Reptiles & Amphibians

10 Jun 2007 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Reddit | Print

Leopard Geckos: The Lizard That Wants To Be Your Pet! (Part 2)

By Adrian Adams

At only 6-8 inches long, both in the wild and in captivity, leopard geckos make a great choice for a small household pet, and they require minimal care as compared to many other pet reptiles. They produce very little odor, and if you take care to handle a leopard gecko while it's still a baby, he'll be quite tame as an adult and almost enjoy being held!

The one thing to keep in mind when choosing a leopard gecko for a pet is his living environment. Since their natural environment is a hot, dry desert, leopard geckos don't fare well in humidity. Thus, their cages need to be free from excess moisture, in order to ensure they don't develop debilitating respiratory infections.

Leopard geckos also need to be handled with care, as their tails can actually fall off when they're scared or anxious. They can grow new tails, however it will be smaller and slightly less useful, since a tail-shed is actually a defense mechanism used by leopard geckos to distract predators in the wild!

Feeding your leopard gecko is relatively simple, but like any reptilian pet, you'll need to keep an eye on making sure your pet has a well-balanced diet. Leopard geckos enjoy eating crickets, mealworms, wax worms, and silk worms, and you can ration these out to make some more common items - like crickets and mealworms - his primary dinner, while offering wax or silk worms as a regular treat! You'll also need to supplement your leopard gecko's diet with a calcium powder, which you can coat the meal insects with before feeding times. Also, place a small dish of calcium powder inside the cage.

Geckos need the calcium to keep their bodies healthy and limber, and if you don't provide this to them, they'll actually try to eat the sand in their cage to get the calcium they need. If this happens, your gecko will be at risk of death from sand impaction, as it hardens painfully inside their intestinal tract. To avoid this, provide your leopard gecko with a calcium supplement, and if at all possible, choose a rocky terrain instead of using sand inside the cage.

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Learn all about the Leopard Gecko at http://www.leopardgeckoguide.com/.

Adrian Adams has written 1 other article

• Leopard Geckos: The Lizard That Wants To Be Your Pet! (Part 1)

There are 1 other article in the category

• Leopard Geckos: The Lizard That Wants To Be Your Pet! (Part 1)