LEOPARD GECKO CARE

Many reptile breeders have varying opinions and methods to raising healthy animals. This care sheet highlights my suggestions to keep your new gecko(s) nice and health. Before you purchase a gecko, make sure to learn everything you can about them. Get obsessed about their husbandry! Learning about these animals is just as fun as raising and breeding them. I recommend reading care sheets from multiple different breeders. Some great care sheets I’ve read are from:

Art Geckos
Geckos Ect.
Ron Tremper over at leopardgecko.com

Housing

I recommend at least a 20-gallon tank with a lid for an adult or hatchling leopard gecko. If you are using a rack system, I would suggest at least a 18-quart tub for hatchlings and at least 28-quart tub. Although leopard geckos aren’t the most active, they are still pretty curious animals, so I encourage people to give them some extra enclosure space.

HEATING/TEMP.

No matter how you heat your gecko’s enclosure, YOU MUST USE A THERMOSTAT! The thermostat that I use is the Vivarium Electronics VE-300. There should be a cool side and a warm side of their enclosure. The warm side should be between 87°-90°, while the cool side should be around 75°-80°. Make sure you’re not heating the whole enclosure. I would recommend using either a heat mat, heat tape, or a heat cord. AVOID USING HEAT ROCKS AND HEAT LIGHTS.

FOOD

Your gecko’s food should consist of mostly mealworms, crickets, or dubia roaches. They can also eat superworms, hornworms, and waxworms as treats no more than once a week. Make sure that you get the correct size insects. The best way to judge this is to make sure that any insect you feed them can fit in the space between their eyes. Always gut load any insects you feed your gecko beforehand. I usually feed my mealworms carrots and sweet potatoes. It is also important to dust your insects with some calcium with vitamin D3 and multivitamins (you can use herpitivite or Osteo-Form calcium phosphorus and vitamin powder for horses. Personally, I like to always make sure that my geckos’ food dishes are full, so they can eat whenever they want. If you feed your gecko crickets or dubias, I recommend feeding 6-10 of either insect of appropriate size (make sure the insect is the same size as the space between your gecko's eyes) 2-3 times a week. I also recommend keeping your gecko’s food dish on the cooler side of their enclosure. AVOID FRUITS, VEGETABLES, AND RODENTS.

WATER

A lot of the water that your gecko needs will come from their humid hide and insects; however, it is important to keep a shallow water dish on the cool side of their enclosure. Most people will just use a bottle cap as a water dish.

HIDES

All leopard geckos need a humid hide on the warm side of their enclosure. This will help keep the humidity up a little and help your gecko shed more easily. It’s also a source of water for them. You can just use a Ziploc Tupperware with a hole on the side or the top for the gecko to go into. Put some paper towel on the bottom and spray it down with water. Make sure that the paper towels are wet, but not soaking in a puddle of water. I do recommend having a dry hide on the warm side and one on the cool side as well. Leopard geckos like to hide away in small spaces, so it’s important to give them options.

SUBSTRATE

The substrate I use with my geckos is paper towel because it’s very easy to clean. You can also use repti-carpet, but it is a bit of a pain to clean. I recommend cleaning out your gecko’s substrate every 1-1 ½ weeks. A thorough clean should be done with a safe disinfectant for pets once a month. We use a chlorhexidine solution and follow the directions on the bottle very carefully. You only need to use a very little bit of the chorhexidine mixed with water, but read the instructions to follow the exact measurements.