Caresheet

(Eublepharis macularius) "true eye-lid" and "spotted"

General: Leopard Geckos are members of the Gekkonidae or Gecko family. Geckos are the largest family of lizards in the world, with countless numbers of species ranging from the tropical, arboreal varieties to terrestrial desert dwellers. The leopard gecko gets its common name from the adult coloration of wild specimen, which is generally a cream to yellow ground color with black spots/stripes. Artificial selection in captivity has produced a number of color morphs, distinct from this 'wild-type', possessing many varied colors and patterns. Some of these include: high yellow, tangerine, striped, patternless (no spots or stripes), lavender, blizzard (which are solid white or gray), and albino.

Leopard geckos are often recommended to beginning herpetoculturists for several reasons: their small size, ease of care, cleanliness (they tend to defecate in one corner of their enclosure), long life span (the longest confirmed life span was 27 years, with 19-22 years being average), tolerance of handling, and wide color range. They can usually be handled well by older children, but the close supervision of an adult is still recommended as the gecko's tail can fall off if the animal is held by the tail, stressed or frightened.

Native Range: Most of the Leopard Geckos in captivity are captive-bred from stock collected in Pakistan and adjacent India in the 1980s. They inhabit dry areas of desert and scrub-land, preferring rocky areas which provide suitable cover. They spend daytime underground, where conditions are cooler and moist, emerging at night to hunt.

Housing: You may house only one adult leopard gecko in a 10 gallon aquarium, or you may house up to three baby leopard geckos in a 10 gallon, but you will need to separate them as soon as you see signs of bullying or when some are getting bigger than others, as this can cause stress and will generally lead to some not eating and always hiding. Adult male Leopard Geckos must never be housed together in the same enclosure or they will fight and injure each other, and sometimes one may even kill the other. Leopard Geckos should NEVER be housed with any other species of reptiles. There has to be a humid spot in that tank to allow for easy shedding. You can provide this by supplying them with a humid hide on the warm side of the cage. You can simply take a clean empty margarine container, cut it open on one side or on the top as an entrance/exit for the gecko, and fill 2/3 with sphagnum peat moss. This provides them with a good amount of humidity when moistened. An additional hide on the cool side of the cage is recommended for the hotter days of the year. Leopard Geckos like hiding places, caves, and climbing structures, arranged in a natural setting. Be creative!

Substrates: In the enclosure you can put a variety of substrates; reptile-carpet and slate or tile are the best substrates to be used. If ease of cleanup is an issue then paper towel may be used as an alternative. Be aware that it is a known fact that some Leopard Geckos, (especially babies) have died from intestinal impaction resulting from consuming too much sand while "striking" at crickets. With hatchling geckos you will definitely need to house them on a paper substrate. Keep them on paper until they reach their adult stage, which usually takes around 7-10 months. Only full-grown adults should be kept on sand, and it should be the ultra-fine, non-silica, playground variety. Do NOT use calcium sand! We recommend no sand at all just to be safe.

Heating and Lighting: Provide a thermal gradient by placing a heat pad under one end of the cage. This should allow the gecko to choose from higher temperatures (about 90F) at the warm end, and cooler temperatures (about 75F) at the cooler end. Provide suitable hiding areas at both warm and cool areas, so the lizards can feel secure at any temperature. Temperatures below 75F should be avoided. No special lighting is required for these nocturnal animals however they will need some kind of a photoperiod (light cycle). You can obtain this by placing the enclosure in a well lit room, which will provide them with their day and night cycles or a light on a timer simulating the outdoor lighting period. Avoid direct sunlight as this will case the cage to overheat.

Food: Leopard Geckos mainly eat live mealworms, crickets, waxworms, silkworms, roach nymphs, and some keepers feed their Leopard Geckos newly born, hairless "pinkie" mice, especially to their egg-laying females in order to condition and fatten them up. You should only occasionally feed "pinkies" to full-grown, adult lizards. As a general rule, feed items about 3/4 the size of their heads to prevent choking. Babies should be fed 4-6 small crickets every day until they reach about 5 inches in length, then larger prey every other day until they become full-grown in about 10 -12 months. Adults can be fed 6-7 large crickets 2 or 3 times a week. Waxworms should be fed only occasionally because they are high in fat and cholesterol, and Leopard Geckos can become spoiled if they are fed them too often and refuse other food items. Don't forget to provide your Leopard Gecko clean drinking water at all times!

Food items must be "dusted" with a mixture of ultra-fine calcium powder every 2 or 3 feedings, and reptile vitamins every week. Obtain commercial reptile calcium power and vitamins such as Sticky-Tongue Miner-All, RepCal, Zoo-Med, or Fluker products. Using a small amount of calcium/vitamin powder in a zip-lock bag or commercial cricket duster, and "dust" (coat) live food items prior to feeding by shaking them gently in the bag or container. Worms should be offered in a small bowl with a small amount of calcium powder in the bottom. In addition to dusting food items, keeping a small dish of calcium powder in the gecko's enclosure will allow them to lick it when they want to. The health of your Leopard Gecko is dependent on the proper supplementation of calcium and vitamins in their diet; otherwise, serious diseases can result. Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) is caused by calcium deficiency, and can permanently disfigure or ultimately kill your Leopard Gecko if not corrected.

* Keeping live food items fed with fresh, nutritious food, (called "gut-loading") will provide additional nutritional supplements when they are eaten by your Leopard Gecko. (See section on keeping live food.)

Shedding: Reptiles shed their skin on a regular basis, and Leopard Geckos should molt about every 2-4 weeks. Unlike some other reptiles, Leopard Geckos will eat their skin after it comes off, so don't be alarmed if you don't see any shed skin in their enclosure! It is extremely important that ALL the skin comes off, especially from the eyelids and toes, as geckos can lose their digits to infection if the skin does not completely shed and cuts off circulation. If shedding is a problem for your Gecko, it may be necessary to keep the substrate around their cave moist by misting it with water or placing a damp paper towel inside their enclosure. Soaking your Leopard Gecko's feet in about 1 inch of warm water and then using a Q-tip will help remove any residual skin from their toes, and a Q-tip with mild saline solution or warm water will help take it off of their eyelids. Be very gentle!

Breeding: The number of people breeding leopard geckos has increased dramatically over the past decade, whether it be the backyard hobbyist only producing a few hatchlings per year, to the extreme breeder, producing as many as thousands of offspring each year. There are numerous web sites and forums dedicated to the leopard gecko, and so much information is being given on this species of reptiles making it easier to accommodate them with their needs.

First off and the most obvious is that you need a male and a female leopard gecko in an enclosure, preferably in a 30 or 33 gallon tank. You can place as many as one male to 5 females in that type of breeding enclosure.

I would very much suggest you wait to use your females as breeders when they are a year old, or until they are 50+ grams. This weight will help them tremendously when breeding season arrives, as they can hold, and release the eggs much easier than if they were very young and thin. Breeding females very young, and without much weight on them can stunt their growth, so make sure that their tails are nice and fat.

Sanitation: Keep your Leopard Gecko's enclosure clean and free of fecal droppings, and their water bowl should always be filled with clean, fresh water. Most parasites and infections are spread through oral/fecal contact, and by practicing good housekeeping and husbandry you can help in reducing germs and parasites. Vivarium tanks should be completely cleaned and sanitized at least every 3-4 months, including all furniture or decorative items. Use mild, anti-bacterial dish soap to clean the items and enclosure, and a mixture of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water or a 10% ammonia solution to disinfect the tank. It is very important to rinse all sanitized items thoroughly, and allow them to air-dry completely before introducing your gecko back into its home. Chemical vapors can be deadly to your Leopard Gecko! Never mix bleach and ammonia together!

Handling: Leopard Geckos rarely attempt to bite, although they may do so if restrained. Handle gently, without pinching or squeezing. Remember that the tail may break off if handled roughly, and although it will regenerate, it will not appear original. Until accustomed to handling; the gecko should be handled inside the cage or while sitting on the floor. A frightened gecko may leap out of the keepers’ hand and take a fatal fall if held while standing.

Quarantine: It is critical that when you get any new addition to your Leopard Gecko colony the new gecko(s) must be quarantined from the rest of your reptiles for at least 30 days, but 90 days is recommended. Some breeders have had their entire stock completely wiped-out because a new addition introduced infection, disease or parasites to others. It is an extremely tragic and devastating experience to lose geckos this way, especially if it can be prevented. This is becoming an epidemic now that reptiles are popular as pets, and most pet stores do not practice proper husbandry, sanitation, and quarantine procedures, thus increasing the chances of spreading infections.

I cannot stress enough the importance of isolating your new Leopard Gecko from any other reptile pets you already have, regardless of where you acquired them. It is recommended to take a stool sample to a qualified veterinarian for analysis as soon as possible, and testing is usually very inexpensive. Most reptile diseases are treatable if caught early, and many times can prove fatal if ignored. Have fecal tests* performed before symptoms of illness become too severe, or anytime you acquire a new reptile.

**A negative fecal test does NOT mean that you should not quarantine!

Acclimation: You’ve just received you new gecko and all at once the questions start rushing through your head. Is my temperature right? Did I get the right sized crickets? I hope he/she likes there new moist hide? Why is my gecko not eating?

Whether your gecko was shipped across the country or just picked up at a show there are a few things you should be aware of. The transportation of a live gecko is very stressful on the animal. The animal was just pulled out of its nice warm comfortable home and put into a plastic cup with some holes in the side and paper towel on the bottom. This alone is enough to stress the animal. Then the gecko is placed in a box for shipping or transported by car if purchased from a show further stressing the animal. Now you get the gecko home and place the gecko in its new enclosure the gecko is in totally foreign territory and will is once again stressed out. You need to take these factors into consideration and treat your new acquisition accordingly.

When you take delivery, whether it’s at a show or through parcel shipping do not leave the animal in a hot vehicle while you run into the Tim Horton’s to get an Ice Cappuccino. The gecko needs to be kept at room temperature avoiding direct sunlight at all times while in transit. If you are receiving your gecko through parcel shipping during cold weather please make note of the temperature inside the box. This information will be useful in helping us evaluate possible problems acclimating your new gecko. If for some reason your gecko appears dead on arrival it may simply be in a state of brumation due to cold temperatures in the shipping container. Do not try to quickly heat the gecko but instead gently warm the gecko to bring it out of brumation. Issues like this are not uncommon.

Let the animal settle into its new surroundings for three to five days. Resist the urge to handle your gecko for the first few days. Here at Western Gecko we house a lot of geckos at our facility and as such we do not handle our geckos on a regular basis other than cleaning and feeding. Your gecko will be stressed out and repeated handling after shipping will just prolong the stress and may cause your gecko to resist feeding for longer periods of time than it normally would. When you do start handling your new pet start with short periods of time and slowly increase the time until the gecko feels comfortable in your hands.

Don’t just toss your gecko into the new enclosure and hope for the best. Place the shipping cup into the enclosure and open the lid enough for the gecko to venture out on its own. This will allow the gecko to explore its new home at its own pace. This is one of the most exciting times to observe your new pet as it will roam around the entire space licking and smelling every single item in the enclosure often venturing into small spaces you never thought your gecko would go. Don’t worry it your gecko climbs the furniture or the popular foam backgrounds as geckos are climbers.

Do not attempt to feed your gecko for the first few days as the gecko will not be interested in eating. This is our first reaction as we think the animal must be hungry after its long journey. Reptiles are not people and they can go long periods of time between meals. Don’t worry if your gecko refuses food for up to two weeks after shipping. This will not harm the animal. Make sure the gecko has water available as they will usually drink before getting their appetite back. Smaller geckos seem to bounce back from shipping or transportation faster than adult or juvenile geckos. Try to feed in the early evenings as this seems to be the most active period for nocturnal geckos. One day your gecko will resume feeding as if nothing had happened.

The bottom line to properly acclimating your gecko it to simply leave it alone for a while and once it’s settled you’ll be able to handle him/her at will and enjoy them for years to come!

Live Feeder Care & Housing

Crickets: Obtain a small "Critter Keeper" with secure, escape-proof lid with small air holes. Crickets will live in pieces of clean, dry egg-carton placed in the enclosure for shelter. There are also commercial "Cricket Corrals" available at many pet stores, which work quite well for housing smaller quantities of crickets. Buy only enough crickets to feed your Leopard Geckos for 1 week, and keep them at about 80 degrees. Crickets are very thirsty insects, so keep a section of sponge wet and they will drink from it without drowning. Feed crickets chunks of potatoes, squash, carrots, collard greens or commercial cricket food. It is very important to keep corn-based cricket food dry and free of mold, as certain fungi are extremely toxic and when the crickets ingest it, may in turn poison your Gecko.

Worms: Store small containers of mealworms and wax-worms in the refrigerator, and they will go into hibernation. Larger quantities should be fed wheat germ, oatmeal, and fresh, dry produce, and should be stored in a cool place. Do not store Super Worms or King Mealworms in the fridge. A wet folded paper towel or sponge may be used to provide water if you are feeding dry, prepared insect food.

Gut Loading: Keeping live food items fed with fresh, nutritious food, (called "gut-loading"), will provide additional nutritional supplements when they are eaten by your Leopard Gecko!

The Vivarium

Enclosure Supplies:

- 10-gallon aquarium tank (for one gecko)

- under tank heater (UTH), appropriate size for tank – metal screen tank lid

- paper towel or other substrate

- cave shelter(s)

- water bowl

- moist hide

- *landscape items (rocks, artificial plants, driftwood)

- *aquarium light or heat lamp

*optional items

Enclosure Set-Up:

- thoroughly wash tank with mild detergent, disinfect with either 10% ammonia OR 10% bleach, rinse very well, and air dry

- attach heater (UTH) to outer bottom of dry tank on one side only

- place substrate on inside, bottom of tank

- place moist hide on the heated side of the tank

- place cave shelter on the cool side of the tank

- place water bowl on unheated side of the tank

- arrange landscape items

- plug in heater

- keep screen tank lid secure at all times!

- add the gecko! **

Calcium Deficiency in Leopard Geckos

Scientists are only now beginning to figure out exactly what Leopard Geckos eat in the wild, but one thing is clear, the diets we provide them in captivity are very different from their diet in the wild. Fortunately Leopard Geckos seem to thrive on a diet which is made up primarily or entirely of a single food item such as mealworms or domestic crickets.

However in order to make this work, a good program of vitamin and especially calcium supplementation is required, as these food items are lacking in the proper levels of calcium for geckos good health. In fact, the single most common problem that I encounter with my customers and their geckos’ health is calcium deficiency. Symptoms of calcium deficiency include hind limb paralysis, complete paralysis, hind limb spasms, seizures, and skeletal deformities.

Causes of this problem are several, and this is where it gets tricky. The most common problem is failure to use any supplementation on the food. The next most common problem is the use of any of a number of inappropriate supplements to dust the geckos’ food. Especially common is the use of a single product such as Herptivite to dust the food. While Herptivite and various other multi-vitamin supplements may or may not be good products, in general they do not provide an adequate calcium supplement for leopard geckos.

Calcium is found dissolved in the blood of many animals, and is critical for a variety of bodily functions on a cellular level, not just building strong bones. In fact, when the blood calcium levels drop too low, and the diet does not supply the needed calcium, the body begins to take calcium from the bones, leading to the softening of the bones, and their eventual deformities. So animals need calcium in their diet for both the chemical functions and to build and maintain healthy skeletons.

Simply having calcium in the diet does not assure its' availability in a usable form to the animal. This is because certain other ingredients in the diet may bind with calcium, and render it useless before it can be taken into the bloodstream. One such ingredient is phosphorus, which is common in vitamin supplements, and in live insects. In the case of some vitamin supplements which also contain calcium, (what many pet stores will recommend as a single supplement) there is enough phosphorus in the supplement to render the calcium useless. So in this case you would use the supplement on a regular basis, and think you were doing the right thing, until one day your animal is dead, or convulsing with its hind limbs stretched out. You have calcium deficiency!!

There are many supplements out there and most require a schedule or routine to properly supply the reptile with vitamins and calcium. This is because the supplements have been split into calcium, calcium with D3 and vitamins. This is primarily due to past manufacturing issues that have now been rectified by at least one supplement producer. I'm a big proponent of the Repashy Calcium Plus ICB (Insect Cricket Balancer) product manufactured with a new technique the allows the calcium and vitamins to be mixed without any degradation of the vitamins. Calcium Plus ICB is a unique blend of calcium, protein, fat, fibre, and vitamins. It is designed to be used as the exclusive supplementation for insectivorous species. It is formulated to "balance" the nutritional value of feeder insects, and in most cases, to be used with every feeding. It provides all essential nutrients in a one simple to use product. No need for separate vitamin and calcium products. It contains a proven level of Vitamin D3, and a proven ratio of Vitamin D3 to Calcium. It also contains preformed Vitamin A at a 10:1 ratio of Vitamin A/ Vitamin D3 which is essential to proper nutrition. Calcium plus also contains Beta Carotene in addition to preformed Vitamin A and is the only reptile supplement available that contains both. My routine consists of dusting all feeders with Calcium Plus along with a bowl of Calcium Plus in the enclosure allowing the gecko to self supplement. I've been very successful with this system.

Sexing and Breeding Leopard Geckos

Sexing

Sexing leopard geckos can sometimes be a challenging task depending on the age and size of the gecko. Leopard geckos are easily sexed once they have reached two thirds of their adult size. Before this milestone occurs sexing is more of an educated guess than anything else. Many leopard geckos will be sold as ‘Temperature Sexed’ meaning that the actual sex of the gecko has not been determined visually but instead through the temperature at which the eggs were incubated. There is no guarantee that the sex of the gecko will be as it was purchased. ‘Unsexed’ usually means that the seller has no idea what the sex of the gecko is. This usually means that the gecko has been incubated at a ‘mid’ temperature where both males and females are typically hatched or the vendor simply has no idea how the hatchlings were incubated.

Male leopard geckos will have a pronounced bulge behind the point where the rear limbs attach to the torso tail side of the vent. These bulges are indications of hemipenes or the male sex organs of the leopard gecko. These bulges will be absent in the females. It is not uncommon for some suspected females to suddenly develop hemipenes. These were obviously males all along and were inaccurately identified as females when first sexed. Another indication of the male sex is a row of pre-anal pores with pits that secrete a waxy substance that is present in males and not present in females. These pores will be obvious under detailed examination. The waxy substance is used to scent mark a leopard geckos’ territory. In addition to the above indications the male gecko will typically be larger with a larger head size than the typical female. With experience you can almost identify an adult male from an adult female by simply looking at the body shape.

ADD PICTURE OF MALE HERE

ADD PICTURE OF FEMALE HERE

Breeding Leopard Geckos

We’re often asked the question; “How do I breed my leopard geckos?” To this end we have put this article together to describe how we do it. There are many sources of information out there on breeding leopard geckos but this is the method that we have used and it seems to be quite successful for us.

The first thing you need to do is make absolutely sure you know what you’re getting into. Leopard geckos can be quite proliferate producing up to 20 offspring in a single season. You should be prepared to house, clean and feed the geckos when you make the decision to breed the animals. In addition you should make sure you have a market to sell your geckos into as there is nothing worse than having 40 hatchling geckos in a rack and no one to sell them to. There is also a certain amount of risk in breeding leopard geckos as the egg laying process is quite hard on the female and can lead to all kinds of health issues when the female is not in top condition. It’s not totally uncommon for a female to literally lay herself to death. Make sure you are aware of the implications before proceeding with making babies…

When considering if you should breed a female leopard gecko both age and weight is important but weight would be more of the deciding factor. The age of the gecko is important because if a female is under a year she is still growing herself and needs to use all the nutrients that she consumes for her own growth, not to produce eggs. She may not reach her full potential if she is bred too young and it is not healthy on her young body. Weight is extremely important though because you have to remember that she needs to have enough fat reserves to lay MULTIPLE clutches over the season while maintaining her own health also. If a female is under 50 grams she tends to lose too much of her reserves over the course of the season and will end up looking very underweight and ragged by the end of it. I have found that females in the 60gram and up range recover faster and do not lose as much of their body fat over the course of the season and are much better prepared for the next season of breeding once it begins. Also, the larger the female the greater your chances of getting healthier eggs because they have more calcium to spare for shell production and the eggs are just nice and big.

Once you have identified that you have a male and a female leopard gecko you can begin the process of breeding the geckos to obtain offspring. Female leopard geckos will begin to ovulate when the temperatures rise and the light period begins to approach the 12 hour light to dark cycle. This typically occurs in February and March. The females will produce a scent that alerts the males to their desire to mate. When a male is placed in the same enclosure as an ovulating female the male will begin a courtship routine that consists of tail rattling, chasing and mild biting beginning at the tail and ending at the head of the female. Once the male is in position mating will occur. After mating the male will often lick the area of his hemipenes to hasten the retraction of his sex organs. Yes, he has two!

Although not required, the pair may repeat the mating process multiple times over the next few weeks. Once mating has occurred the female will retain the sperm for the duration of her breeding season and does not need to be placed in with the male again until next season.

Two to six weeks later the female will begin to expand with eggs in her abdomen. These eggs will be visible through the skin from the underside to the gecko. The female will typically lay her eggs in the warm moist hide that should be provided at all times. Typically eggs will be laid in pairs call a clutch. A single female can lay as many as ten clutches in a single season. The clutches will be laid anywhere from two to six weeks apart. The eggs should be removed from the moist hide and placed in an incubator designed for reptile eggs. Care should be taken not to rotate the eggs from their original orientation as the embryo may have begun to develop and may drown in the egg if rotated.

The eggs should be placed in a medium mixture of 1 part vermiculite (or perlite) to .8 parts water. The medium should be placed in a sealed container with little if any air holes. The temperature at which the eggs are incubated at will determine the sex of the hatchlings…

80* F – 83* F female 65 days

84* F – 86* F male and female 55 days

87* F – 89 *F male 43 days

Once the eggs have hatched the hatchlings should be placed in a 6 quart container with moist paper towel as a substrate. This keeps the hatchlings moist in preparation for their first shed. You should refrain from feeding the hatchling until they have had their first shed and passed their first stool. Now you can start feeding the hatchlings the regular items that your adults are feed but in smaller sizes. Small mealworms or crickets work well. After a week we stop misting our hatchling enclosures and keep a moist hide with wet paper towel in the tub instead. Hatchlings should be feed every day as they have a tremendous appetite when young.

Equipment Required to Rear Leopard Geckos

I am often asked to provide a list of items needed to get set up for keeping leopard geckos. The following list sums up what you will need on hand before purchasing a leopard gecko. These are the minimum items that you will need to keep your new leopard gecko happy, comfortable and healthy. Following this section is a list of items that are not needed but are highly recommended.

This list, along with some knowledge of basic care requirements, is all you need to get started with keeping leopard geckos.

Minimum Equipment/Supplies Required

Terrarium – This should be at a minimum a 10 gallon glass enclosure. This is an appropriate size for a single leopard gecko. The enclosure should have a secure cover to prevent the gecko from escaping. If you are keeping a pair of leopard geckos or multiple females geckos you will need a larger size of enclosure.

Substrate – This can be either paper towel or slate/ceramic tile. Some keepers prefer slate as it gives a more natural look and it is still easy to clean. Stay away from sand as it has been known to cause impaction.

Under Tank Heater – Sometimes referred to as an “UTH” they are electrical heating pads that are attached to the bottom of the terrarium with a sticky backing. These are readily available, in various sizes and wattage, at your local pet store. The UTH should cover approximately 1/3 of the bottom of the terrarium and be placed at one end of the enclosure. This arrangement of heat will provide a heat gradient allowing the gecko to regulate its internal temperature by moving from one side of the enclosure to the other side depending on its needs. The surface temperature (not the air temperature) on the hot side of the enclosure should be approximately 90* F to 92* F. The cool side will remain at room temperature.

Hides – Your leopard gecko will need a moist hide and a dry hide. The moist hide will be the place where your pet spends most of their time. It should be a sealed plastic container approximately 6 inches across with a hole cut in the top or side to allow the gecko to enter and exit. The container should be half filled with moist sphagnum moss, coco fibre or wet paper towels. The moisture will assist the gecko with shedding. You should also have a similar dry hide on the cool side of the enclosure allowing the gecko to feel secure when out and about.

Lighting – Your gecko will need a light period to determine if it’s day or night. If your enclosure in a naturally lit room then you don’t need any addition lighting. If you have the enclosure in a room with no natural light you should provide a light with a 12 hour period of on/off. YOU SHOULD NEVER PLACE AN ENCLOSURE IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT. This will cause the enclosure to super heat.

Supplements – Leopard geckos require that you supplement their food with Calcium, Vitamin D3 and a Multivitamin. I recommend the Rep-Cal line of products as I have found them to be very effective. For a supplementation schedule check my care sheet. (ADD LINK HERE) You should always have a small dish with calcium in the enclosure allowing the gecko to self regulate its calcium if it detects a need.

Food/Water/Calcium Dishes – Your geckos will need a place for their food, water and calcium. These can be simple container caps two or three inches across and one inch deep.

Food – Before taking your new pet home you should have a supply of crickets or mealworms on hand and ready to feed. Be aware that most geckos will not feed for a few days to a week after being placed in a new enclosure.

Additional Equipment

Infrared Thermometer – Many health issues with leopard geckos are due to incorrect hot side temperatures. This is usually due to the owner measuring the enclosure temperature with a standard dial thermometer commonly found at pet stores. These are ineffective as the surface temperature of the substrate is what is most important. Leopard geckos spend most of their time absorbing “belly heat” through the bottom of the enclosure. An Infrared Thermometer will detect the actual surface temperature and not the air temperature. These can be found online for $35 to $100.

Furniture – There are a wide range plants, hides, rocks, driftwood that can be added to an enclosure to allow your gecko to explore. Be creative and build an environment that your gecko will enjoy and have fun exploring.

Additional Heating – If you find that the temperature in your enclosure is not getting warm enough you can add a porcelain heating element to the top of the enclosure. Make sure these are out of the reach of the geckos as they can get quite hot.

Thermostat – If the ambient temperature, in the room where you are keeping the enclosure, fluctuates you should purchase an Automatic Thermostat. It will turn the UTH on and off as needed to keep a consistent surface temperature in the enclosure.

Gargoyle Gecko

(Rhacodactylus auriculatus)

Background: Gargoyle geckos are one of several arboreal species of Diplodactylinae (double fingered geckos). The Gargoyle Gecko, so named for its knobby head's resemblance to medieval stone gargoyles, is a native of New Caledonia, a French territory north east of Australia. Their scientific name, auriculatus, refers to the small bony structure present over their aural (hearing) opening. There are two basic “morphs” or color patterns that Gargoyle Geckos come in: striped and blotched. This gecko species is known to be the most easily handled of the Rhacodactylus species, and can make an excellent pet for both beginning and advanced reptile keepers. Overall they are hardy, humorous little geckos that require very little maintenance.

Average Size: Variable, up to 8 inches and 60 grams.

Life Span: Well over 15 years if properly cared for.

Habitat and enclosure set-up: Gargoyle geckos are known to be very nippy with cage mates so they should be housed singly unless the two geckos are female and prove to be compatible from an early age. Some keepers have had success when housing small groups of similar sized 1.1 or 1.2 Gargoyles.

Gargoyle Geckos can be housed in either screen or glass/plexiglas enclosures. In drier areas it’s recommended that glass/plexiglas cages be used to provide adequate humidity. In areas with higher humidity screen cages are excellent for providing adequate ventilation. Cages should be permitted to dry out entirely during the day following a heavy night time misting. Housing should be chosen to permit this to occur, otherwise problems with moulding from too high of humidity can occur, or the animals can have retained shed due to low humidity. An 18x18x24 Exo-Terra tank or a 30-gallon tall glass tank would be perfect for an adult Gargoyle gecko. Gargoyles, unlike Crested geckos prefer to inhabit the lower regions of an enclosure so a taller enclosure is not needed for these geckos.

Extra heating and lighting is not necessary for Gargoyle geckos, as they thrive at temperatures between 72F - 78F degrees. Temperatures can fluctuate from 65F – 82F degrees at night and during the day respectively, but these are extremes. Prolonged exposure to temperatures over 85F can kill Gargoyle geckos. In the winter months, or if your home does not maintain adequate warmth, a small heat lamp can be used. Ensure the heat lamp is on one side so your gecko can “choose” to be near it or not. A 40-watt bulb should be sufficient.

UV lighting is not necessary for the nocturnal Gargoyle gecko to synthesize vitamin D3 as it is with diurnal lizard species. It does not hurt, however, and can be used for display purposes (so you can see your new friend) or to allow plants in the enclosure to thrive.

Gargoyle geckos can be kept on paper towel, leaf litter, moss and dirt-like substrates. Hatchlings should be kept on paper towel to prevent them from ingesting substrate and choking.

Food and Water: The gecko’s enclosure should be misted well once or twice daily, and it is fine to let it dry out between mistings. This will ensure proper humidity to allow for proper shedding, but not keep the enclosure too wet. The geckos will drink from the droplets of water that collect on the glass and tank furnishings.

Some keepers place a dish of water in the tank for their geckos to drink from and find success with this method, but many Gargoyle geckos will not drink from standing water. If you choose this method, keep in mind that misting is still necessary for proper humidity in the enclosure, and that the water dish should be shallow to prevent drowning accidents with smaller geckos.

Gargoyle geckos are frugivores, meaning they eat fruit and sometimes insects.

Many keepers feed their geckos a pre-made powdered diet called Repashy MRP (meal replacement powder), which can be ordered online or found at some pet stores. It’s a complete diet, which means that as long as it’s mixed according to the directions with water only, nothing else, not even crickets need to be fed to the gecko. You can still feed crickets if you wish, but they are not necessary. Any crickets fed should be dusted with a calcium/vitamin supplement.

Baby food was once considered a staple food for Gargoyle geckos, but now we are seeing the long-term effects of feeding only baby food. Even when supplemented with calcium and vitamins baby food provides very poor nutrition for adequate bone density. Baby food should not be fed due to its high sugar content. Nor should it be mixed with Repashy MRP, as it alters the balanced nutrition value of the MRP. Some may argue that baby food is safe for human babies, so why not geckos? Human babies are rarely ever fed a strict diet of only fruit baby food. They are fed a balanced diet including meat-based baby foods and other products to ensure full nutrition.

Gargoyle geckos can be fed 3-4 times a week, and some examples of good feeding regimens include:

1. Repashy MRP 3-4 times a week.

2. Repashy MRP twice a week, crickets twice a week.

3. Repashy MRP twice a week, crickets once a week, smoothie once a week.

Illness:

MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease): MBD is unfortunately a common ailment in many lizards brought on by improper calcium supplementation, and Gargoyle geckos are no different.Signs of MBD include kinked tails (at the very beginning) bent/rubbery bones/jaws, inability to climb and stick to surfaces, tremors and spasms (at the very worst). MBD can be helped with immediate vet assistance. The vet will likely provide liquid calcium and supplements to put your gecko back on track. While liquid calcium can be found at drug stores, proper dosage information is important and your vet can help you with that. The kinks and bent bones resulting from MBD are permanent and won’t reverse even with the calcium therapy. The best way to deal with MBD is to prevent it.

FTS (floppy tail syndrome): FTS is thought to arise from several different factors. When Gargoyle geckos hang upside down on glass or other surfaces it could result in the tail hanging over its head for long periods of time, permanently bending the pelvis. FTS can be helped / prevented by adding lots of branches and other things to climb to the enclosure, so the gecko isn’t always hanging off the glass making it worse. As well, proper supplementation helps to ensure healthy bones. FTS does not prevent the gecko from living a healthy and happy life, and often does not interfere with breeding, depending on the severity (females with twisted pelvises will have difficulty laying eggs and this should be taken into consideration.)

Autonomy (tail loss): Gargoyle geckos have the availability to drop their tails when they feel threatened. In the case of Gargoyles do grow back. If the gecko looses its tail it’s best to place the gecko on paper towel to prevent any tank debris from getting on the wound, and the gecko will take it from there.

Wounds: When housed with other geckos, it is typical that a bite or two might happen. Many will heal on their own, but Polysporin is safe to use on cuts or bites that look as if they could get infected.

Internal Parasites: A common disease causing internal parasite in Gargoyle Gecko's is Entameoba invadens, which needs to be diagnosed and treated by a veterinarian. If left untreated too long it can be fatal. Other internal parasites are also possible in Gargoyle's, and can be diagnosed by your veterinarian via a stool sample. Signs of E. invadens infection include weight loss, lethargy and generally poor condition.

Egg Binding: Egg binding is relatively common in female Rhacodactylus geckos with the Gargoyle gecko being no exception. All female geckos are at risk, though those on poor diets or bred too young are at a higher risk level than those that are of proper breeding size and on a good nutritional plane. Signs of egg binding include failing to drop both eggs in a clutch, failing to lay a clutch at the expected time, anorexia and lethargy. Egg binding is normally an emergency by the time it is recognized, and typically needs to be corrected surgically. If you suspect egg binding take your Gargoyle gecko to a good exotics veterinarian with an interest in reptiles as soon as possible.

If you suspect any of these conditions, please contact your exotic animal veterinarian. The typical small animal practitioner may not have sufficient knowledge in this area. Even this guide is general in nature and should not be used to diagnose your pet.

Breeding: Gargoyle geckos are very easy to breed. All you need is a male and at least one female. Breeding groups can consist of up to four females if desired. The geckos should be placed in the same enclosure and at first closely monitored to ensure they are compatible.

The geckos will breed readily provided the temps are not too cold.

Female Gargoyle geckos should be between 45-50 grams to be bred, and males should be around the same weight to prevent fighting/bullying. Females can lay between 8-12 clutches of two eggs per season, roughly one clutch every month. Before and after breeding seasons, the geckos should be separated and “cooled”, given an opportunity to take a break from the stress of breeding and replenish any weight or calcium lost. The calcium intake of breeding and laying females should be closely monitored, as “calcium crash”, the loss of too much calcium from laying eggs, can happen over night, resulting in a very sick gecko.

A lay box should be provided for laying females. The lay box can be as simple as a plastic container full of peat moss, eco earth, or potting soil with a hole cut in the top for the gecko to enter and exit the box. Most geckos will lay eggs in the lay box if that is the only medium provided, but some will lay in potted plants or in the substrate if available.

Eggs can be incubated at room temperature (70-74 degrees) and will hatch anywhere from 60-120 days later, depending on the temperatures.