leopard gecko

[Flame Cody]

hey everyone.i just got back from pet co. and i bought a leopard gecko.im not sure what morph it is but i know its a girl.im really new to leopard geckos and i have never had one before and i saw it and i fell in love with it.so any advice to caring for it.i know the basics such as lighting and heating and shelter but i need some advice from some expirenced breeders and keeper.any advice will be helpful
-Cody

[Terradas]

Leopards are so charming, I miss them!

You'll want a hot end around 80-85 degrees with a slightly cooler side at 70-75 with shelter to hide in. Natural substrate can be a very fine sand without much fear of impaction. I'm not sure what sized leo you have so use dusted crickets while it's little and you can move on to bigger bugs or even pinkies when it's an adult (pinkies are great if you decide to breed her).

My favorite leo quirk is that mine always chose one corner in the terrarium to go to the bathroom in. I think that's pretty common and it's SOOO much nicer than the white streaks cresties leave all over the glass!

[smith710]

How big is the leo?  I wouldn't use any substrate until adulthood.  I've seen quite a few juvies get impacted from sand. Pinkies should only be used as treats, not very often at all, very very high in fat. Usually petco has little guys, how do you know it's a female?  Did someone there tell you?  If they did, they probably had no clue what they were doing. They are very easy to care for and lots of people feed a staple of dusted mealworms and nothing else.

[Liz]

leopard geckos are very easy to sex.

[Flame Cody]

Well i figured they were just like crested geckos with the bulge thing.and mine didnt have a bulge so i decided to call it a girl.is that how you sex them?
She/He is 50 grams and she looks like the gecko here on the very top of the page.
http://www.acreptiles.com/geckos_leopard.htm.it looks like the one not in any groups but just at the top as like a picture.does anyone know what that morph is called?
and i bought the leopard gecko dust.the stuff you put on the crickets.is that stuff good?
also i didnt ask the people at petco anything because the person who got it out of the cage for me worked in the fish section so i didnt want to get any false information.i just decided i would come here and ask you guys because i know some people on here have them and they have had them for a while and wouldnt give me false information.So any information at all would be helpful.

[Terradas]

While the bulge definitely helps in determining sex, the pores were always the easiest way for me to tell. Males have very pronounced pre-anal pores between the 2 hind legs.

Also, the pinkies were recommended mainly for breeding puproses when a high fat, protein and calcium content are very beneficial for gravid females. As for mealworms, I've always felt the nutritional content isn't as great as with crickets; there's too much chitin on the mealworms and not enough of the good stuff to really sustain big leos. If you prefer feeding worms, soft bodied worms are a little better. The phoenix (calci) worms are a great source of calcium and waxworms are more of a treat as they're higher in fat. Any thoughts on using horn worms?

[Flame Cody]

to be completly honest i have never heard of horn worms or pheonis worms.i do not know what they are.what are they?do they have more nutritious stuff in them?

[smith710]

Leopard geckos don't quite have the bulge, not even close to what crested geckos have.  You have to look at the pores to know for sure. The leopard gecko dust is good.

[Liz]

so whats it's sex? does is have a v of pores... you dont have to look close if you dont see it when you look then its female.

[Flame Cody]

nope its a girl.its all white on bottom. What should i feed it?

[krazymuttzpuck]

Hey, if you want to know what a hornworm is go to www.coastalsilkworms.com or www.greatlakeshornworm.com, phoenix worms..you can google them if you want..i am not sure if a good site for those.

[Flame Cody]

sweet thanks alot for that website.It was a good one.

[Panther]

My leo doesn't seem fast enough to catch crickets, let alone roaches and ends up missing often. As said above (I think) silkworms are great, butterworms, or phoenix/calci worms. I haven't tried hornworms, but I'm sure they're better than the harder-bodied mealworm.

~k

[Liz]

alot of known breeders just feed mealworms and they are fine. thats all i feed mine from hatchling to adult.

[smith710]

The biggest leopard gecko guy out there, Ron Tremper, feed his only mealworms. The guy we work for knows him personally.