Introduction:
Leopard Geckos Are one of the easier Reptiles to care for as they were the first gecko to be kept in captivity over 30 years ago they have grown accustomed to human actions. They are originally from Pakistan. Leopard Geckos are one of the easiest reptiles to care for and they are also one of the most sought after due to the amount of awesome morphs in the trade.
Cadge Setup:
We house 3 geckos (1 male and 2 female) in a 20 gal Long terrarium. We start by taking our Repti Therm under Tank Heater and Applying it to one side of the cadge. Later we add a thermometer in the middle of the cadge to ensure an average of 80 degrees is kept in the cadge at all times. For substright we have found that paper towel works best as it is easy to clean. We take 2 sheets of paper towel and tape it to the bottom with scotch tape. We then get a plastic shoe box and cut a 1 1/2" hole in the lid. Then we fill the inside with 3" of peat moss that we like to moisten every week or so to keep at an 80% humidity level. We then place the container over the heat pad and put a small deli cup on the short side to help them clime in there. This house makes a nice place for your gecko to sleep, shed and lay eggs. For water and food dishes we take a large yogurt container and cut off a 1/2" from the bottom this will be used for food and water.
Feeding:
provide a bowel with mealworms lightly dusted with calcium powder. You can also feed crickets ,wax worms and roaches, I would suggest against wax worms since they are like candy for the Leos. I always keep a bowel of mealworms available for my Leos.
Cleaning:
Replace the water every 24 hours
Clean paper towel every week
Disinfect cadge every 4-6 months
Breeding:
Leopard Geckos become sexually mature at around 10-14 months of age. Females should have a minimum weight of 50 grams to reduce the chance of any complications carrying or laying eggs. Males however do not need to be of any specific weight once sexual maturity is reached (though an obese male may be reluctant to mate).
Most breeders group one male gecko between ten and twenty females, and some even keep one with up to fifty females. If using this method, one should remove the male during the non-breeding months. You must also monitor the female in case one does not compete well for food and loses weight or occasionally fight. Small scale breeders may, however, want to keep it down to one or two females per cage, and rotate the male between cages during mating season to prevent a possible tail loss from fighting mothers.
Leopard Geckos usually breed from around March to September, though it may begin as early as January and finish as late as October. They are also influenced to reproduce by subtle drops in temperature during winter.
If upon inspection of the translucent abdominal skin on a female there is the visual appearance of developing eggs, the female should mate immediately when introduced to a male. Two matings should be allowed to take place in order to insure that successful fertilisation has occurred.
When a male and female are introduced the male will shake, or rattle, his tail. In response, the female silently sways her tail from side to side along the ground. Following this, the male will lick her to obtain her scent. The male will begin gently biting her from the lower body upwards. If the female does not wish to mate, she will bite back and the male will cease his activity. If she accepts, he will continue up to her neck, making his body parallel to hers and placing his hind leg over her tail, and inserting one of his hemipenes.
Roughly a month later, the female will lay either one or two eggs. Clutches of two eggs will then be laid monthly throughout the rest of the mating season, though this varies from female to female according to age, with older females laying less.
The Leopard Gecko's sex(gender) can be determined once the animal reaches an adult length of 6"-8". In males there will be a V-shaped row of spots in front of the cloacal opening, and noticeable swelling at the base of the tail caused by the hemipenis. Males are typically larger than females, but this is not a reliable indicator of sex.
Number of eggs you can expect to be laid
Year-Eggs
1-0
2-8
3-12
4-16
5-14
6-10
7-10
8-8
9-6
10-4
11-0
12-0
The so called "hot females" hatched from eggs incubated at higher temperture reach sexual maturity late, and thus these numbers do not apply to them.
Egg incubation
Use a plastic Rubbermaid container with a fitted lid to incubate the eggs in. Mix equal parts vermiculite with water (by weight) so that the vermiculite feels just barely moist when touched. Without changing how the eggs were laid (i.e. the eggs must not be rotated at all, lest the embryo fatally separate from the egg wall), place them carefully into the moistened vermiculite, half burying them in it. Place a small container of water into the vermiculite too to help keep the humidity up. Close the container and keep it closed except when checking the eggs. This allows for ample air circulation, but too much air circulation will cause the humidity to go down, jeopardizing the eggs.
If eggs are incubated at 79 F, the majority of all neonates will be female. If incubated at 85F, you will get an almost equal number of each sex. If incubated at 85 - 87 F the ratio of males to females will be more or less even. When incubated at 89 - 90 F in the first four weeks, than dropped down to 80 - 85 F to reduce risk of cooking the eggs, practically all will be males. Females hatched from these eggs are generally more aggressive than other females, and they tend to reach sexual maturity later if at all. Anything lower than 77 F or higher than 97 F will cause deformities and usually death of the neonates incubated at these temperatures.
Eggs will hatch in 8-12 weeks, with the higher temperatures hatching sooner than lower temperatures.
Hatchlings
Juvenile Leopard Gecko Approximately 6-12 weeks after being laid, the eggs will hatch. First, the gecko will break the surface of the egg and push its head out, remaining in this position for as little as 2 or as many as 4 hours. During this state, it is important that the neonate is not touched or otherwise disturbed, as they are gradually adapting to lung breathing and obtaining oxygen from the egg membranes as well as absorbing yolk from inside the egg.
A Leopard Gecko's markings at birth are extremely different to those of an adult. The skin has no spots, instead large dark bands (usually purple)and intermittent light bands (usually yellow) cover the body from head to tail.
For the first few days of life, the gecko will turn down any food offered, its hunger sustained by the absorbed yolk still in its system.
Color morphs
There are dozens of leopard gecko colours, formally known as 'morphs'. It has been noted that many morphs have different sorts of personalities and different traits specific to their morph. Many morphs can be 'mixed' or 'bred' together to make combination morphs and on rare occasions, a completely new morph.
Some morphs include:
Normal
High Yellow
Lavender Normal
Leucistic/Patternless - Recessive Gene
Blizzard - Recessive Gene
Blazing Blizzard
Eclipse
Sunglow
Hypo - Dominant Gene
Hypo Tangerine
Mack Snow - Dominant Gene
Super Snow
Aptor
Raptor
Tremper Albino - Recessive Gene
Bell Albino - Recessive Gene
Rainwater Albino - Recessive Gene
Many new morphs have been developed within the past 3 years:
Enigma
Diablo Blanco
Emerald/Emerine
Radar
There are also a larger form of Leopard Gecko Morph:
Giant - Dominant Gene
Super Giant
Leopard Gecko Supply List :
Vivarium or Tank
Heat mat and thermostat
Light
Substrate
Water bowl
Hides
Humid hide
Other decor
Calcium dish
Livefood
Gut load for livefood
Supplements |
