Leopard Geckos
One of the few geckos with working eyelids, and it has no sticky pads, so it lives on the ground rather than up the glass. Twenty years is ordinary.
Overview
The leopard gecko comes from dry and semi arid desert and arid grassland across Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and northwest India, is about 220 mm long, and is nocturnal, sheltering under rocks and in burrows through the day.
It is unusual among geckos in two ways that matter to a keeper: it has movable eyelids, and it has claws rather than adhesive toe pads. It is a ground animal that cannot climb glass, which is exactly why it suits a simple enclosure.
Temperament
Slow, tolerant and among the easiest reptiles to handle. Leopard geckos are not fast, they do not jump, and most will sit in a hand.
The tail is segmented and it detaches when the animal is grabbed or badly frightened. It does regrow on this species, though the replacement is shorter and blunter, and since the tail stores fat a gecko that has just dropped one needs feeding up. Males fight, so one male per enclosure.
Care and grooming
Live insects, dusted with calcium and gut loaded: crickets, mealworms, locusts and the occasional waxworm as a treat rather than a staple. In the wild the diet is scorpions, centipedes, spiders and beetles.
A warm side at 88 to 92 F provided from below, because this is an animal that takes heat through its belly from warm rock rather than from a basking lamp above. Humidity stays low at 30 to 40 percent, with one humid hide for shedding.
Living and exercise
A 20 gallon long enclosure, floor space over height, with three hides: warm, cool and humid. Loose sand is best avoided for young animals because a gecko striking at an insect takes in substrate with it.
Sex is decided by incubation temperature rather than genetics, which matters to anyone hatching eggs. ADW gives about 22 years in captivity, which is a long run for an animal often sold as a starter pet.
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