There are various Substrates, heating methods, ways to keep leos, This caresheet is how i keep and care for my own. But i will add in references to other things that can be used and leave it up to you to delve deeper, research more and decide if any of these things are someting you would like to incorporate yourself. Bare in mind that this caresheet comprises what is considered the most reliable and risk free enviroment for these lizards and is tried and tested. There are various substrates/heating methods/ways to keep leos, Notice that i don't include U.V lighting, There is ongoing debate on if this is needed or not. I and lots of others don't feel this is essential but others do like to provide it in case it's beneficial. Don't worry if you don't want to provie it, your gecko will come to no harm without - as long as you provide all the correct dietary requirements.
This care sheet is how i keep and care for my own.
As a minimum size home you will need a 24x15x15 inch vivarium. Wooden is best as it offers security, keeps heat in and can be modified really easily if you so wish. Glass or plastic will leave a leo feeing exposed, insecure and wont contain the heat as well as wood does. You can keep a single adult gecko in a vivarium this size, comfortably.....but bigger is always better if you can provide it.
Lino is great stuff, easy to clean, hygenic, allows heat through very well so your leo can lay on it and soak up the heat when it basks. Some people like to use slate for a more natural habitat or kitchen roll, which can be easily changed and thrown away at cleaning time. Any of these are fine but i prefer to use lino.
Some people use play sand....but to me this is a very unnecessary risk. Leos can ingest loose particled substrate and over time this can lead to impaction....this can be very painful for a leo, will leave it unable to eat or digest its food properly and if not dealt with or prevented, will ultimately lead to a very slow and painful death. In my opinion it is best to avoid altogether.
Leos are classed as crepuscular, which means they are up and about mostly in low light like dawn and dusk, though they are also sometimes active at various times during daylight and night time too.
In the wild they soak up the heat from rocks that have been heated by the sun during the day. Belly heat in the form of a heat mat is a great way to provide heat in captivity. It is not the only way to provide heat though and some people use ceramic heat emitters or infared bulbs, these are not my own personal choice and as with most things....is down to personal preference.
A heat mat can be placed under the lino, your mat should cover no more thn 1/3 - 1/2 of the viv floor to create the correct temperature for the leo to thermoregulate and it can search out cooler places away from the mat if it needs to.
A thermostat is a very important piece of kit, it regulates and maintains temps so they don't fluctuate becoming too hot or too cold - causing issues like overheating, burns, sickness and worst case scenario.....malfunctioning and causing a fire in your house. I use Habistat Pulse proporional thermostats as i find these best for the job, though you could use an on/off mat stat but i don't find these as powerful. Avoid using a Dimmer stat as these normally need a minimum of 40w to work.
A digital thermometer is also very important. Both this and the stat have 'Probes' - which you put together on top of the lino with the mat going underneath the lino. You can weight these in place by putting the hot end hide on top or maybe some decor like a flat rock or piece of wood.
You are aiming for 33 - 35c at the hot end. Some people keep at 30 - 32c but i find my geckos are a lot more active, have better appetites and are a lot more explorative and adventurous at these temperatures.
You need at least 3 hides. A dry one at both hot / cool ends and a moist hide in the middle of the viv to aid with shedding. I use wedges of folded kitchen roll sprayed with water every other night (Every night in summer) to stop it drying out too much. I change for new stuff once a week. You will probably find they favour the moist hide over other hides a lot of the time.
3 Bowls are needed. Food / water / calcium.
I have all sorts of decor in my vivs, plants, flowers, rocks, logs, corkbark. It makes the viv look more natural and also provides a stimulating and enriching enviroment for a nosey leo. It stops them getting bored as there is a lot for them to explore.
Leos do appreciate more space if you can offer it, in the way of 3 or even 4 foot vivs. But f you can only provide a 2 foot ....then don't worry - you can always fix in shelves and platforms with cork bark walkways leading up to them to create lots more floor space and somewhere else for them to explore. I have these in all my vivs and the gecks just love being able to get up high and stare out of the glass to watch what's going on from their vantage points.
I explain how to go about making platforms and different types of shelves on the page entitled 'Enrichment' if you would like to learn more.
A varied diet is the best diet, with mine getting a mix of Mealworms, Morio worms, Dubia roach, as a staple diet, Locust less often and Wax worms and Butter worms as occasional treats as they are high in fat and very addictive to a leo. If you feed them too often then you run the risk of your leo refusing to eat anything else ...and it an be a nightmare to get them back on to healthier foods.
Gut loading is very important too, feed the bugs 24 hours before you intend to give them to your gecko. I give mine a mix of dark green leaves, fresh fruit and veg but i also make my own dry mix of oats, weetabix, cat biscuits, dry fish food flakes, organic bee pollen and powdered pure calcium...i grind these into a fine particled powder ith a spice/coffee bean grinder to make it easier for the bugs to eat. You are what you eat - and this nutrition will transfer to your leo.
I feed youngsters / babies every night. You should provide mealworms in a bowl at all times sothey can help themselves, and i feed these in conjunction with the other bugs i mentioned above. I feed older / adult leos every 2 - 3 nights depending on that certain leos appetite, as some eat more then others. The only thing i don't feed youngsters are Morio worms...as these are large worms that small leos can't manage until they are bigger.
I won't ration food out unless a leo is getting too fat for it's proportions, you can get obese leos but most wont eat themselves into this overweight state. I let youngsters eat as much as they like as they have a lot of growing to do.
All live food should be dusted with a good vitamin / mineral supplement such as Repashy Calcium Plus. This is what i use as i have noticed a marked difference in appetite, activity levels and also the brightess of colour of my geckos. This is the one i recommend to use and a lot of my friends use it too bcause of the benefits it offers. When you put fresh bugs in the bowl at dinner time, just sprinkle some over the top of the livefood and the gecko will eat it when it eats the bugs.
Along side this - you should have a bowl of pure Calcium Carbonate available at all times in a small bowl for the leo to self supplement whenever it feels the need to. It will just goup and lick it out of the bowl. This is totally different from the Repashy as it is calcium in its ure form and doesn't have all the extra vits, minerals and D3 in that the Repashy does....but it is just as important to keep your gecko in the best health and stop it getting sick from things like MBD (metabolic bone disease)
Leos nearly always go to the toilet in the same place or corner. You can make things a lot easier and quicker to clean if you put a piece of kitchen roll in te corner or place they normally use, this way - every time you spot clean you can just lift out and replace with clean roll. I spot clean when needed, this can mean every few nights. I do a thorough clean out roughly every 2 - 3 weeks when i take the lino out, disinfect and sterilise with diluted miltons sterilising fluid or an antibacterial spray, rinse and dry. I also use this on the interior of the viv and spray on to decor before rinsing, drying nd replacing. F10 is another good one to use for a good clean out but avoid cleaners with pine in as this is toxic to reptiles.
Leopard geckos are solitary animals by nature and don't need, like or require companionship. Fights and dominance issues can result in keeping same sex pairs / opposite sex pairs or mixed groups together. This is sometimes hard to spot by smeone who is not aware of the complex behaviours of these little animals as it shows itslf early on in the way of very subtle looks / movements/ andnot necessarily outright aggression. These little mannerisms are the start f competition for the best basking spot / best share of the food / favoured hides. Opposite sex pairs have this to contend with and also the male sexually harrassing a possibly underage / underweight female into breeding when she isn't ready and maybe lead to a female becoming eggbound and beoming very ill with the stress of it all. All these things can cause stress to the subordinate gecko and at a later date - possibly very nasty fight wounds from the dominant gecko Always best to house alone as a gecko bite is not to be underestimated!
Dominating signs to look out for are
One gecko sitting on top of another
Laying next to eachother
Tail wagging
'Cuddling'
Chasing or following about
Hogging hides / basking spots and chasing the other away
Lethargy
Hiding away through fear so as not to catch the attentin of the other gecko
Lack of appetite
Weight loss due to stress
Illness
Odd behaviour
Injuries / bites of unknown origin
1 Wooden vivarium
1 Heat mat
1 Pulse proportional thermostat
1 Digital thermometer
3 Bowls - food / water/ calcium
1 Moist hide
2 Dry hides
Lino cut to size
Supplements - Repashy calcium plus and Pure calcium
Decor - Fake plants / rocks / wood / logs / corkbark
Livefood
This is a brief sub section for these lovely little geckos as i keep a couple of these too and hope to breed them this year or next, all being well.
They are very similar to leopard geckos in their care requirements. Main difference being - they like it a bit more humid then leos. I keep in an almost identical way as leos except i give them a lot more moisture in their hides and do use moss instead of wads of kitchen roll like i normally would. This retains the moisture a lot better and for longer then other mediums. I provide 2 dry hides as well to give them a choice. I give a larger water bowl as this helps to increase humidity too.
Some people keep on a mix of eco earth and other loose particled substrate but i did try putting a tray covering half the viv in of this in case they wanted to dig...but they totally ignored it for a month so i decided to remove it. You will find that some do like digging and some don't. If you do go with just lino - then this removes any risk of impaction from the loose substrate.
I find mine prefer to hunt and eat on dry substrate anyway.
This website doesn't have everything on it that i want just yet and some of the paged are 'hidden' from your view as i am still working on them so please bare with me as i am not the most tehnically minded person and it is taking me a while to finish.
All pages will become available to view as and when they are finished.
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