Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

A1 Reptiles Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

Make sure a shallow dish with water is available at all times. Feeding consists of a main diet of crickets coated with a vitamin and calcium supplement. Some of the best supplements on the market are Rep-Cal (calcium and vitamin D) and Nekton-Rep (vitamin). At feeding time, use Rep-Cal as a major component for vitamin and mineral supplementation. Two to three times a month use Nekton-Rep as an additional vitamin supplement - shaking this mixture back and forth to coat the crickets before feeding. Crickets may be found at your local pet store but are about $1.30/dozen. I would suggest ordering your crickets from a supplier (such as Fluker Farms 1-800-735-8537). You can order from this supplier at a cost of $13.50/1,000. The crickets may be kept in a tall trash can with a screen top and fed baby chicken starter mash as a diet. Water should also be made available by an inverted water dish, also available from most suppliers at a cost of $5.00. The crickets have a life span of about six to eight weeks so its best not to order anymore than you will use in two to three weeks.

Gecko hatchlings should be fed 1/2 inch crickets and adults should be fed 3/4 inch crickets. Mealworms may be fed once a month. Occasionally you may want to feed little pinks (newborn mice) to improve the health of your lizard. Feeding should take place three to four times a week. I found that feeding every other day works best for me. In time you will get to know your animal and learn how much to feed at each feeding time. An adult will usually eat between five to seven crickets at one feeding..

Daytime temperature should be around 85 degrees F and may cool to 75 degrees F at night. The daytime temperature may be achieved with a spotlight, such as a fifty watt grow bulb. Make sure it is not possible for your animal to come into contact with the bulb as this will cause burns. A small part of the substrate should be heated from 85-88 degrees F. You may heat the substrate using heat strips or a heating pad made specifically for reptile cages, which are available at most pet stores. You want to purchase these heat strips or pads to place under the tank so they do not come into direct contact with your animal. Do not use heat rocks as these can get to hot and may burn your animal. Remember these lizards are ectothermic (require heat from outside sources).

A breeding group may consist of one male and three to four females. Never house males together as they are very territorial and will fight. Mating for the African Fat Tails usually takes place in November and December with the first eggs being laid in late December. Mating for the Leopard Geckos can occur in January or February with the first eggs being laid in February. Eggs are usually laid in clutches (which consist of two eggs). A clutch is then laid every ten to fifteen days afterwards. Each female can lay between three to thirteen clutches in a season, depending on their health and genetic makeup.

Keep a closed plastic container inside the cage with an opening large enough for the geckos to go in and out. This plastic container will act as a hide box as well as an egg laying site for the females. Keep about two-three inches of coarse vermiculite (commonly found at garden stores) inside the container. Mist the inside of the container occasionally to keep the vermiculite damp but not wet. The eggs can become damaged by to much moisture or by becoming to dry. The female will lay her eggs inside the plastic container.
The eggs will be soft shelled and can be removed for incubation. Place the eggs inside a plastic container with dampened vermiculite and cover the container with a lid and place it into the incubator. Check the container every few days to make sure the vermiculite maintains moisture and to let fresh air into the container. Make sure you check the containers often when its close to hatching time and remove hatchlings as soon as they have hatched.

The sex of the hatchlings is determined by what temperature the eggs are incubated at. To produce females the eggs should be incubated at 80-83 degrees F. To produce mostly males incubate from 85-88 degrees F. The African Fat Tail eggs should not be allowed to incubate below 80 degrees F as this will kill the eggs. Incubators are available at most farm supply stores sold as chicken egg incubators (Hovabator).

The eggs usually hatch out between forty to sixty days, depending on the temperature incubated at. The higher the temperature in the incubator the sooner the eggs will hatch but remember, the higher the temperature in the incubator the more males you will produce.

The hatchlings will not feed until they have had their first shed, which usually takes about five days after hatching.

In sexing these hatchlings I would suggest purchasing a 30X illuminated hand held microscope (found at most Radio Shack stores). The cost is about $10.00. In males just above the cloacal opening you will find an angular row of nine to fourteen pre-anal pores. These pores are prominent in the males and are lacking in the females. As the males grow you will notice they have a widened tailbase in which the hemipenes are housed. Males also tend to have a larger or wider head and tend to be larger than the females. If you do not feel comfortable in sexing your hatchlings it is best to have an experienced person do this for you.

A substrate which I like to use is Canadian sphagnum peat moss. Peat moss makes a good substrate because it is a natural substance which is totally digestible, maintains moisture and naturally absorbs odor. Mix the peat moss with water and rub the two between your hands until the moisture is absorbed by the peat moss. Firmly pack the peat moss in the bottom of the cage and let it dry in the sun or under a heat lamp for a couple of hours until all moisture has evaporated. The peat moss will dry to a hard surface. Normally leopard geckos will defecate in the same area making cleanup easy.

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