Leopard Gecko

Overview

The leopard gecko is one of the easiest lizards to live with well. It stays small, it is active at dusk and through the night, and once settled it tends to move slowly and tolerate gentle handling ²⁴. Nearly all pets are captive bred ³. With good care, ten to twenty years is a realistic life, and some live longer ²⁴.

Two things matter more than anything else: a warm floor to digest on, and a steady supply of calcium.

Natural history

Wild leopard geckos live in rocky dry grassland and semi-desert across Afghanistan, Pakistan, northwest India and parts of Iran ¹⁵⁶. They shelter in rock crevices and burrows through the heat of the day and hunt insects at dawn, dusk and night ¹⁵. They actually avoid areas where the ground is mostly sand ¹. Winters there can drop to about 50°F, and the geckos retreat underground in a semi-hibernation called brumation, living off fat stored in the tail ¹⁵.

Unlike most geckos, they have movable eyelids and toes with small claws instead of sticky pads, so they cannot climb glass ⁴⁵.

Enclosure

• Size. One adult can live in a 10-gallon tank as a bare minimum; Tree of Life gives 18 × 10 × 12 in as the floor ¹². A longer 15–20 gallon tank gives you a much better heat gradient ³⁴.
• Lid. A secure screen top keeps the gecko in and lets air move ².
• Hides. At least one hide on the warm side and one on the cool side, so the gecko never has to choose between hiding and the right temperature ¹⁴.
• Humid hide. A closed box with damp sphagnum moss on the warm end helps them shed cleanly ¹².
• Company. Never house two males together; they fight ¹³. Living alone is perfectly fine for this species.

Temperature & lighting

Belly heat from an under-tank heater, heat cable or a low basking light all work, as long as every heat source runs through a thermostat and the gecko cannot touch the element ¹²⁴. Skip heat rocks; they cause serious burns ¹². Check the floor with a digital probe thermometer or an infrared thermometer ¹.

UVB is not required for leopard geckos. VCA's veterinarians put it plainly: UVB "is not required, but is recommended" ². Recent work shows leopard geckos can use UVB to make their own vitamin D3, so many exotic vets now suggest a low-output UVB tube as a bonus ¹³⁴. If you do not provide UVB, the calcium you dust with must contain vitamin D3 (see Diet) ⁴. Either way, give a regular day–night cycle.

Humidity

Keep the room-air humidity fairly low, around 30–40% in the main enclosure, with the humid hide providing a damp microclimate for shedding ⁴. LafeberVet allows up to 40–60% as long as most of the habitat stays dry ³. Stuck skin on the toes is the classic sign that the gecko needs a better humid hide or an occasional shallow, supervised soak ¹⁴.

Substrate

Use a surface that cannot be swallowed in quantity: paper towel, newspaper, reptile carpet, tile or vinyl ¹²⁴. Veterinary sources consistently advise against loose sand, calcium sand, crushed walnut shell and corncob, which are linked to intestinal impaction and to eye and shedding problems ¹²⁴.

Diet & supplementation

Leopard geckos are insectivores and eat live prey ¹². Good staples are crickets and dubia roaches, with silkworms, mealworms and the occasional superworm or waxworm for variety ²⁴. Offer prey no bigger than about half the width of the gecko's head ⁴.

• How often. Juveniles every day or two, adults two or three times a week ².
• Gut-load feeder insects on a nutritious diet for at least 24 hours before feeding ²⁴.
• Calcium is required. Dust insects with a phosphorus-free calcium powder ²³. Without UVB, use calcium with D3: Chicago Exotics recommends it three times a week for juveniles plus a multivitamin once a week. Non-breeding adults do well with calcium weekly and a multivitamin twice a month ⁴. Breeding females need more calcium ³.
• A supplement dish of calcium (or a calcium–multivitamin mix) is recommended by some vets ¹², while others prefer measured dusting to avoid overdosing ⁴. Ask your vet which suits your gecko.
• Water. A shallow dish of fresh water, changed daily ².

Handling & temperament

Leopard geckos are generally docile, rarely bite, and usually learn to tolerate handling once settled ²⁴. Support the whole body and never grab or pull the tail. They can drop it when frightened, and although it grows back, it never looks quite the same ⁴⁵. The tail is also their fat store ³.

Like all reptiles, they can carry Salmonella without looking sick. Wash your hands after handling the gecko, its food or its enclosure, and keep young children, older adults and anyone with a weakened immune system from handling it ⁷.

Health

Common issues

• Metabolic bone disease (nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism) from too little calcium or vitamin D3: rubbery jaws, weak or bent limbs, fractures ⁴.
• Retained shed on the toes, which can cut off circulation and cost toe tips ¹⁴.
• Impaction from swallowed sand or bedding ¹⁴.
• Intestinal parasites, including Cryptosporidium, which causes weight loss, a thin "pencil" tail and diarrhea and has no reliable treatment ⁴. Quarantine new geckos before they share space or tools with your others ⁴.

When to see a vet

Call an exotic-animal veterinarian if your gecko stops eating for more than a week, loses tail thickness, has stuck shed that soaks will not loosen, bubbles or noisy breathing, or diarrhea ⁴⁸. Open-mouth breathing, limp or oddly angled limbs, large open wounds or an unresponsive animal are emergencies ⁸.

Breeding overview

Leopard geckos become mature by weight more than by age, roughly 30 g at about 18–24 months; the San Diego Zoo notes that size, not age, is what counts ⁵. Chicago Exotics notes some females are not ready until their third year ⁴. Males are easy to recognize by their preanal pores and hemipenal bulges ³⁵. Females lay clutches of two eggs, several times over a breeding season, and bury them in soft substrate ⁵. The incubation temperature in the first weeks decides the sex of the hatchlings ⁵. Keep breeding groups to one male with females, and give laying females extra calcium ³.

Genetics & morphs

Selective breeding has produced a long list of color and pattern morphs, including albinos, leucistic "pattern-free" animals, stripes and high-yellow lines ³⁵. The wild-type gecko is yellow with dark spots as an adult and banded as a juvenile ³⁵.

Legal & ethics

Leopard geckos are widely kept, and almost all available animals are captive bred ³. Buy captive-bred animals from a breeder who can tell you the hatch date and parents, and never collect from the wild ⁵. Check your state and city rules before buying, especially if you plan to breed or sell.

Sources

1. Leopard Gecko Care · Tree of Life Exotic Pet Medical Center
2. Leopard Geckos – Care and Feeding · VCA Animal Hospitals
3. Basic Information Sheet – Leopard Gecko · LafeberVet
4. Leopard Gecko Care · Chicago Exotics Animal Hospital
5. Leopard Gecko · San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
6. Eublepharis macularius · The Reptile Database
7. Salmonella, Feeder Rodents, and Pet Reptiles and Amphibians · U.S. Food and Drug Administration
8. When Should My Reptile See a Veterinarian? · Tree of Life Exotic Pet Medical Center

Last reviewed 2026-10-24 by Novel Fauna. This guide is general husbandry information, not veterinary advice. When an animal is sick, see a veterinarian experienced with exotic animals.

Revision history

1. 2026-10-24 Library: 50 cited care guides, /library/[slug] route, coming-soon cards, SLUGS.txt synced to species.guide_slug 228ce54
2. 2026-10-24 WIP: library guides (lizards) 478b100

Evidence grades: Novel Fauna editorial: source classification, not yet expert-reviewed, 2026-10-25. What the grades mean.

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