Leopard Gecko ( Eublepharis macularis )

Leopard Gecko ( Eublepharis macularis )

Care in Captivity by Chris Jorden

Introduction

Leopard geckos have become one of the most - if not the most - popular lizards to be kept and bred easily. This is due to a number of reasons: their calm temperaments, their amazing coloration, and their manageable size, and not a huge need for a very spacious vivarium.

Leopard geckos unlike most other geckos have moveable eyelids letting them blink. This helps keep the eye free of dust in the deserts of Pakistan and north-western India. They are marked like a leopard, as their name suggests. The tops of their bodies are yellow with black spots and are bumpy. The undersides are creamy white and smooth, and their tails are grey and spotted. They and are a great choice for beginners (or experts), but like most lizards they have the ability to 'drop' their tail, so it should not be tugged or pulled, and they should be handled carefully. They are voiceless, unlike some other geckos, such as the tokay gecko (Gekko gecko), another lizard that can be kept by beginners. They grow between 20 and 24 cm (8 - 9.5 inches), and usually become very tame in captivity.

They can live for up to twenty years. Leopard geckos are nocturnal, which means they hunt for food at night. These geckos are ground-dwelling, and they use their sharp claws for digging in the wild, although they are not often presented with the chance in captivity, kept on under an inch of substrate, but they do not seem to worry too much. Sometimes they hide underneath water bowls or rocks, where they have made a tunnel in the substrate

Selecting A Gecko

The leopard gecko you choose should be alert. If possible try to see it feed, to make sure it is eating. Check if it is captive bred, practically all leopard geckos are, so this shouldn't be a problem. Its tail should be plump, a sign of good health. If the tail is thin or stumpy (which indicates it has been shed at one point, then re-grown), do not buy the gecko. It should not have any cuts or scratches and its eyes should be clear.

Make sure it is not in an overcrowded vivarium, and be sure to check enclosure it is being housed in is at the correct temperature. The tank should not be dirty or smelly and it should give the geckos the proper environment.

The gecko should be transported in a well ventilated plastic container, preferably with a substrate on the bottom. When getting a new herptile to add to a group, it should be kept in a different tank on its own for a few weeks to make sure it is healthy. If you put a sick gecko in with a healthy group, it may also kill the whole group, as well as dying itself.

Setting Up A Vivarium

A vivarium measuring 90 x 30 x 40 cm (length x depth x height) is fine for a pair or trio (one male and one or two females, or two or three females, but males are territorial, so should not be housed together, unless in an enclosure suitable for holding at least 15 geckos i.e. two males and at least thirteen females, which is impossible for the novice keeper).

The substrate could be play sand (or specially made reptile sand, which is now commonly available) or wood chips, and should be at least 2 cm deep, preferably 5 - 10 cm deep, for burrowing and digging. Smooth gravel could be mixed in with the sand.

You should have at least one hiding place per gecko and at least two per tank, one at the hot end, and one at the cooler end, which should also have some damp vermiculite or moss in it that the geckos will use when shedding, and the female as an egg-laying site. So if you have only one gecko in a tank, you need two hiding places, but if you have two in a tank, you still only need two hiding places, three in a tank, three hiding places, and so on from there onwards. The tank (called a vivarium by most herptile - reptiles and amphibian - keepers) should contain also some plants, fake (plastic) or real (if real not spiny cacti, but succulents). Real plants should be replaced when they die, and are probably not as practical as plastic or silk ones, as they will be killed by the geckos, and will probably make the humidity level too high. The humidity level should be moderate (45 - 60%) although most leopard geckos tolerate humidity up to sub-tropical (70%).

A water bowl about 2 cm deep should be provided. The geckos should be able to climb out of it easily. It should be changed at least three times a week. Mist spray the tank every four days or so, more often if a gecko is shedding.

The temperature in the tank should be 29 - 32 degrees centigrade (84 - 90 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, 32 degrees centigrade near the bulb or heat-mat used to heat the tank, which should be at one end of the tank, and around 29 degrees centigrade at the cooler end, maybe slightly less. The temperature should drop to around 24 degrees centigrade (75 degrees Fahrenheit) at the warm end during the night, so the cooler end will be slightly colder. One way of heating the tank is having a heat-mat on all of the time, and a light bulb on for 10 -16 hours during the day. A basking rock should be placed under the light if one is provided, for the geckos to bask on, to raise their body temperature for hunting and digesting food. Leopard geckos do not need a fluorescent (UV) tube, as they are nocturnal, but low UV wave emitting bulbs can be used during the daytime (when the geckos are not very active anyway) to help the lizards produce Vitamin D and calcium.

Dry dropping or soiled areas should be removed from the tank whenever noticed, but this job should not be too hard as these geckos tend to choose one place in their tank as a toilet spot. When cleaning out the tank - this should be done every three or four months - make sure you disinfect the rocks, plants (if plastic) water bowl etc.

Feeding

Leopard geckos should be fed small invertebrates such as crickets, king or giant mealworms, mealworms, locusts (and hoppers), waxworms, tebos (caterpillars of a moth from South America) and wild caught prey (be sure these are free of insecticides). These insects can be dusted with a multi-vitamin and calcium supplement to increase the amount of vitamins your gecko gets, use the recommended amount. Also crickets and other insects can be 'gut-loaded' by you before being fed to your animals. The crickets you buy are normally fed on a very bad diet with no nutrients to pass onto your animals. So feeding them vegetables and fruit, tropical fish food, oats and dried dog food can give them some extra nutrients to pass on to your lizards. Or you can feed them a specially prepared cricket and other insect food to 'gut-load' them. The geckos will also eat pinkie (baby) mice.

Feed your geckos every day or every other day if possible, but they seem to survive just being fed three times a week, fifteen to twenty crickets a week each (if fed just on crickets, which is not recommended. If fed on other food, use however many of them as would be the same as about fifteen crickets). Leopard geckos kept in a group will probably fight over food, and the weaker ones may be made to become afraid of eating or drinking. Make sure that the weaker geckos get some food, perhaps by separating the geckos into separate feeding boxes at mealtimes. Undigested food normally means that the vivarium the geckos are living in is not being kept at a hot enough temperature while they are digesting food.

Being nocturnal some leopard geckos refuse to eat during the day, so they can be fed during the evening. This can cause a problem because the tank is cooler at night, so the gecko may find it hard to digest its food, especially if it is mealworms, which should not be fed very often. Some people choose to feed their geckos early in the morning, when it is still fairly dark, so when the geckos have finished eating, the light in the vivarium is turned on, as if day has just started, to assist the geckos in digesting their food. Once their foods is digested, the geckos will sleep.

Handling

Leopard geckos are brilliant lizards to handle. They should be handled when they are young so they learn humans are not dangerous. A good way to tame young geckos is by offering them a tasty treat when they sit on your hand calmly, although not many geckos will eat out of their owner's hands.

They tolerate handling very well and even wild caught geckos can be tamed quite easily (though these should not be purchased anyway as they have a high chance of carrying diseases and parasites, and the amount of captive bred geckos available means this should not be a problem anyway). Leopard geckos will climb all over your body if allowed, and they particularly like climbing on to people's shoulders and backs. They never bite, unless they mistake your finger for food, which is very rare.

Leopard geckos are perhaps the best lizard for beginners to keep, partly because the are so great for handling. Be careful not to hold them by their tail, as lizards are famous for dropping their tail when it is caught, so they can escape from the predator. The tails do eventually grow back, but they are never the same as before, usually growing much shorter and fatter than before, and sometimes the geckos even grow double or triple tails. Their tails are used to store fat and metabolic water reserves, so if they lose their tail, they should be kept in a tank on their own, and given daily feeding and watering.

Breeding

Before breeding your leopard geckos you must, of course, be sure you have a male and at least one female. The shop or breeder you bought them from would probably have sexed them for you, but if not (maybe the geckos were too young to be sexed as these lizards can be easily sexed only after they have reached a few months old), or if you want to check they were correct, here is the method for sexing them. Males have an obviously more robust head, body and tail than females but there are more definite ways of sexing them. Between the base of the legs on the underside of the male there is a fairly obvious 'V' shaped row of 8 - 14 pre-anal pores, which, during breeding seasons, produce a waxy secretion that is used to mark rocks and hiding places. Females do have a row of pits in the same place, but you will not be able to notice them very easily at all. Also, males have two hemipenes at the base of the tail, like swellings.

Breeding normally takes place from February through sometimes to as late as October. A drop of temperature of a few degrees stimulates breeding, so if you want to breed your geckos, drop the temperature in the tank at winter by about 7 degrees Celsius, to only 25 degrees centigrade (77 degrees Fahrenheit), and by a few more centigrade at night. When a male gecko wants to breed with a female he will approach her and lick her. He will then start gently biting her at the base of her tail, and work his way up to the neck. If she does not want to mate, the female will bite the male back, and he will soon go away. If she wants to mate, she will let the male continue biting her. When the male reaches her neck, he will put his nearest back leg over the base of her tail. The female raises her tail, and the male curls his tail underneath hers. Then, still griping her neck with his mouth he releases one of his two hemipenes, puts it in her cloaca, and mates.

About 4 weeks after mating the female will lay two eggs (very occasionally one, usually if the female is quite old or young). More clutches of two eggs will be laid, with intervals of about 4 weeks before each laying (but my first female leopard gecko - Geck, the first pet herptile I ever had - laid each set of her eggs just 2 weeks apart). Up to eight clutches can be laid, normally about five or six are laid. Females stop breeding when they are about thirteen to sixteen years old, sometimes slightly younger, occasionally older.

Incubating The Eggs

The eggs - which unlike the eggs of most geckos, which are hard, are leathery - should be incubated at 26 - 33 degrees centigrade (79 - 91 degrees Fahrenheit) in moistened vermiculite (equal parts in weight of vermiculite and water). Higher temperature will produce mainly males, while lower temperature will mean the majority of the hatchlings will be female. The incubator could be a professional reptile egg one or a home-made one, such as a heat-mat or light bulb in a polystyrene box (with a window - glass or plastic - in the top so you can check the eggs, but the should still be thoroughly checked, both lids taken off of both containers every day).

Fertile eggs will remain white, or may go slightly discoloured towards the end of incubation, and will quickly harden up a bit, while infertile ones stay soft, and are yellow. Reptile eggs must not be turned, if they are they embryo may get covered in yolk and die. The eggs can be placed in the vermiculite (completely covered, or half covered) inside a transparent box, which is inside the incubator, so you can constantly monitor the eggs.

They should be checked regularly (every day) to give them some fresh air. Very shrivelled or mouldy eggs should be taken out. A slightly shrivelled egg needs a higher humidity level - which should be maintained at 70 - 80%. For an even higher success rate a small fan, such as a computer one, could be placed in an incubator that does not already have one. This make sure there is good airflow. The babies will hatch in 6 - 12 weeks, the higher the temperatures (making sure they are still within the recommended range), the quicker the eggs will hatch.

Looking After The Hatchlings

The hatchling should be removed at least 2 hours after hatching - when they are completely out of their egg - and placed in a rearing cage, about 30 x 15 x 15 cm.

They should be raised individually if possible, to prevent the stronger ones harassing the others. Each vivarium should have several hiding places, a wet box (the box at the cool end with moistened vermiculite or moss) a basking rock under the light and a very shallow water bowl. The temperature should be the same as in the adult tank (and an ultra-violet light does not have to be provided), but the humidity should be slightly higher, to assist the baby geckos with shedding. Either a light should be on at day (with a heat-mat, if desired) and a heat-mat on a night. Or a hot white light should be on at day to provide the correct temperatures, and then a slightly lower wattage red light should be on at night. They should receive a misting every day or every other day.

The hatchlings will normally refuse food until after their first shed (usually about 1 week old) - as they are still living on yolk they absorbed in the egg. After the shed they will eat small crickets and waxworms, and other small insects and spiders (beware of pesticides on wild-caught foodstuffs). Mealworms are not a good first food as the contain lots of indigestible chitin, and do not provide many vitamins or calcium needed. All food items should be dusted lightly with a supplement. Hatchlings - especially female hatchlings, and also adults sometimes, normally breeding females - will normally eat ground cuttlefish provided in a bowl for extra calcium.

Other Species From The Family Gekkonidae

Leopard geckos, and all other geckos, are from the family Gekkonidae, and are from the subfamily Eublepharinae. Here are some other geckos that can be kept in captivity.

GECKOS FROM THE SUBFAMILY GEKKONINAE

Tokay Gecko ( Gekko gecko ) - The tokay gecko grows to about 32 cm (12.5 inches), and is from the subfamily Gekkoninae. It is similar in proportion to the leopard gecko, apart from it has webbed feet. It is blue with red-brown spots. They eat the same food as leopard geckos. The tank size should be slightly bigger than that of leopard geckos, and it should have a humid woodland style set-up, with branches, cork bark hiding places, and plants for decoration and cover. It should be kept at around 29 degrees centigrade (84 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day. They also need a water bowl like the leopards, and bark can be used as a substrate. They are easy to maintain, and sometimes breed, in captivity, but can give an owner a very painful bite. It is not as suitable for the beginner as a leopard gecko or some of the day geckos described, and gloves should be worn at first (until tame) if handled. The tank can be mist sprayed every day.

Day Geckos ( Phelsuma sp. ) - Day geckos are found in Madagascar, the East African Coasts, and other Indian Ocean Islands. Most of the day geckos are arboreal, and have very bright colours. They range in size from about 7.5 cm (3 inches) in Phelsuma ornata to around 27 cm (10.5 inches) in Phelsuma madagascarensis. They eat insects, nectar, fruit and will also consume ground cuttlefish from a bowl placed in the vivarium. The Madagascan giant day gecko ( Phelsuma madagascarensis ) is a particularly good day gecko for beginners. This is because it is fairly large and hardy, is not hard to feed (eats insects like crickets, waxworms and mealworms), and can often be tamed so it is suitable for handling. It is very bright and colourful, but does require a fairly large cage - a trio could be housed in a 75 x 40 x 60 cm vivarium, with a bark substrate. The vivarium should be kept between 26 and 32 degrees centigrade (79 - 90 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, and at this time a full spectrum fluorescent tube should be on (for between 8 hours - at winter - and 12 hours - at summer, gradually changing throughout the year from one of these times to the other). Mist spray the tank of these geckos twice a day if possible, if not at least every day. Day geckos, especially the larger ones like the Madagascan giant are normally suitable for beginners

GECKOS FROM THE SUBFAMILY EUBLEPHARINAE

Banded Gecko ( Coleonyx variegatus ) - The banded gecko measures about 9 cm (3.5 inches) in length, and can be kept well in captivity, but I still do not recommend it to beginners who want to be able to handle their lizards, as it has very fragile skin. They can be kept in a vivarium measuring around 75 x 30 x 30 cm. This should be kept dry, and would easily accommodate a trio to a group of five of these delicate little creatures. It should have many hiding places and the substrate should be either sand or bark chips. They feed on small crickets, mealworms and waxworms. Other geckos that are closely related to the banded gecko and need similar requirements include the Texas banded gecko ( Coleonyx brevis ) and other species from the genera Coleonyx, Hemitheconyx and Holodactylus. An ultra-violet light can be used to good effect. Keep the temperature at about 29 degrees centigrade (84 degrees Fahrenheit). Mist the tank once a week.

GECKOS FROM THE SUBFAMILY DIPLODACTYLINAE

Caledonian Gecko ( Rhacodactylus leachianus ) - The Caledonian, or giant gecko can reach 36 cm (14 inches), but despite its large size, very rarely bites, even if provoked. It comes for eastern Australia and the South Pacific Islands, and it seems to even enjoy being handled and getting attention from its owner. It lives in tropical forests, so requires a humid set-up which should be at least 76 x 30 x 40 cm for a single specimen, but it would prefer a bigger vivarium. They eat pinkie and sometimes even fuzzy mice, locusts, large crickets, giant or king mealworms, hoppers and chicks. It will also consume some fruits, and seems to enjoy soft fruits such as bananas. Provide a full spectrum UV light. Mist the tank every day or every other day.

Leaf-tailed Gecko ( Phyllurus platurus ) - Growing to between 22 and 26 cm (8.5 - 10 inches), the leaf-tailed gecko is a pretty lizard that requires a humid vivarium kept at around 30 degrees centigrade (86 degrees Fahrenheit) at day. It is a shy but active animal, that looks good in a well planted display terrarium. An ultra-violet light should be provided at day time, for the gecko and for the live plants in the vivarium that are required for this lizard. Also a shallow water bowl should be provide, along with an abundance of branches to climb on. The tank should be misted very often. Suitable for novice and for keen beginners that are looking for a lizard that looks nice and is easy to keep and maintain, but should not be handled too often. A single specimen would need a vivarium around 60 x 30 x 60 cm.

GECKOS FROM THE SUBFAMILY SPHAERODACTYLINAE

Caribbean Gecko ( Sphaerpdactlyus elegans ) - At only 4 cm (1.5 cm) long, the Caribbean gecko is a surprisingly easy lizard to keep. The gecko is native to the Antilles, and can be suitable for beginners, but the tank must be checked for any possible escape places. Males are much brighter than females in this gecko that eats very small crickets, fruit flies, other flies and caterpillars. They like high humidity (85%) and the day-time temperature should be maintained at 27 degrees centigrade (80 degrees Fahrenheit), dropping to not below 20 degrees centigrade (68 degrees Fahrenheit) at night. At tank 60 x 45 x 75 cm would very comfortably house a group of five or six Caribbean geckos.

Copyright © Chris Jorden. 1999.