One page Caresheet
Housing	Foods	Health	Shedding	Cleaning	Breeding	Genetics	Care sheet

Housing And Environment

There are different kinds of acceptable environments available for which to house Leopard Geckos. A basic set-up for Leopard Geckos would be:

The vivarium

The vivarium or box they are housed in can be as elaborate or as plain as you like, as a general guide one juvenile / small adult can be housed comfortably in a contico or other plastic type box measuring 16inch by 11inch. We quarantine our new leo's in boxes of this size. Two or three adult geckos can live comfortably in a viv or box measuring around 36inch by 18inch with a height of at least 18inch if you plan to install lighting.
Never house two male leo's together once they are sexually mature, they are territorial and will fight for dominance, sometimes to the death!

Hide(s)

Leopard Geckos need somewhere to hide. If there are no adequate places for them to hide they can become stressed. Hides can be made from anything from margarine tubs to coconut shells.

Moist Box(es)

All of our Geckos have a moist box kept in their home at all times, during the day they tend to sleep in there. Moist hides are particularly important during shedding times to help remove their skin.

Heating/Temperature

Heating and Temperature are very important to the health of you Leopard Geckos.Leopard Geckos need heat to thermo-regulate, as they do not produce their own body heat internally. They need an external heat source to help them digest their food as well as regulate other bodily functions. Leopard geckos obtain their heat through their underside so the best source of heat is a heat-mat placed under either the substrate or under the tank itself. The mat needs to cover between half or 1/3 of the bottom of the enclosure. The temperature of the floor of your enclosure where the geckos bask should read between 84-88 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lighting

Leopard Geckos do not need artificial lighting or UV light, which some reptiles do require, but they do need to know whether it is day or night. In our vivariums we have lights to help heat their enclosure. Depending on the size of your viv determines the wattage of the bulb needed. We have our lights on a timer. In the room where our reptiles live we have a red bulb as they cannot detect it, and we can observe them during the night without disturbing them.

Substrate

There are different substrates available on the market today. Some substrates can cause impaction when eaten. Hatchlings and young Geckos should be kept on kitchen roll. Once they are big enough, around 6 inch in length, they can be moved on to something else. I would recommend fine sand, as we have never experienced a problem.