Leopard Gecko a.k.a Eublepharis macularius
Leopard Geckos are one of the most popular pet geckos in the pet trade. They are easy to care for and come in a variety of color and pattern mutations. These Middle-Eastern get an average of 8-10 inches and live 15+ years when kept correctly. Keepers of all experience levels can successfully raise these.
Leopard Gecko Care
Housing Leopard Geckos is fairly easy. You need a minimum of a 20 gallon tank, a heat pad, shallow water dish, hide, and proper substrate. They are nocturnal geckos so they usually do not bask under UVB light. Their ideal temperature in their hide box is 90 degrees Fahrenheit at all times, with an ambient temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit and a humidity level of ~40%. I recommend Coco, ReptiSoil, or Exo Terra Stone Desert as substrate. They will readily feed on mealworms and crickets that are dusted with calcium and multivitamins.
Availability
There is little to no need to import these animals in the pet trade because of how many Leopard Geckos are Captive Bred in the USA. Breeding these is fairly easy. Once sexually mature, males will have pre-anal pores, which looks like a small line of dots across the underside of the back legs in front of the vent and can have a hemipinal bulge. Introduce your pair in a 40 gallon tank with a lay box and watch their behavior to make sure they are both eating and not bullying one another. Females should be offered food high in calcium to compensate for the calcium loss caused by egg production. Females produce one to five clutches of two eggs throughout the breeding season.
The temperature of the incubation period in the first 2 weeks usually determines the sex of the offspring. At a temperature of 79°F, mostly females will be produced; at 85°F, an equal number of males and females will be produced; and at a temperature of 90°F, mostly males will be produced. The eggs will hatch after a 45-55-day incubation period. We recommend these incubation substrates (click here). House your hatchling geckos separate to avoid potential injury as well as issues from feeding competition.
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