new tips

New foods that you can feed to your leopard geckos!!!

    I have learned that you can feed your geckos other foods instead of  meal worms. phoenix worms are great! Although they are hard to find, they have a great source of calcium. and they are great for making your leopard gecko healthier than already is! I would recommend buying the larger size rather than the small.  
     You can also feed your leopard gecko super worms (once they grow full size) super worms are just like meal worms but the are much bigger. You can feed them wax worms too, but wax worms are very high in fat. I only recommend giving them a wax worm when you take them out of their cage. If you feed your leopard gecko 1 wax worm ever time that you take it out, you will teach it that its a good thing to come out of their cage. They get a treat!

These are Phoenix worms
These are super worms
These are wax worms

Where to buy leopard geckos

      You can buy leopard geckos at any pet store but I have been to Petco and pet supplies plus many of times and the do not take care of their reptiles what so ever! I strongly recommend buying your gecko at a reptile store! 

      I volunteer at Dave's dragons in Manchester NH and we really do care for each and every reptile equally. I went into Petco the other day and I asked for advice about leopard geckos and they told me everything that I had to do to kill it. They do not do their research and they neglect all of their animals. 

        You see it's all about the money to them, they really don't care where the animal is going or if it will be taken care of properly. At reptile stores the people know what they are doing and saying. 

        So please if you buy a leopard gecko from a pet store you will probably wake up the next morning to find it dead. Buy it from the people who know what they are doing.     

Preventing your gecko from getting hurt in its cage

You always want your gecko to have fun in its cage but at the same time you want to make sure it's safe also. If you have any type of sharp object in you leopard geckos cage, you will probably want to take it out. Leopard geckos skin is very fragile and can be scratched easily. If you have sharp or rough rocks in your tank, you should try to make them smooth by sanding them down or if they are plastic, melt them a little.
It's okay to have some sort of climbing wall in their cage. Some love to climb, but make sure that there is nothing rough or sharp underneath them that they can fall on. Believe it or not leopard geckos are clumsy.
Always have a top on your cage. That top has to have some sort of ventilation in it. If there is no ventilation in the tank then you gecko will probably die.
If if there is any type of hole in your tank, than its probably not all of that safe. A hole in the glass can weaken the tank and if you put any weight in it, the tank will shatter. You also want to make sure that if you have any pets like dogs and cats, you want to make sure that they can't get in.
You should have some sort of coverage over the heat pad underneath the tank. You can either put paper towels or carpet, NEVER EVER USE SAND IN YOUR LEOPARD GECKOS TANK. Paper towels I find are the easiest to clean and my geckos love it. Don't use pebbles, sand, and I don't recommend bark but some people use it. Geckos love to hunt, crickets are great to give them exercise, and nutrients. NEVER put more than 5 crickets in your tank, if your leopard gecko doesn't kill them before they swallow them the cricket could eat threw your gecko and kill your gecko. (Make sure that any cricket that you have put in to your leopard geckos tank has drank water and has been fed). You have to feed crickets before you feed them to your gecko or sled they will chew on your geckos skin while they are sleeping. These at the things you can use to feed your crickets and give them water 

(WATER)

(FOOD)

Keeping your leopard gecko happy and healthy

You always want to keep you friend happy and healthy. To keep it happy take it out more often than usual. Give it some exercise. Geckos love optical courses, I made one for my old leopard gecko and she went faster and faster every time she went threw it. You should have a big container that it can run around in. It's hard to let your leopard gecko out on your floor because it can run under neath the radiator or your bed. They can easily be lost. If you see it loosing a lot of fat in its tail and, or if it looks like its getting smaller, than you should bring it to a vet immediately. It could have a blockage in its stomach. Or it could have laid an egg. If you do not find the eggs in your tank than your leopard gecko probably has a blockage.
If your leopard gecko looks dark or it feels cold than that means that it either is cold or it has a common cold. Yes leopard geckos can get colds, it is very common. But check your heat pad i noticed that mine keeps falling off every once in a while.
If you think your gecko is becoming too skinny for no reason and you want it to get bigger, you can feed it wax worms. Never constantly feed your gecko wax worms, it could become over weight and become fatal. Wax worms can also get addicting to your leopard gecko. You should only feed wax worms to your gecko every once in a while. Wax worms are different from meal worms. Wax worms are much more fattier than meal worms. It's sorta like McDonald's to humans, its fattening, addicting and not very good for you and if you eat it everyday you will die.

Helpful tips about leopard geckos

1) NEVER EVER PUT SAND IN THEIR TANKS!!!
2) if you feed them wax worms they will get addicted to them and they will become overweight and could possibly perish
3) feed the crickets before you put them in your leopard geckos tank
4) always! Have calcium available for your gecko to consume in their tank
5) don't hold them until they have been introduced to their tank for 38 hours
6) have a warm side to their tank and a cold side to their tank
7) remember that they are cold blooded so they can't produce any heat if their cold
8) never peel off their skin let them learn how to do it. You can guid them but don't do it for them
9) if there is left over skin on their toes, that skin can cut off the blood circulation to their toes, and their toes will fall off. The way to get the skin off is to either fill a container with an half of an inch of warm bottled water and put your leopard gecko into it for only 3 minutes, just to moisten that skin so that you can pull it off.
10) make sure the temperature of the tank is at least 80 degrees during the daytime and at least 70 at night.
11) geckos love crickets, but not too many
12) even if you don't have a male leopard gecko in your tank with your female, the female still will lay eggs. (They will not hatch if they are not fertilized by a male)
13) never put anything sharp or rough in their tank. They have very fragile skin that can be cut easily
14) I do not recommend children under the age of 7 to hold your gecko. They are very fragile creatures and unless the child understands that than i wouldn't let them hold it.
15) never put your cage underneath a window, there can be a draft that comes threw it and the gecko can die from climate change in their tank.
16) if you put the leopard geckos water bowl underneath the heat lamp, all of the water can evaporate quicker than you think it can.
17) if you put the mealworms underneath the heat lamp then the mealworms will turn into Beatles faster than if they were on the cool side of your tank.
18) clean your water bowl with hot water every other day because water forms algae that you can't see on the sides of the bowl.
19) if you want to go away on vacation and you won't be home for a couple of days than you can buy a water dripper. This will provide water for your gecko for a couple of days.
20) NEVER EVER! Buy a leopard gecko from Pet Supplies Plus! They do not take care of their leopard geckos at all, if you buy it from there, you will wake up the next day and find it dead.

Raising Leopard Geckos

Raising a leopard gecko is the hardest part. Lets start with safety. As I said before wash the tank with water and only water! Make sure what ever you put in that tank is cleaned with water and water only! When you first get your leopard gecko, you should leave it be for a good 38 hours, just to get settled in.
If you want your leopard gecko to like being held, you should try to pick it up only once a day for barely a minute. I know that once you get your gecko you want to take it out and play with it, but I'm sorry you can't. If a gecko is just getting used to its surroundings and you take it out of its tank, its going to do the same thing that it did when you put it in your tank for the first time, (its going to run and hid). I would wait at least 2 1/2 weeks before you start to play with it.
When you are raising your Leopard gecko you want to make sure that it is happy and healthy. remember that they are tiny little things so its easy for them to get hurt if you drop them.
NEVER EVER PICK UP YOUR LEOPARD GECKO BY ITS TAIL!!! if you pick up a leopard gecko by its tail, the tail will literally fall off. its okay if your leopard geckos tail falls off but keep in mind that that is were all of their fat is. If the tail falls off it will take much longer for you to breed and the gecko will be in shock. we will get to breeding later on.

Raising a gecko is not easy! it takes a lot of work and responsibility. Lets move on to feeding your gecko and making sure that it gets all of its vitamins and minerals. meal worms are usually the main food for your gecko. when you feed meal worms to your gecko you should have fine calcium at the bottom of your food bowl. Geckos need this calcium to keep their bones strong.

If you notice that your gecko looks lonely, you should consider getting it a friend. Leaped geckos are very friendly to each other. If you have two MALES together in a tank they will probably kill each other. Two males together is the worst thing you can do, they hate each other.
Two females together are very good. Females are very loving to each other. If you have a male and a female together, they will still be fine but you will have to deal with breeding and the eggs we will get to that later on.
I noticed that two female leopard geckos together show much more signs of happiness, but make sure that they both get equal attention. If you give one gecko more attention than the other, this can create jealousy between the two gecko while they are growing up.

Preparing for your leopard gecko

      Preparing your tank for your leopard gecko. First you should consider if you are going to be purchasing more than one leopard gecko. If you are going to be purchasing 2 leopard geckos than you should probably purchase a 20 gallon tank. If you are only purchasing one leopard gecko than you should only have a 10 gallon tank. 

      The tank should be cleaned before you put anything in it. NEVER clean your leopard geckos tank with windex or any type of chemical cleaner, you should only clean the tank with water. Leopard geckos love hiding places, you should at least have two in your tank. Also keep in mind that  leopard geckos lick everything so make sure what ever you put into your tank should be cleaned first.

Many people want their leopard geckos to live in a natural environment, so they put sand in their tanks. I am telling you this so that you can keep your little friend for a long time, "NEVER EVER PUT SAND IN YOUR LEOPARD GECKOS TANK, EVER". I had a wonderful leopard gecko for just barley a year. I put sand into her tank and she died from a sand blockage in her stomach.
       If you have a ten gallon tank you should probably purchase a 75 watt daytime bulb and a 60 watt night time bulb. Also keep in mind that leopard geckos are nocturnal, and they need 12 hours of daytime light and 12 hours of night time light. I have a timer for the lights to go on and off, so that I don't have to manually do it. 
        Make sure that you have a humid hide for them. I only make the hide humid when its their time to shed their skin. If you do not know what a humid hide is, " it is a rock/container that gets humid when you put something damp in it. I use this...

Usually I just put a damp towel in it but some people like to use the moss. MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT USE YOUR CITY WATER ON ANYTHING FOR YOUR LEOPARD GECKO!!! Only use bottled water. There are chemicals in city water that can damage your gecko severely.
      Heat pads! You will ALWAYS need a heat pad underneath your leopard geckos tank. Make sure that you have a warm side of the tank and a cool side of the tank. That means, have the heat lamp and the heating pad on the same side of your tank and on the other side of your tank you should have their water and food.
      Food supplies! You are going to have to feed your gecko meal worms and crickets. Meal worms are easy! They don't smell, they don't make noise, and they don't make a mess! You will need a mealworm bowl. The bowl should have tall edges so that they can't crawl out. If a mealworm gets loose while your not looking and hides for a few weeks, it will turn into a Beatle, and this Beatle can do harm to you little friend so make sure the bowl has good edges.

Crickets! They bring joy to your leopard gecko! Leopard geckos love to hunt, and they love to show off their skills in front of you. Make sure that you have a cricket keeper, to keep your crickets contained and fed.

Make sure the crickets are FED BEFORE THEY GO IN YOUR TANK! If the crickets are not fed before you feed them to your leopard gecko, they will literally eat your gecko from the inside out, (if your gecko doesn't kill it before it swallows it).