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Leopard Gecko Care Info
What you will need to keep one Leopard Gecko happy
- 10-20 gallon aquarium or similar----about $7-10
- Screen top that closes securely----about $10-12
- Paper toweling for babies, sand for adults and sub adults
(at least 6-mo. Old) Watch them on the sand though. If they are scooping
up sand when they dive for a cricket put them back on the towels, or newspaper
(or you can feed them by hand with tweezers).----$ varies
- Hide box (I've found an old check box to work well here. Cut
a hole in the side. Or they sell little caves at the pet store. Anything
so they can hide if they want to. Also, the little houses they make for
hamsters are good and a little cheaper also.)----$ varies, could be free
if you use your imagination.
- Heating pad from pet store to go under one end of the cage. (You can use a human neck heating pad but be aware that they
may pose a fire hazard as they weren't made to be put under a fish tank.)----about
$10-15, NO HOT ROCKS!! I don't care what the pet store people say, do not
buy a heating rock! All they do is heat up the belly of the animal, not
the air.
- Shallow water dish that the lizard can get his head into.
(Maybe 1/2 inch deep)
- Low branch for him to climb on. Doesn't have to go up high
as they don't climb much.
8) With a larger tank you can put in more furniture for them
to hang out on, or in. They are very curious lizards, especially at dusk,
and it makes their lives more interesting to have things to explore.
If you have a smaller tank, say the 10 gallon, don't overcrowd the bottom.
They need some flat area to walk around on.
- Crickets to eat. Can be obtained from the pet store at like
$.10 each or less if you buy a lot. Keep in mind that one Leopard Gecko
can eat 10 crickets a day when it is growing. Keep them in a closed container
with a screen top or holes poked in the top. Provide the crickets with
an orange slice (for moisture and vitamin C) and fish flakes or ground
up dry dog food. Remember, you are what you eat, so you need to gut-load the crickets
before feeding them to the lizard. When they come from the pet store they
are empty shells with very few nutrients in them. Let them munch on some
food and orange slices before feeding them to your lizard. Also feed mealworms
once in a while. They can also be obtained from the pet store. Feed less
of these though as they aren't as nutritious.
- Rep-Cal or similar calcium supplement. Shake and Bake
the crickets with some calcium supplement at every feeding until the lizard
is about 6-7 months old. Then only dust them every other feeding. Only
feed as many crickets as the lizard eats within about 10-20 minutes. Otherwise
they hang out in there irritating the now not hungry lizard. They can even
damage sleeping lizards.----about $4-8 depending on the source.
Keep in mind that these are very general guidelines. There is a really
good book out there on Leopard Geckos called The Care and Maintenance
of Leopard Geckos by Philippe de Vos Joli. It contains all the info you
will need to keep one or more Leopard Geckos. The best part of the book
is the price. It is only about $4-10 depending on where you find it! Take
my advice and go buy it! It is well worth it.
Feel free to email me with any questions at reptileszz@home.com
Please print this out and take it to the store with you as a reference.
Back to Leopard Gecko Page
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