The Leopard Gecko Manual. Philippe De Vosjoil
want their geckos. These geckos may end up in animal shelters or reptile rescues. If you don’t mind starting with an older leopard gecko, or you like the idea of giving an animal a chance at a better life, consider adopting from a shelter or rescue. The best way to find leopard geckos in need of adoption is to go to Petfinder.com, which will direct you to the closest sources of adoptable leopard geckos.
Selecting a Leopard Gecko
Most of the leopard geckos sold in the trade are captive-bred juveniles. Subadults (those of nearly adult size but not yet able to breed), retired breeders, and imports are sporadically available.
Wild Imports versus Captive Bred
Relatively few wild-collected leopard geckos are now imported into the United States, and they are primarily of interest only to breeders who want to diversify their gene pools. Compared to the captive-bred leopard geckos offered in the pet trade, wild imports typically appear dull-colored, beat up, and thin. Captive-bred and captive-raised animals are best for aspiring leopard gecko owners because they are generally more attractive and healthier than wild forms. Captive-bred geckos are already adapted to living in captivity, so they will not be overly stressed by the move to their new owners’ homes. Given the huge numbers of captive-bred leopard geckos available and their advantages over wild-caught ones, there is no reason for anyone other than large-scale breeders to purchase wild-caught leopard geckos.
Kids and Leopard Geckos
It is often a child in the family who wants a pet leopard gecko. There is nothing wrong with getting a leopard gecko for a child, but an adult has to be responsible for the lizard’s care. No matter how much a kid wants a leopard gecko, there is a good chance that his or her interest will wane over time as new things attract the child’s attention. Therefore, to make sure the gecko doesn’t suffer from neglect, an adult in the household will need to make sure it is properly cared for.
All interactions between children and leopard geckos must be supervised.
Size
If your interest is captive breeding or having a long-lived pet, then the best choice is an immature leopard gecko less than 6 inches long. You can reliably assume that a gecko of this size is younger than one year old. For beginners, animals at least 4 inches long are better choices than small hatchlings, which tend to be more delicate.
If you are attracted to a particularly large and robust adult, probably a retired breeder, remember that it may be old and, in the case of a female, probably not capable of producing many more eggs. This does not mean that an older gecko will not make an excellent and long-lived pet. The mother of one of the authors adopted a leopard gecko when it was estimated to be five years old, and that lizard was still going strong at the age of twenty-three.
Sex
Male and female leopard geckos make equally nice pets. If you plan to breed leopard geckos, you will need only one male for every ten or so females, and males cannot be housed together when mature. If you want to introduce a new mutation, such as albinism, into your colony, a single male is a better investment than a single female. If your goal is to beat existing longevity records for the species, a male is also a better choice.
The jungle morph is characterized by an irregular dorsal pattern and an unringed tail.
The striped pattern was derived from selectively breeding jungle phase leopard geckos.
Morphs
There are many varieties of leopard gecko, and every year seems to bring some new variation. The primary criterion for selecting a morph should be the aesthetic appeal it has for you. If your interest is primarily in the financial benefits of breeding one morph or another, research your market carefully before investing.
A lavender and yellow leopard gecko.
Health Considerations
The following guidelines will help you select a potentially healthy leopard gecko. However, careful examination prior to purchase does not always guarantee good health. Diagnosis of illness may also require veterinary examination and testing, such as fecal exams. On two occasions, one of the authors bought what appeared to be relatively healthy animals that were later diagnosed with coccidiosis (a parasitic infestation). On the bright side, most of the captive-bred leopard geckos sold in the pet trade are healthy.
1. The body outline should be smooth, the outline of the hip bones not visible, and the tail rounded without wrinkles that give it a shrunken appearance. In the case of imports, a wrinkled tail may simply mean that a leopard gecko has not been fed for an extended period of time.
2. The mouth, when closed, should appear even, with no jutting upper or lower jaw.
3. Examine the digits (fingers and toes). They should appear even without swelling. No toes should be missing.
4. The eyes should be equal in size. Avoid leopard geckos with small eyes or with large, protruding eyes.
5. If fecal matter is present in the enclosure, examine it for consistency. The feces of healthy leopard geckos are semi-formed and somewhat pellet-like in shape. They are dark with some whitish urates (urine in solid form). Pale, light-colored, or yellow-orange feces; patty-shaped pasty feces; and runny feces are all signs of possible disease.
6. Ask the seller to let you see your chosen leopard gecko up close. It should appear bright-eyed and alert when in your hand. Look at the belly area of the leopard gecko; the vent area should appear flush and clean without swelling, fecal smearing, or caked material.
Don’t Buy a Sick Gecko
If you ever see a sick, injured, or otherwise debilitated leopard gecko for sale, you may be tempted to buy it so you can nurse it back to health, but this is a bad idea. Once a reptile is sick enough to show symptoms, it’s already very sick and it’s likely already too far gone to save it. In trying to save it, you will likely have to expend a significant amount of money and time—to say nothing of the emotional investment. Buying a sick gecko in hopes of saving it is the road to heartbreak. Only experts in the care and rehabilitation of reptiles should attempt to rescue sick geckos.
Another thing to consider is that by paying for a sick animal, you are rewarding the seller for not caring for his or her livestock. If vendors can sell sick animals as well as healthy ones, they have that much less incentive to use their resources for keeping their animals healthy. You may actually encourage the cruel behavior.
As hard as it is to turn your back on a suffering animal, buying a sick gecko is not the way to help. It is best to politely inform the seller that the animal is sick and hope that they respond appropriately. If they do not, take your business elsewhere and inform the seller why you are doing so.
A reverse-striped pattern shows a white neck ring and tail with dark markings.
How Many?
Leopard geckos, like many reptiles, do not require the company of cagemates to fare well. A single animal will thrive when kept by itself. If you want more than one leopard gecko, remember that adult males cannot be kept together or they will fight. Most of the animals sold in the pet trade are females, which can safely be kept together. If you want to breed leopard geckos, it is best to keep one male with several females. As a general rule, animals kept singly tend to maintain more weight and be more brightly colored than those kept in groups.