preferred substrates. DO NOT keep juvenile Leopard Geckos on sand substrates, because they may consume it and causeing intestinal impaction.

DRY HIDES AND HUMID HIDES The dry hide can consist of store bought reptile hides, small plastic containers set upside down with a entrence cut into them, PVC pipe cut down the center so it resembles an air plane hanger, or any thing else you can come up with. I recommend having a dry hide on the warm side and on the cool side of your cage. 

A humid hide box can be made from a Ziplock or Glad plastic sandwich container with a 2" hole cut in the top and filled with Zoo Med's Eco Earth coconut fiber substrate, moist moss, vermiculite, perlite (or combination thereof). A humid hide is needed for your leopard gecko to shed it's skin properly. Leopard geckos often have trouble shedding skin off their toes, which can cut off blood flow causeing the toe to die and fall off. If you plan on breeding a humid hide is needed for egg laying, but you will want to use a larger shoe box sized plastic Sterlite box.  

Dry PVC Hide                                   Humid Hide

FEEDING Leopard geckos are easy to feed. Crickets, mealworms, wax worms, and the occasional pinky mouse are all suitable foods, available at any pet shop, on the internet, or at a bait shop. It is extremely important that all insects be given a nutritious gut load before being fed to the geckos. Allow the mealworms to feed on carrots, potatoes, orange wedges, apple wedges, chard, romaine lettuce, or store bought gut loads for at least 24 hours before feeding to your gecko. A more nutritious prey item will make for a healthier gecko. Leopard geckos will also eat their shed skin to reuse the resources.

 

CRICKETS vs. MEALWORM

  CRICKETS - Pros:

1. More active so more stimulating.
2. Crickets are nutritionally superior to mealworms, containing more moisture, protein, calcium, and vitamin C.
3. Exoskeleton is thinner, so may be easier to digest.
4. Crickets are easy to gut load.

  CRICKETS - Cons:

1. If you buy them in bulk you need to worry about providing food and water for your crickets or they will die.
2. Uneaten crickets will annoy your gecko, crawling on it or chewing on its toes, eyes or tail.
3. Hungry crickets will often eat gecko poop in the cage, ingesting any parasite eggs. These crickets will now carry these parasite eggs in their stomach, and when the gecko eats them those eggs will hatch inside the gecko, increasing the parasite load.
4. They smell bad.
5. They get loose.
6. They chirp.
7. They have a poor calcium : phosphorus ratio of 1:2 where a ratio of 2:1 is desired, so crickets require more calcium supplementation.
   

  MEALWORMS - Pros:

1. They can't climb or jump, so no escapees.
2. They can be refrigerated for weeks until you are ready to use them.
3. They are contained in a dish until they are eaten, so they reduce the possibility of parasites.
4. You can leave a constant supply in the cage, which may allow you to only feed once a week. 
5. No chirping. 

  MEALWORMS - Cons:

1. Mealworms require a feeding dish, so something else to clean and deal with.
2. The exoskeleton may be more difficult to digest.
3. Crickets are nutritionally better.
4. Mealworms will bury into the sand if they escape from the food dish.
5. Mealworms are less active than crickets, so less stimulating .

WAX WORMS
Wax worms are very high in fat, and are useful to help a skinny or sick gecko gain weight. They can also be fed as part of the normal diet, but should only be used as an occasional treat.

PINKIES
Many adult leopard geckos will also eat live pinkies. I feed pinkies to my breeding females; both during the breeding season and after the season to regain weight lost from laying eggs.

CANNED FOODS
Zoo Med's Can O' Pillars, Can O' Mini Mealies, Can O' Worms, Can O' Crickets Mini Size, and Can O' Crickets can also be fed. Some geckos may not be attrated to canned foods naturally because geckos are attracted to movement. Simply mixing the canned foods in the food dish with live mealworms will remidy this. The mealworms wiggle around and cause the canned foods to move like live food and Leopard geckos will eat them right up with the mealworms. Canned food have a long shelf life allowing the keeper to keep food on hand which may make fewer trips to the pet store. 

VITAMINS AND CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTS Vitamins and calcium are also very important for your geckos. I use and recommend Zoo Med's Repti Calcium with D3 and Reptivite with D3. The most common way to give reptiles vitamins and calcium is to dust your insects. Put a small amount of the vitamin and calcium supplements in a plastic bag and coat the insects’ bodies. Juveniles require more vitamins and calcium, so food should be dusted at every feeding. Non-breeding adult geckos do not require as much calcium, so supplementation twice a week is sufficient. Crickets should be dusted every time they are fed. Egg-laying females require a lot of calcium; so all prey items should be dusted with vitamins and calcium powder and a shallow dish with vitamins and calcium supplements should be offered at all times. 

WATER Leopard geckos come from an arid environment, but they do require humidity and water. A shallow water dish with fresh water must be available at all times. Place the water dish on the cool side of the cage to prevent the water from evaporating. Juvenile Leopard geckos should be misted occasionally. I use a small plastic deli cup with a wet paper towel in it as a humid hide for juveniles. Make sure that juveniles can easily climb out of the water dish.