Leopard gecko care?

[Backfromthedead]

Thinking of picking up a leopard gecko, put up for adoption on craigslist.

I dont know much about keeping lizards or reptiles. What do i need to know? Heat requirements? Diet? Enclosure size? Scaping and terrain?

I have a spare 75 gallon tank available, and tons of different gravels and sticks and whatnot to scape with.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Thinking of picking up a leopard gecko, put up for adoption on craigslist.
View attachment 1408532
I dont know much about keeping lizards or reptiles. What do i need to know? Heat requirements? Diet? Enclosure size? Scaping and terrain?

I have a spare 75 gallon tank available, and tons of different gravels and sticks and whatnot to scape with.

Any help would be appreciated.

Honestly they are incredibly easy to take care of. Heating can be left upto your house heater as they are fine with room temp, just make certain they have one spot in the tank with a heat lamp so they can heat up more if they want to. Their diet is easy too, you can go to almost any chain store and just pick up a thing of their gecko food, it'll cover everything they need and you can also feed some calcium dusted crickets as treats. I would avoid using gravel in their tank as they could accidently eat it and get bound up, personally I would just use papper towels as it a very easy clean up and they shouldn't get bound up if they eat some. They really don't need climbing space as they are mostly a ground bases lizard, granted a few big rocks wouldn't be a bad idea for something to climb on, mostly for entertainment. As for tank size they usually do just fine in a 20g long so a 75g is like a mansion to them, granted that's just speaking of a single gecko. Also give it a light misting once every week or so, just helps to maintain internal moister, lastly the fatter the tail it's got the healthier it is.

Personally I would scape the tank like a semi-desert type biotope. Just a few rocks here and there maybe some fake cactus like plants, a couple of places to hide from the light if they want and a heat lamp over one of the rocks for basking. You could add a couple sticks in but nothing that travels upwards in the tanks as leopard geckos aren't the best climbers and can be a bit clumsy lol.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Honestly they are incredibly easy to take care of. Heating can be left upto your house heater as they are fine with room temp, just make certain they have one spot in the tank with a heat lamp so they can heat up more if they want to. Their diet is easy too, you can go to almost any chain store and just pick up a thing of their gecko food, it'll cover everything they need and you can also feed some calcium dusted crickets as treats. I would avoid using gravel in their tank as they could accidently eat it and get bound up, personally I would just use papper towels as it a very easy clean up and they shouldn't get bound up if they eat some. They really don't need climbing space as they are mostly a ground bases lizard, granted a few big rocks wouldn't be a bad idea for something to climb on, mostly for entertainment. As for tank size they usually do just fine in a 20g long so a 75g is like a mansion to them, granted that's just speaking of a single gecko. Also give it a light misting once every week or so, just helps to maintain internal moister, lastly the fatter the tail it's got the healthier it is.

Personally I would scape the tank like a semi-desert type biotope. Just a few rocks here and there maybe some fake cactus like plants, a couple of places to hide from the light if they want and a heat lamp over one of the rocks for basking. You could add a couple sticks in but nothing that travels upwards in the tanks as leopard geckos aren't the best climbers and can be a bit clumsy lol.

Got it. How about sand? Are there any real cacti or succulents i could use that would be safe?

I actually have a 24x24x20 that is down for repairs which i could easily set up so maybe I'll just use that.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Btw any idea if it's male or female? If it's female you'll need to remove eggs periodically when ever she lays them as without a male to fertilize them they will just sit there and rot.

Got it. How about sand? Are there any real cacti or succulents i could use that would be safe?

I actually have a 24x24x20 that is down for repairs which i could easily set up so maybe I'll just use that.

Sand should be fine as long as it's very fine. I would stay away from actual cacti but succulents should be fine provided they get the same misting schedule the gecko gets. And a tank that size should be plenty for just one gecko, if you plan on getting it a mate at some point then I would upgrade. O also if your planing on adding wood into the tank make certain it's pet safe. Usually if you can add in into a fish tank it should be safe for a lizard, trust me anything and everything in the tank including the tank itself, will be licked multiple times. If there is one thing I have learned about lizards is they lick everything lol.

 

[Cichlids keeper]

Thinking of picking up a leopard gecko, put up for adoption on craigslist.
View attachment 1408532
I dont know much about keeping lizards or reptiles. What do i need to know? Heat requirements? Diet? Enclosure size? Scaping and terrain?

I have a spare 75 gallon tank available, and tons of different gravels and sticks and whatnot to scape with.

Any help would be appreciated.

A 75 Gallon is absolutely amazing for a leopard gecko. For substrate paper towel, rocks, reptile carpet, and excavator clay. Generally anything that isn't loose and can't fit in it's mouth, and isn't toxic/sharp will work. Do not use sand, they don't live in Sandy areas and too many leopard geckos die because their owner's local Petco/PetSmart told them to. You can feed them crickets, meal worms, dubia roaches, and many other insects. You need to dust them with calcium and D3 every once in a while. I recommend looking up feeding guides that aren't made by a pet store. It is best to use an under tank heater, with a thermometer and thermostat. Recommend temperatures are for the warm side are 85-93. There should be a hide on the warm side and two on the cool side. One that is humid. You should probably have more hides and clutter it's enclosure a bit because really open spaces make them nervous. A leopard gecko should have a fat tail but not too fat. You should have a water bowl and replace the water at least every day with water treated with repti-safe. Some YouTube channels I recommend for their care guides are Clint's reptiles and Goherping. Remember to look up a lot of care guides and watch a lot of them too so your gecko can live to it's lifespan of 20 years.

 

[Fishnerd360]

Give them a few caves, I use a carpet just like to one on Craigslist, I never used sand before. They like places to be warm or cool down like in a cave or on a heating pad or have heat lamps on top of the cage for basking. I use a 15 gallon for a pair, they don’t move as much when they get older, when they want to move around I take them out to crawl around. Feed them super worms and crickets, cover the food with calcium.
For a scape, put in wood or things that they could have a grip on as they like to explore. When they shed, sometimes I like to help them if it looks like they are annoyed because it won’t come off. You could get it a mate of a different gender. Give them a decent size water bowl, nothing too big or tiny. Also get a food bowl, so you won’t make a mess when giving them food. Generally a very easy animal to take care of. If you want to breed them, give them a cave or a container with moist moss for the female to lay her eggs if fertilized. Then you can incubate them, YouTube videos of breeders could show how they did it. Don’t pick them up like a bug, scoop them up from under or let them crawl on you.

 

[EntoStentor]

Got it. How about sand? Are there any real cacti or succulents i could use that would be safe?

I actually have a 24x24x20 that is down for repairs which i could easily set up so maybe I'll just use that.

Don't give them too big an enclosure. 20 gallons is the max, they start to get nervous if you give them anything bigger. No sand, it'll impact it.

 

[Cichlids keeper]

Don't give them too big an enclosure. 20 gallons is the max, they start to get nervous if you give them anything bigger. No sand, it'll impact it.

If you crowd the enclosure with enough hides a 75 can work. They just need to clutter it and have a lot hides to fill the space.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Thanks all for the advice. Unfortunately the person with the gecko left me hanging so i never got the little guy.

 

[EntoStentor]

Thanks all for the advice. Unfortunately the person with the gecko left me hanging so i never got the little guy.

Oh lmao.