iv been looking at them and would appreciate any info you guys have.
ty
Answers:
I have owned 2 for a long time and they are WONDERFUL - they are beautiful and very chill. Friendly and calm. Great pet to have. Easy to take care of. I highly recommend a leapord ghecko as a pet!
First do your research before getting any reptile!! Leopard Geckos are good beginner pets. They require a lot of equipment though.
Here's a few things i can tell you now - They will need a vivarium, lined with bought wood chippings, vermiculite or peat / sand mix, a heat pad/lamp/rock, uv light just to start. Reptiles are ectothermic so they rely on heat to keep their circulation going, you need to keep the thermostat at a good temp (check online for temps). They also need a little humidity at times this can be done by spraying the viv lightly with water and letting the heat cause the condensation. They eat crickets -if they get loose the black ones are noisy and drive you nuts - i used to used waxworm or mealworm instead.
Buy from a good reptile shop and get a beginners book before you buy!! Babies are born with stripes and eventually these pan out into spots. Never grab them by the tail -this is used to store fat and they can shed their whole tail as a defence mechanism if they are scared - it wont grow back!!
By far, they are one of the easiest lizards to take care of!! They are nocturnal, so other than a light bulb, they don't require any special heating during the day. They eat crickets and mealworms and any other LIVE insect, though you may want to check to get specifics on their diet.
You can go to
www.repticzone.com
and find care sheets on how to properly raise and take care of the leopard gecko. They are bright, colorful, and very active at night, and it's fun to watch them hunt for their food, or just lay around. They have great personalities, and will watch you a lot of times, which tends to make you laugh. All in all, I think that if you want a great lizard thats easy to take care of and that doesn't cost you a lot of money in the long run, the leopard gecko is the way to go!
Hope that helps!
Also... to the guy above... yes, leopard geckos do shed their tails as a defense mechanism, but they DO grow back, they just don't grow back to look normal, as they have a large lump in the middle of their tail when it finally does grow back. They really don't require alot... and what they DO require shouldn't run you more than $50.00 if you look in the right places. Give them a few places to hide, a water dish, a cage, a heat source for the night, and some moss to help aid in shedding, and they will be fine...
I have a mated pair. I kinda fell into the gecko world myself. My husband snuck em in on me and now I'm the one all over town looking for meal worms. They are easy to take care of. I found this site really helpful.
www.thegecksospot.com
Some things I've learned:
Use aquarium carpet instead of sand, I never saw my geckos eating sand but it's safer and I find it easier to clean the tank
If you feed crickets to them (always gut load first, meaning feed the crickets, I use Fluckers) put a piece of apple in the tank so the crickets that survive eat that rather than the geckos poo!
I used to feed them only crickets but now I get meal worms. I let them "warm up" on the counter for at least an hour before putting them in the tank. Most geckos will only eat something that moves and if they are cold they aren't moving.
Avoid what I've done and have a male and female together. He wants to mate with her all the time and it stresses her out. I'm working on getting another tank. I've read that they are better off alone.
Good Luck!
We love our Gecko, lizzy, he loves to be handled and is fun to watch hunt. Unfortunately he has become sick. Please check with a local reptile vet before purchasing. My vet told me he had seen a lot of sick gecko's from the place I got my mine. Wish I had done more research
Biggest keys to owning a leopard gecko: make sure you have access to a reptile vet (these are hardy little guys but always be on the safe side), use carpet instead of sand (especially if buying young), provide a moist retreat at the opposite end of the habitat from the basking lamp (ex: reptile hut with damp terrarium moss inside), the basking area should get from 95-105 degrees, the main habitat temp shoud be around 85 degrees during the day and no lower than 65 degrees overnight, calcium dust your crickets and if you plan on keeping a stock of crickets, feed them well (the better the crickets eat, the better they are for the gecko), offer fresh fruits (berries, oranges, soft apples) don't over-handle (the oils on our skin can burn/harm their's if handled too long), they are an awesome and relatively easy reptile to take care of. If you want to read up any more, "http://www.leopardgecko.com/emcare.html"...
Best of luck!
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