My leopardgecko caresheet

leopardgeckos4me · #1 (**permalink**) 30-04-2007, 08:48 PM

This is the leopardgecko sheet i made plz read and i hope you find some useful things..

Leopard gecko care & maintenance
By Emily Pritchard

: Suitability as pets.
Leopard geckos are one of the easiest lizards to look after they are calm and tolerate handling in small amounts. They grow to a perfect length of 22- 28cm there claws are pretty blunt and teeth hardly visible.

: General appearance
Leopard geckos are beautiful in appearance with velvet like skin the color can vary with each morph a normal leopard gecko is usually either spotted or striped. A pattern less leopard gecko however has no pattern as said in the name. However some morphs can be a wide range of multi colors. No leopard gecko is the same in pattern or personality.

: Life span
Leopard geckos can live up to 20 years and reach sexual maturity at about 8 months. It has been known for a male leopard gecko to live 30+ years and a females longest lived was 22 years so if you plan to hold a record braking leopard gecko for lifespan your better off getting a male as they tend to live longer.

: Selecting a leopard gecko
You are best of purchasing a leopard gecko from a reptile shop or show. Inspect the cages and make sure proper lighting and water has been provided make sure the tanks are clean and have the correct furnishing. Also ask if you can see the leopard gecko(s) eat so you can make sure there active and move around correctly. Also if feces is present check it is solid and of a brawny/black color with a whitish urate. Runny green or patty shaped feces are all signs of possible disease.
Healthy leopard geckos should look alert when handled; tails should be fat and rounded, skin should look clean without cuts and bones should not be visible. The vent should be flush with the body and should not have fecal caking. Eyes should be clear of discharge bright and not sunken (a sign of dehydration).legs back and jaw should be solid and legs should not be bowed the jaw should be firm and even. Noses should also be free of discharge. Now you know what to look for ask your reptile breeder what sex the chosen lizard(s) are females can safely be housed together but it isn’t a certainty if any fighting accurse separate quickly. Males should never be housed together. 1 male can be housed with up to 10 females if kept in an adequate sized vivarium.This is for breeding but females generally shouldn’t be kept with a male all year round dew to stress.

: Housing
As a general rule the vivarium should be set up about 3days before you get the lizard to check all bulbs are working correctly, temperatures correct and timers are set to the correct times. It is also less stress for the lizard so it can go straight into the vivarium rather than getting cold.
: 10 gallon is adequate for 1 leopard gecko although they would prefer larger.
: 20+ gallon is adequate for a pair or trio.
The vivarium should have a cold hide (could be a log for them to hide under)
A moist hide with sphagnum moss in or wet kitchen roll in (at the hot side of the tank).
And a hide in the middle area of the tank these will provide the proper humidity and shade for the gecko(s).
Humid hides help the gecko shed properly and should be provided all year round.

:Water
Water should be changed everyday and if possible should be left in a bottle for 24 hours before given to the lizard (this removes most of the chlorine & any other chemicals that may upset the lizards digestive system) Also the moist hide should be sprayed everyday to provide humidity. If u think your leopard gecko may be dehydrated (sunken eyes, shriveled tail, toes that stick together) you can drip water onto its nose using your finger or you can use a syringe to place in the side of he geckos mouth so it goes directly into the mouth. There is a saying that if u pinch a leopard geckos skin on its belly and it stays its dehydrated..This is true but some leopard geckos are just like this and if no other symptoms of dehydration occur than your leopard gecko properly isn’t dehydrated there fore you should continue to look after your lizard the same way as which you where before.

:Substrate
The safest and best substrate to use is kitchen roll, it holds heat in well for the geckos digestive system, it’s easy to clean and is inexpensive but the most important factor is that it cannot cause impaction like sand or wood chip these should never be used as a substrate for leopard geckos especially not babies. Tile is also a good substrate it’s easy to clean and is inexpensive it also cant give impaction.
Calci-Sand should never be used although on the back it may say its 100% digestible it’s not at all as shown in this picture it gets clogged up in the leopard gecko’s digestive system and can lead to death.

: Temperature
The temperature gradient should be controlled using a digital thermostat and should be kept at 88-90 on the hot side during the day and 84-85 on the cool side some people decide not to change the temperature on the night but most people prefer to give it a drop in the 70’s but not below. Bulbs or a heat mat should be used to gain the temperature needed they both do the same job but bulbs tend to be cheaper (based on were I live) with bulbs you have to make sure the ground temperature is correct so the leopard gecko can digest food properly. A blue or red bulb should be used during the night blue is best for viewing but red is said to be better because the leopard geckos cant detect it.

: Feeding
Leopard geckos are nocturnal so they come out during the night and eat then. They should be fed 1hour before or 1hour after the night light comes on or the heat mat goes off. Crickets are the best staple diet to feed as they have the most nutrition in them, Mealworms can be fed as a staple diet but are not as easy to digest and are high in chitten.Pinky-mice can be offered once every month but no more because they are fatty and can cause fatty liver disease. All live food should be gut loaded using vegetables such as potatoes or tomatoes. They should also be sprinkled with calcium (I use t-rex especially made for leopard geckos) if you use pure calcium you will also need to use a vitamin supplement once or twice a week. Babies –juveniles can eat 5-20 small crickets per day adults can be fed every other day usually eating 2-10 medium-large crickets. You should remove crickets that are left over.

: Shedding
A healthy leopard gecko will shed every 3-4 weeks the skin will appear like a dull sheet of grey the leopard gecko will then peel the skin off in a sheet then eat it you should check the toes and eyes for unshedded skin if any is found then it should be removed with a damp Q-Tip if the skin doesn’t loosen up bathe your lizard in warm water.

: Breeding
Leopard geckos are quite easy to breed 1st of all obviously you need to keep one male with a few females depending on cage size. You need to make sure the female has enough calcium all through breeding season February.-August and that she stays well fed. You can leave the calcium out in a low dish Also dust the crickets every other feeding during breeding season.

:Cage Preparation
First of all you will need to put in a laying box for her and leave it in there all the time. You can use old Tupperware or similar with the lid on. Cut a hole in the side big enough for her to get in to. Fill the box about halfway with moist (not soaking) vermiculite or perlite (ALWAYS were a mask when using or near perlite). She will go in there when she is ready and start digging. Check it everyday and make sure no eggs are in there undetected.

: laying

You will know when your leopard gecko is about to lay because you will see the eggs near another budging out of the sides. She might lay every 3-5 weeks (or2-4)
You will find her digging and you will know when she’s layed (she’ll be a lot thinner and may look a bit down) Transport the eggs in to the incubator (be very gentle and try to place them in the same position as you pick them up).You will find you Leo VERY hungry so feed her as many cricks/mealworms as she wants…You can put a pinky in there once a month make sure to dust the crickets VERY well as she’ll need all the calcium as she can. If she doesn’t regain strength in a bout a week or so separate her from the male for a while until she’s fully recovered

Incubation:
Incubation:
You can use an old cage called a Neodesha cage. Cover the little screen at the top with foil to keep the temperature and humidity constant inside. Put a thin mylar heating pad under it and attach a thermostat to keep a constant temp In the cage, put another larger Tupperware box or plastic shoe box filled almost all the way with moist vermiculite (moist not soggy). put the top on it but the top has small holes in it. This is the hard part. Try to get it to stay very humid but not too wet so as to get moldy. You have to experiment with this. The remote temp detector thing from the thermostat gets placed not only in the cage but into the vermiculite in the shoe box. There should be some condensation inside the shoebox but it should not be dripping. Water will have to be added periodically to keep it moist. This is a judgment call and depends on your set-up

: Temperature
set the thermostat to keep a constant temp of 81 degrees. This ensures that you all females and can keep them together later if they don't sell. If you want males you can keep them at 87-88 degrees to be sure. 85 is supposed to get about half male and half female but then you can also get hot female and cool males that don't breed well or at all. You just put the eggs in there buried about halfway and incubate away for about 6-8 weeks and instant geckos!

: The hatchlings

The hatchlings will be tiny and they hatch with a yolk sack you can transport them to a medium sized tub or cage use kitchen roll for the substrate. They don’t eat for the 1st 4-7 days and after they’ve shedded. Put heat tape all through it so that the backs of the shoeboxes can have nice gentle heat. You can keep them together but you need to watch carefully that everyone is eating and no one is getting picked on. Keeping them singularly for the first couple of months ensures that there will be no tail losses from nippy cage mates also.

This is based on the information I know I am not an expert but know the things i know by the experience ive had and this care sheet is based on what I know

Thanks for reading

leopardgeckos4me · #2 (**permalink**) 30-04-2007, 08:54 PM

If u like it credits go to me :P

kevaldo · #3 (**permalink**) 10-06-2007, 12:23 PM

Great help sheet, ive used your info to help me setting up my first viv and getting 3 young Leopard's. Which I picked up yesterday.

Kev

ashbosh · #4 (**permalink**) 13-07-2007, 02:13 AM

yeah great caresheet thanks alot, could you possibly update it and give hanling tips? i.e. how on their body to pick them up, that would be great for inexperienced gecko fanciers

Trice · #5 (**permalink**) 13-07-2007, 03:12 AM

And... With the housing bit.. Add possible dimensions in ( )'s, i hate looking online at caresheets that only show the gallons

Othnelia · #6 (**permalink**) 25-07-2007, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trice

And... With the housing bit.. Add possible dimensions in ( )'s, i hate looking online at caresheets that only show the gallons

i agree

jamie_coxon · #7 (**permalink**) 17-10-2007, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trice

And... With the housing bit.. Add possible dimensions in ( )'s, i hate looking online at caresheets that only show the gallons

gallons is an american term i belive

and ur british

DeanThorpe · #8 (**permalink**) 17-10-2007, 12:14 PM

gallons is an aquarium term thats all.

sw3an29 · #9 (**permalink**) 17-10-2007, 12:23 PM

very good caresheet

jamie_coxon · #10 (**permalink**) 17-10-2007, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leopardgeckos4me

This is the leopardgecko sheet i made plz read and i hope you find some useful things..

:Substrate
Calci-Sand should never be used although on the back it may say its 100% digestible it’s not at all as shown in this picture it gets clogged up in the leopard gecko’s digestive system and can lead to death.

?????? what picture????

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