There's something about the leopard gecko that endears it to even the most reptile phobic person. Maybe it is the feline like qualities, the perpetual "smile", or just that they are truly "cute".
    Whatever the reason, Leopard Geckos are arguably the most popular reptile "pet". They make a perfect beginner's reptile and still hold fascination for jaded old-timers.
    The leopard Gecko we know today bears little resemblance to it's wild counterpart. As the result of years of selective breeding strong, beautiful, and healthy Leopard Geckos are being produced by hundreds if not thousands of breeders worldwide.
 
General Description
 
    The Leopard gecko is a member of the gecko family collectively known as the Eublepharids. The most notable characteristic of the Eublepharids is that they have moveable eyelids (most other geckos don't). Other Eublepharids include the Banded Geckos of the southwest United States and Northern Central America, The Fat Tail Gecko of Africa, The Cat Gecko of Indonesia, and the Cave geckos of Japan.
    At hatching Leopard Geckos are strongly banded in purple/brown and yellow, and 2 1/2"- 3 1/2" in length. Soon after hatching the banding begins to break up and in adulthood Leopard Geckos are most commonly Yellow with Brown spots. Some adult Leopard Geckos display a dramatic reduction in the number of spots and are an almost solid beautiful bright yellow. There are many other colour phases of Leopard Geckos with new ones appearing every year. These include but are not limited to Striped, Albino, Leucistic(Patterless), Snow, Silver, and Jungle.
    Adult Leopard Geckos reach lengths of 8"-10" with the occasional exceptional specimen reaching over 12" in length. Males are generally larger and more heavily built than females.
 
General Care
 
    Caring for Leopard Geckos is simple in the extreme. Hatchlings are best housed in small aquaria, or ventilated plastic storage containers (2.2 litre rubbermaid storage containers are perfect for this). Hathling are best kept on a substrate of papertowel or a bare floor. Use of sand or other particulate substrates is not recommended because the young geckos will often eat these which results in impaction and death. Small hiding areas, such as an overturned plastic dish with an entrance hole should be offered
    Adult geckos can be housed separately or in small groups. Only one male can be kept per group though. An enclosure equivalent to a 10 gallon aquarium can house up to three adult geckos with larger caging required for larger groups. Adult Leopard Geckos should also have hiding area available. When multiple geckos are housed together multiple hiding areas should be offered. A substrate of paper towel, sand or bark chips will work well.
    Leopard Geckos of all ages should have fresh water made available to them either in a small bowl or by lightly misting a small part of the side of the enclosure.
    Leopard Geckos also require heat to digest their food and function properly. The geckos should be offered an opportunity to bask at temperatures of 85-90 degrees F. This can be provided with an under tank heater under 1/4-1/3 of the cage or by a light bulb over one end of the cage. The geckos should also have access to a cooler area of the cage with temps. of 75-80 degrees F.
    Leopard Geckos will eat a large array of vertebrate and invertebrate food. We feed our Leopard Geckos almost exclusively on mealworms. The mealworms themselves are fed a healthy diet before being offered to the geckos (Bran, Skim Milk powder, calcium powder, and oatmeal). To prevent the escape of the mealworms they are offered to the geckos in a shallow bowl. We try to always have mealworms in the bowls so the geckos can eat as much and whenever they want. We also sprinkle a little calcium powder in the bowl with the mealworms so the geckos will ingest a little calcium when they eat the worms.
    We also occasionally offer wax worms and pinkie (1-3 day old) mice to our adult females. We most often do this during the breeding season to help the geckos replenish fat stores lost due to egg production.
 
Sexing
 
    Baby Leopard Geckos are nearly impossible to sex reliably. Adult can easily be sexed. Simply look at the underside of the gecko at the area where the tail joins the body. Males will have prominent bulges at the base of the tail. These bulges are caused by the sexual organs (the Hemipenes) which are inside the tail. Males also have prominent pre-anal pores. These are a row of small dark spots located between the back legs. During the breeding season you will often notice a hard waxy excretion protruding from these pores for 1/16"-1/8". Females will lack the hemipenal bulges and have very faint preanal pores.
 
Breeding
 
Leopard Geckos are one of the easiest and most rewarding Lizards to breed. Well fed female Leopard Geckos will generally reach sexual maturity at around 9 months of age (Usually January-April). At this time the male will begin showing interest in the female, and if you see small bite marks on the female this is a good sign that breeding has been taking place. We often house of males separately from groups of females, and every few weeks beginning in January we introduce the male to the females for a period of a few days. This allows us to keep better track of when breeding is taking place. Female Leopard Geckos only need to breed with a males a couple of times to be able to lay eggs all summer. Our Leopard Geckos generally begin breeding in Mid January with egg laying starting in February. The females if well fed will continue to lay eggs well into the summer and early fall. Females most often lay pairs of eggs. Occasionally at the beginning or end of the egg laying season females will lay single eggs. We have had females lay from as few as 6 eggs to as many as 25 eggs in a season. Larger older females tend to lay more and larger eggs. We provide the females with a nesting box. This is a lidded plastic container with an entrance hole cut in the lid. Inside the box is either damp soil, or damp cypress mulch. The females will bury their eggs in the medium, from which they can be removed for artificial incubation.
 
Incubation of eggs
 
    We incubate our Leopard Gecko eggs in food storage containers. These containers have two pin holes in the lid to allow for ventilation. Inside the containers we put a layer (approx. 1" deep) of fine grade vermiculite. The vermiculite is barely moistened. Many people would be surprised how dry we actually keep the medium. It is not necessary to add add any moisture to the medium during the laying season if the directions above are followed. Many clutches of eggs can be kept in one of these containers.
    Leopard Gecko eggs will hatch successfully at a wide range of Temperatures. The safest range of temperatures is somewhere between 80-84 degrees F. At these temperatures the babies will hatch in 55-60 days. At the above temperatures most of the babies will be females. A high percentage of males can be hatched by exposing the eggs to temperatures 89-90 degrees F. for the first two weeks of incubation.
 
Hatching and Postnatal care
 
    When the baby decides it is time to hatch it will make a slit in the end of the egg, and then spend several hours laying with only it's head sticking out of the egg. During this time the baby will absorb any Yolk that is remaining in the egg and become accustomed to breathing oxygen.
    Once hatched our babies are removed from the incubation box and placed in a ventilated plastic storage container like the ones mentioned earlier in this article. They are kept on a substrate of damp paper towel for the first week of their life. The little gecko will shed it's skin for the first time approximately 3 days after hatching. At this time a small bowl of tiny mealworms and calcium powder can be offered. Most babies will begin eating from 3-7 days after hatching.
 
Enjoy your Gecko!
 
Clint Gilders
K.L.C.B.