Leopard Gecko's (Eublepharis macularius) are an ideal starter lizard for the first time reptile keeper, they are also a great addition to advanced keepers as they are easy to breed and come in a wide range of morphs (colours). However you should remember that they could live up to 25 years or more, so make sure you will have the commitment to look after it for its entire lifetime before purchasing one. In the wild the common (normal morph) leopard gecko is found in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Size is usually gender based where males generally grow longer weigh more and are more slender than females. Although large fat females, may also achieve the same weight. Females usually only reach 4.5-5 inches snout-to-vent with a total of 9 inches as where males can reach up to 6 inches snout-to-vent length and 10 inches total length.

General Health Care
Leopard geckos require little health care compared to other lizards. There cleaning requirements are the removal of stools once a week to reduce the risk of parasites and other illnesses. A full habitat cleanout is required once every three months along with disinfection to reduce the risk of any illnesses that may be harbouring in the tank. Also it allows all the dead foodstuffs to be removed to also reduce the risk of infections. During the cleanout the gecko should be placed in a sealed container that has good ventilation and big enough for the gecko and its hide, as a hide will be needed to allow the gecko to hide and feel secure in its new environment. Leopard geckos will also need a moist hide, to aid them with their shedding of their skin. An ideal moist hide will be made out of a water resistant material i.e. plastic and filled with a substrate that can retain moisture, examples are:- " Layers of kitchen roll " Moss (disinfected) " Vermiculite This moist hide is simply kept moist with a plant water sprayer (when the gecko is not occupying the hide!)

Feeding


Methods of feeding:
" Dead food stuffs simulated as living e.g. pinkies " Loose live food " Contained Live food " Force fed baby food or liquefied food stuffs.

Preparation of Live food
All live food will need to be gut loaded for at least the 24 hours prior to being fed to the gecko. There are two options available for gut loading invertebrate live foods, they are: " Purchase a commercially available gut loader designed for the invertebrate you want to feed e.g. live food directs- ProGrub. " Create your own gut load formula with compound base materials like crushed bran or chicken mash like layena, and then supplement vitamins with a commercial supplement mix or vegetables like carrot, lettuce (not iceberg), oranges, etc…

Loose live food presentation
Basically loose live food presentation is simply putting the live food in the tank and allowing the gecko to hunt it down. However excess un-eaten live foods should be removed from the tank, as they will only annoy the gecko and maybe try biting it whilst the gecko is asleep.

Contained live food presentation
Contained live food presentation is putting the live food in a container e.g. bowl in the tank that the live food cannot escape from but the gecko can feed from. This method is especially useful with mealworms, as loose ones have a tendency to burrow through soft material like cork bark, causing problems like infestations.

Handling:
After time and a bit of patience, leopard geckos can be tamed enough to allow you to hold them a few times a week. When holding them you should let the walk from one hand to another, by firstly scooping them up from the sides, so that they can see you. Instead of from above where they may believe you to be a predator, and may act accordingly. You should never grab on to the gecko's tail because the gecko's tail is a main store for fat but it is also used as a defence mechanism. When a gecko knows it about to be attacked it will raise its tail above its body whilst lying down on the ground, then it will wag its tail slowly back and forwards until the predator strikes, and this point the geckos tail automatically detaches and the gecko runs for safety whilst the predator tries to eat a still wriggling tail. Also if it is a pregnant female, you also should not pick her up as you may cause severe internal injuries. Another reason not to hold a gecko is when it is injured, except when needing to administer medication, the gecko will already be stressed from the illness so, and excess stress caused by handling will only make matters worse.

General Husbandry:


Heating
Leopard Geckos require a heat gradient in their tanks (a hot and cool end, so they can go where they prefer). At the hot end there should be a basking spot where they can warm up. Ideally the basking spot should be kept between 88-91?F.

Basking Spot
Basking Spots are where geckos warm up, as they are cold blooded. For Basking Spots I recommend that you put pieces of slate under the heat lamp or on the heat mat and substrate as slate absorbs heat very well. It should be the length of your gecko and double its width. Please Note: Heat rocks always wear down and when they do, the heating part of them is exposed and if a gecko touches it, your gecko will have a nasty burn. So we strongly recommend that you do not use heat rocks.

Heat Lamps
Heat Lamps provide a small concentrated area of light and heat, if you choose a heat lamp you will not need a night light. However as heat lamps stay on 24/7 you will require a dimmer thermostat designed for heat lamps as a bulb by its self can over heat your tank, making your gecko ill.

Heat Mats
Heat mats provide a large area of equal heat; you will require a heat mat that is a quarter of your tank's base. You will also require a thermostat which will turn on/off the heat mat as its gets to the set temperature, so that it will not over heat the tank!

Substrate
A few leopard gecko owners keep their geckos on sand this is very dangerous and risky choice only made because people want the so-called "Natural Look". Doing so is ignoring the most important thing, the gecko's health! Because sand can cause impaction and eye problems and both can lead to an early death for your gecko.

Reptile-Carpet
Personally use reptile carpet because it's easy to clean and simple to fit, as it's only one piece instead of many like kitchen roll!

Kitchen Roll
Kitchen Roll is just as safe as Reptile Carpet but it can make a bit of a mess when it's wet, e.g. gecko's water bowl, but it's disposable and cheap to replace.

Hides
Leopard Gecko's require a series of hides, one or two geckos should have three different hides, and if you keep more than two geckos together it's recommended that you add a hide for each gecko you add to your group. However for five geckos' you can have either two moist hides or one extra large one.

Dry Hide's
For one or two gecko's you will need two dry hide's, one at the cool end of the tank and one at the hot end of the tank, however if you are keeping more than two together it's recommended that you add a dry hide somewhere else in the tank for each gecko added.

Moist Hides
You will require a moist hide for a leopard gecko, which is needed for them to shed properly, if not serious problems, can arise. Moist hide's cannot be purchased so you Will have to make one; there are many different methods to making one and here's a picture of mine.

Accommodation:
The housing sizes for Leopard Gecko's depends on the amount of gecko's you want to keep together, the table below shows the recommended sizes for geckos.