Do you know that leopard geckos are distinguished from other geckos because of their eyelids?The leopard geckos are named after the leopard print of their skin. These are a type of lizards that are native to desert regions and dry rocky grasslands.These geckos are mostly found in India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. These reptiles are nocturnal, meaning they are most active during the night. These reptiles generally dwell on the ground, but can also climb certain surfaces. The leopard geckos eat only insects like crickets, spiders, grasshoppers, beetles, centipedes, mealworms, and locusts. Do you know that the leopard geckos have a special ability to voluntarily drop their tail? They do when they have been threatened by someone, attacked or grabbed by the tail, or some other reason.Do you want to learn more about these leopard geckos? If you are looking to buy a pet leopard gecko and don’t know how to take care of it, then read on to get all the answers. After you have understood the intricacies of a leopard gecko’s habitat, also read about how big do leopard geckos get and how often do the leopard geckos shed here on Kidadl.How big of an enclosure do leopard geckos need?The leopard geckos may be small pets, but they need sufficient space to live properly. They are mostly kept in a glass tank or terrarium, but can also be kept in boxes made of wood or PVC. This tank variation is to maintain an ideal temperature for this reptile.An adult reptile needs at least a 20 gal (75.7 l) breeder tank of size 36 in x 18 in (91.4 cm x 45.7 cm). There is a myth that reptiles get stressed in large spaces, but the actual issue is they are stressed in open spaces, and this myth comes from those who have housed their leopard geckos in the plains.The leopard geckos require more space on the floor because they are terrestrial animals and move mostly on the floor. Although a leopard gecko has the capacity to climb on the walls of the tanks, they do when they want to. They mostly prefer the ground area to move. So they need more space on the floor area of the tank or terrarium.A baby leo reptile can be kept in an enclosure smaller than the 20 gal (75.7 l) one, but it needs to be shifted to the bigger ones once it becomes an adult. Shifting a leopard gecko from one tank to another is a very difficult task, so it is advised that you should keep your reptile leo in the tank suitable for an adult from the very first time you bring it home.Keeping a leopard gecko in glass tanks smaller than 20 gal (75.7 l) is not recommended. Keeping them in smaller tanks is required only during some emergencies like the need to be quarantined or something else. Otherwise, you should keep your pet leo in glass tanks of at least 20 gal (75.7 l) or bigger.What kind of enclosure does a leopard gecko need?Every animal has its specific need for living. A leopard gecko does not require much care, it just needs a perfect and ideal environment similar to the wild leopard geckos natural habitat. You just need to make some arrangements for your pet to keep it happy and healthy. Read on to learn all about the ideal enclosures and substrates for your pet gecko.A leopard gecko enclosure must have different hiding areas like dry hide, warm hide, cold hide, and moist hide. Generally, the gecko owners prefer a leopard gecko tank made of glass, to see what their pet is up to, but have you ever wondered why people also sometimes prefer a leopard gecko enclosure made of wood or PVC?This is because the glass tank is not only for visual convenience but also to regulate the temperature by allowing the natural light to pass through it. If you live in cold areas and have trouble managing the ideal temperature for your leopard gecko, then you can use wood or PVC enclosures. They have good insulating properties and they can make a suitable environment for a leopard gecko in cold regions.The leopard geckos need an ideal temperature, sufficient space, specific humidity levels, both warm and cold hides, and some other things. The leopard geckos enclosure must have a humidity of about 30-40%. Humidity is required to keep your pet’s skin moist and help in shedding the skin in a convenient way. Humidity levels more than this can lead to respiratory issues for your pet gecko.How to Set Up The Ideal TankLeopard geckos are reptiles and need a very specific enclosure and diet to survive in artificial habitats like that of your house. People think that reptiles like the leopard geckos are very easy to be taken care of. But that’s not true. This reptile is low maintenance, but it needs a very specific enclosure to live properly.There are many things to keep in mind while setting up a leopard geckos enclosure. Your leopard gecko enclosure must contain a UVB lamp; a heat source; warm, humid, and cold hides separately; a thermometer on each end of the tank; substrates; a certain level of humidity; dishes for food and water; and any decorations if you want to make your reptile terrarium look attractive and friendly.You have to maintain an ideal temperature using heat bulbs for your pet, as it is incapable of doing so. The leopard geckos can not change their body temperature so you have to provide artificial temperature balancing equipment. The leopard geckos also need hides because they are sometimes shy. They need two types of hides, one dry and the other moist or humid. Dry hides to hide while feeling shy or tired, and the moist one is for the times when they are shedding their skins. The humid environment helps them to shed their skin easily.The food and water dishes are also very necessary elements for your pet. The water container should not be too shallow or too deep. It has to be deep enough to hold a sufficient amount of fresh water and shallow enough to be accessible by the leopard gecko.You also need to set up UVB light in your leopard gecko’s terrarium to provide it with natural habitat. UVB light is very essential for the leopard gecko to digest its food. It also helps them to process calcium to keep their muscles and bones healthy and strong. You must know that UVB light is not an optional item, it is an essential element for the leopard gecko to survive in the indoor environment of your house.Ideal Temperature For Leopard GeckosLeopard geckos are cold-blooded animals so they can not change their body temperatures by themselves. You have to take care of the ideal temperature for your reptile so it won’t die because of temperature variation. The ideal temperature for a leopard gecko varies according to the different areas of its tank i.e. warm and cold zones, or according to the season or time of the day.In the leopard gecko enclosure, the temperature for the warm hide should be between 87.8-91.4 F (31-33 C). The air temperature which is 4-6 in (10.2-15.2 cm) above the ground, on the warm side, should be 80-83 F (26.7-28.3 C). For the cool hide, the temperature should be 73-76 F (22.8-24.4 C). The temperature for the most hide in a leopard gecko enclosure should be 83-90 F (28.3-32.2 C).Leopard geckos need different temperatures for nights. The night temperature for your leopard gecko enclosure should be 67-73.4 F (19.4-23 C). You need to use a ceramic heat lamp to maintain the required temperature in the basking area for your leo. Do you know that leopard geckos sleep during the day and are most active during the night? So you have to provide the required temperature for the night to ensure they are happy and healthy.Housing Multiple Leopard GeckosLeopard geckos are solitary animals and love to live alone. They live together only for mating, and after that, even the female ones do not take care of their young ones. In the wild, they do not like to share their shelter with other geckos.If you are planning to keep more than one gecko in a single terrarium, then it is a very bad idea. If you keep more than one leopard gecko in a single tank then they will fight a lot, and you will frequently find dropped tails, bite wounds, and even some broken bones. This is the case for both the male leopard geckos and the females as they possess the same behavior.However, if you keep a female and a male leopard gecko together, they might not fight, but they will surely give birth to the young ones. You should keep them together only when you want them to have babies. If you keep a female and male leopard gecko together and the female lays eggs, you can remove the new hatchlings out of the tank and have them in a separate tank. You can easily replace the tanks for the baby geckos as these females do not care much for their young ones. Also, it is safer to keep the new hatchlings separately because the adults have the tendency to harm these little babies.You can also have many female leopard geckos along with a single male leopard gecko, but cannot do the vice versa, because multiple males will fight for their territory and other things. You can keep up to five female leopard geckos with a single male in a single tank. For this, you have to make sure that the size of the tank is large enough to carry them all peacefully.Multiple geckos are not recommended because of the consequences. Male and female geckos are kept together only by the breeders and not by those who just want a pet gecko. If you want to have a leopard gecko only as a pet, then you should go with a single one. These reptiles love to live on their own and do not need anyone to accompany them.Do leopard geckos need plants in their tank?Leopard geckos are insectivores and eat only insects. They do not eat plants or any plant parts. So, they do not need any plants in their terrarium. You can put some plants in the tank just for decoration purposes. Your leopard gecko has nothing to do with the plants so it does not matter whether you put real plants or artificial ones. Your reptile is not able to tell the difference between the two, nor does it need to. No matter which plant you put in your leopard gecko’s tank, it will be indifferent to it. Putting fake or artificial plants in the tank is a quite nice option as they do not require maintenance as the real ones do. So it is advised to put fake plants in the leopard gecko’s tank to save time and money.If you put real plants in your leopard gecko’s tank then you can put whatever plant pleases your eyes. The only thing is to make sure that the plant is not toxic for your pet in any way (it can be toxic even when it increases the humidity levels). Although geckos do not eat plants, the gases it releases in the air matter for your pet. If you want to opt for a real plant, you can choose aloes, Mexican spice basil, elephant bush, money plant, sedge grass, snake plants, string of pearls, zebra cactus, and string of bananas. All these plants are the favorite plants for gecko owners to keep in their leopard gecko enclosure to make it look attractive.How To Create the Ideal Leopard Gecko HabitatLike every other reptile, leopard geckos also love to live in their natural habitat rather than in captivity. You can do your best to provide a natural leopard gecko habitat from the artificial equipment that was mentioned earlier. Use all the elements in a proper way to create a natural leopard gecko habitat for your pet.For an ideal leopard gecko habitat, you need to make all the arrangements properly. You have to maintain the ideal temperature for them as they would find in their natural habitat. You can maintain temperature with a heat bulb and a glass aquarium or terrarium to make ideal leopard gecko enclosures. If the temperature changes outside the required limits then your leopard gecko could even die.You have to provide certain hiding areas for your pet so it can hide whenever it wants in the enclosure. The hides should be separate for cold, for warm, and for moist areas. You also have to maintain the humidity levels as per the requirements. Your leo’s tank must have a UVB light to ensure its good health. During the summer months, your leopard gecko needs 14 hours of light followed by 10 hours of darkness, and in the winter they need 12 hours of light followed by 12 hours of darkness. The best way to do this is to have your lights on timers so that they change automatically. Rocks are also a must for the gecko enclosure but make sure that the rocks are not placed too high.One important thing which you should also place in the enclosure of your gecko is the substrate. The substrate in your enclosure is one of the most important parts of your pet’s home. Reptiles are not made to move on glass, they need a proper surface such as the rocks or reptile carpet. The substrate forms the basic ground area for the gecko to move. You can use paper towels, paper sheets, reptile carpet, reptile bedding products, and slate rocks as well in the enclosure. There are some things that you should avoid for the substrates of your leopard gecko which include wood shavings, walnut shells, corn cob, and gravel. Monitoring the health of your pet is very important and they show any signs of ill health, you must take them to the vet immediately.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for leopard gecko enclosure then why not take a look at how often do leopard geckos eat or leopard gecko facts?
Do you know that leopard geckos are distinguished from other geckos because of their eyelids?
