# Leopard Jecko?



## AngelDemonWolf (Aug 16, 2017)

Hello, does anyone keep a Leopard Gecko? I have been thinking very hard about getting one but Im not really sure about what habitat to get. I was looking at starter kits and found one at petsmart for leopard geckos not sure if its good or not. Need a little help here please.

Miss spell the title opps/


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I have six!


The essentials:
20 gallon long for on adult (10 will work for babies but you'll need to upgrade eventually)
Under Tank Heater (UTH) <- super important!
rug substrate
three hides (cool, hot, moist)
one water dish
one food dish


The UTH is super important. Leopard geckos take belly heat and use that to help digest their food. Without it, they can become impacted and get sick. Having an overhead heat bulb is okay but it's not going to heat as efficiently as the UTH, the UTH is absolutely necessary and something you cannot skip on. Lighting is not important but a nice luxury if you want it. Leopard's are crepuscular which means they're awake primarily during the dawn hours and dusk hours. Much like a cat; they nap most of the day and most of the night lol.


Stay away from any loose substrate like sand/bark/gravel/calci-sand. These are terrible for your gecko for a few reasons. First, is impaction. Geckos are messy eaters when it comes to loose crickets. When they go to grab the cricket, often they grab sand as well which is no good. It cannot be digested easily and can cause a blockage in the colon/intestines. The other reason is their joints. Leopard's in particular are not good at supporting themselves unless it's over firm ground. If you use a loose substrate; you can hurt their joints. These geckos come from the Pakistan area where it's hot but it isn't sahara desert with loose sand everywhere, it's very compacted and hard mixture of sand, dirt, and rocks. So the best way to go is with something solid; paper towels can be used for easy cleaning for babies, slate is another great one as it holds heat very well (though, you'd use a heat bulb in this case), or rug. I use rug, easy to clean and sanitary. Some folks have issues with their claws getting stuck in it but I've never had said issue be a problem; just don't rip them off the rug if you pick it up, just gently unhook as you'd do with a cat.


Their main diet should be mealworms, calci-worms (Phoenix worms/Black Soldier Fly Larvae are all the same thing), and crickets. Be sure it always use a Calcium with their food. I like Repashy's calcium for Leopard's. Fresh water should always be available as well!


It's important to feed daily when they are babies and clean out the cage weekly (deep clean once a month is good schedule to be on). As they grow into adults, you can move to every other day feeding so they don't get too fat! You want a nice fat tail but you don't want him/her super chubby either, it's not healthy!


Any other questions, feel free to ask! There are quite a few of us here that could help out :-D


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## AngelDemonWolf (Aug 16, 2017)

Oh thanks!
Question about the hides, so the moist hide is going to have a towel that is has water right?
The hot one is going to be above were the heat pad is?
But I don't understand the cool hide do you need something special to keep it cool or is it just like keep it there?
Other thing I'm really struggling with finding a cage, I heard that you can keep a Gecko in a 15 gallon size cage. Do you have any suggestion on what cage should I buy? I need the smallest cage you can go for an adult so that I can but it anywhere, but at the same time I don't want it to be too small that he can stress or be uncomfortable.
Other thing what substrate do you recommend for a him/her, I know that sand can be very dangerous for them if they swallow it.


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Hey! For an adult, the minimum I would put them in is a 20G Long. They need floor space v. height and length v. width.

The cool hide just stays opposite to the heat mat. It's like getting in a hot tub, and then getting too hot and moving to a cool pool. Unlike us, these guys can't regulate their body temprature because they're cold-blooded.


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## AngelDemonWolf (Aug 16, 2017)

Good news! I found a place to put a 20 g in my house!
I have been reading on the feeding and I found out that leopard can be feed as much as they want. Is that true? Does this include baby-adult?
And about the calcium I also read that it should be available 24/7 to the gecko, but I'm a little confused on that. I have seen videos and such and it says that there are calcium days (vm too) does that mean that those days calcium should be added to the food in those day?


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## AngelDemonWolf (Aug 16, 2017)

Other question, is the heat pad suppose to be under the tank? or can it be used inside the tank?
I plan on getting a baby leo and keeping him/she in a 10 gallon. But I don't want to buy a heat pad that sticks to the 10 gallon and won't be able to use it for the 20 gallon.

Does anyone recommend a heat pad?


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## thekinetic (May 22, 2012)

On substrate, it's up for debate. Personally I use a 50/50 combo of coconut fiber and peat moss but that is only for adults. I have heard others use slate tiles, paper towels, and reptile carpet though I have heard they can get their claws caught in carpet. Do not under any circumstances use sand or rocks even if it is marked reptile sand, this can easily cause impaction.

As for the UTH I use zoo-med, it should cover 1/3 but no more than 1/2 of the bottom of the underside of the tank. If your tank does not have feet use the plastic feet that usually come with them so that there is air flow so that the pad does not over heat and burn up. Also buy a rheostat so that you can control the temperature of the heat mat. The warm side of the tank should be no higher than 90-91, I keep mine at 89 to shut off and 86 to turn on.

Hope this helps!


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

That calci schedule looks fine. I would do calci 3x/week, with multivits 1-2x/week (like, calci, then mv the next day, then calci again) and always have a small dish of calci available in the enclosure. 

For feeding, I would feed depending on the size. Babies can be fed every day, and adults every other day. A mix of crickets, mealworms, and dubia roaches is the best diet. I'm not sure how to portion as I don't have a gecko of my own yet.

For the UTH, I would get a 20 right away. Go with ZooMed, and be sure to have a thermostat to regulate it's temp. You'll need at least 1 hydrometer to see the amount of humidity, and two thermometers to check the temps.


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## AngelDemonWolf (Aug 16, 2017)

Thanks!
I have no clue how to use the thermostat but i'll figure it out.

I have everything plan now with prices and everything.

For the substrate I'll use a towel as for now since I don't know if Im going to get a baby or adult. Im going to find a breeder and just see which I like, personality wise.

I'm just having a small trouble finding the vitamins and minerals for the leo, there is so many brands yet I can't tell if they have what it needs for vitamins. Does anyone have any suggestions for which type of brand should I get? Pretty lost here.

and thank you everyone for helping me answering my questions, and sorry I'm asking so many. I wanna be sure that the leo will be safe and happy.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

One other thing is:
You cannot overdose a Leopard with calcium. Use calcium over all their food and leave a dish of it in the cage so they can decide if they need more or not. I actually add liquid calcium to the water as well since my water has no hardness/calcium in it. You can never overdose it, all that will happen is they urinate it out. Zinc on the other hand, will rise if the calcium level is too low, your gecko can die from this. I had a gecko who died from essentially that; not enough calcium which made the eggs not form correctly, zinc levels were too high since they do not excrete that. She passed one giant egg (two eggs formed into one) and then after that, the next egg didn't form properly and caused a blockage. 


My vet recommended that I use calcium on everything and then also feed them Emeraid daily or every other day along with their regular food. Emeraid is similar to Repta-boost in that it's a formulated powder that you mix with hot water to make a little slurry/liquid. I used the syringe from the Repta-boost to feed it. I just hold my gecko in my hand and have them lick it out of the syringe. With a little persuasion and liquid on the tip of their mouth or petting the side of their mouth with the syringe; they open up and lick at it. This is a good practice to do when they are young, just in case anything does happen down the road and you have to get them to take medicine; they will at least be used to the syringe (note that this is not pointy in any way, I do not use any attachments on it) and take it easier.


Crickets especially need to be dusted and gut fed before hand (all live insects should have this done, but crickets foremost for Leopards unlike Bearded), they contain much more keratin and water, very little nutrients unlike a worm which at least has fat. I use Fluker's cricket food and the yellow quencher for my bugs. You can use whatever you like, just make sure to dust them! That's the biggest part!


If you can get calcium worms/phoenix worms/black soldier larvae worms (all the same thing, different name), then those are one of the best staple bugs you can get for any gecko! High in natural calcium (hence the name) and less fat and keratin than crickets or mealworms. They come in different sizes if you order from rainbowmealworm.com or PetCo carries them as well in one size. My geckos aren't as fond of them since they're a new item to them so start them young and get variety in there! It stinks having a picky gecko, though, it can happen whether you feed variety or not, it's just less likely to happen if you do it young


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## AngelDemonWolf (Aug 16, 2017)

Awesome! Thanks that information is great help!


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