Leopard Geckos

Leopard Gecko
(Eublepharis macularius)

DESCRIPTION:

The Skin color of a Leopard Gecko consists of dark brown spots on a white or pale yellow background, typically black spots on a yellow background. The young gecko has alternating bands of yellow, black and white which gradually break up into the spots or splotches. The male is more heavily built with a broader head and thicker neck than the female.
Size: six to twelve inches.
Leopard geckos were first described as a species by British zoologist Edward Blyth in 1854 as Eublepharis macularis. The generic name Eublepharis is a combination of the Greek words Eu (true), and blephar (eyelid), as having eyelids is what distinguishes members of this subfamily from other geckos. The specific name, macularius, derives from the Latin word macula meaning "spot" or "blemish", referring to the animal's natural spotted markings.

GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE AND HABITAT:

The Leopard Gecko mostly lives in areas of the Middle East as shown on the map. These are semi-arid deserts that hold great conditions for leopard geckos. These areas are Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. They dig burrows into the ground and are nocturnal animals that only come out at night to eat and/or mate.*

DIET:

The leopard gecko's diet consists mainly of insects and/or small mammals such as mice. The insects mainly chosen by wild Leopard geckos are actually anything they can overpower!! This includes Mealworms, wax worms & other worms, Crickets, Baby & pinkie mice, Fruit, Vegetables, Spiders, Snails, Small lizards, Small birds, Bird eggs, Butterflies, Locusts, Cockroaches, and Beetles.

A lot of debate goes on about whether to feed gecko's mealworms or crickets and here it is in a nutshell. Those are the main 4 food groups if you ask me. Pinkies should not be used unless you are a professional breeder and even they are a weird thing to use and come by in some areas. The Wax worms should only be used as a treat from time to time but even then you don't have to feed them those. That leaves us with the last two most disputed groups I have ever seen. I have seen so many websites and heard so many people talk about their preference that to tell it all would take time out of both of our days, so I will just tell you the two sides.

Crickets:
Pros-
-Leo can get exercise eating them.
-More nutritional value
Cons-
-Can grow to chirp annoyingly
-Can eat at decorations AND even possibly your Leo when he is sleeping.
-Said to be able to eat the interior of the stomach. (Nearly impossible theory)

Mealworms-
Pros-
-Don't chirp
-Can eat decorations or Leo.
-Can be kept in a feeding dish.
-Can be refrigerated for long periods.
Cons-
-Said to be able to eat stomach lining. (Again impossible)
-If they escape from dish can burrow and if not dead will hatch as black beetle's weeks later. (Only heard one case of this because they didn't use a dish)

LIFE CYCLE/SOCIAL STRUCTURE:

This gecko is a crepuscular and nocturnal reptile and daylight hours are spent out of sight in a burrow or under a rock.*

BREEDING

Leopard Geckos become sexually mature at around 10-14 months of age. The Leopard Gecko's gender can be determined once the animal reaches an adult length of 5+". Males are larger than females and have a V-shaped row of spots in front of their cloacal opening with a noticeable bulge at the base of the tail caused by the hemipeniss.

Leopard Geckos breed from March through September, although the season may begin as early as January and finish as late as October. When a male encounters a female he will shake his tail. In response, the female silently sways her tail from side to side along the ground. Following this action, the male will lick her to obtain her scent and will begin biting her from the lower body upwards. If the female does not wish to mate, she will bite back and the male will cease his activity. If she accepts, he will continue up to her neck,making his body parallel to hers and placing his hind leg over her tail, inserting one of his hemipenes into her cloaca.

Thirty days later, the female will lay one or two eggs with a leathery shell. Clutches of two eggs will then be laid every two weeks to monthly throughout the rest of the mating season varying from each gecko according to age, with older females gradually laying less eggs with each year. The eggs will need to be incubated.

Year Eggs
0
1 6
2 8
3 12
4 16
5 14
6 10
7 10
8 8
9 6
10 4
11 4
12 2
13 0

Like many other egg-laying reptiles the sex of Leopard geckos are determined by incubation temperature. Eggs incubated at 79 F will result in a majority of female neonates, where as eggs incubated at 85 - 87 F will result in a more even sex ratio and eggs incubated at 89 - 90 F in the first four weeks will result in more males. Females hatched from these eggs are generally more aggressive than other females, and they tend to reach sexual maturity later if at all. An incubation temperature lower than 77 F or higher than 97 F will cause deformities and usually death of the neonates incubated at these temperatures.

Juvenile Leopard GeckoThe eggs hatch 6-12 weeks after being laid depending on temperature. The gecko breaks the surface of the egg and pushes its head out, remaining in this position from 2 to 4 hours adapting to lung breathing and obtaining oxygen from the egg membranes as well as absorbing yolk from inside the egg.

They have a Life span in excess of 20 years which means they are an investment that will not go away quickly. I have had mine for nearly five years but I still cannot tell you how much fun it still is to see him shed and eat.*

V. SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS:

Nitrogenous waste is excreted in solid crystal form as uric acid instead of as urine.*

VI. THE LEOPARD GECKOS TAIL:

This species should never be picked up or restrained by holding the tail as this may result in it breaking off. A muscle closes around the artery in the tail at the point of the break and prevents undue blood loss. Usually a new tail is regenerated, although this tail typically may be deformed or have a lack of color. The gecko should still be in good health but care should be taken to give it more fatty foods while its tail is regenerating. The process is called caudal autotomy. When frightened or disturbed, muscles at the base of the gecko's tail constrict and snap the vertebrae, severing most of the tail. The detached and wriggling and spasming tail distracts the predator as the gecko makes its escape. Although the leopard gecko will grow a new one in time, the regenerated tail will differ from the original, appearing bulbous and inferior. The new tail will have spots instead of lines. Some regenerated tails may still have a "carrot-tail." When a leopard gecko drops its tail, there will be a pinkish stump. When the tail starts to grow it will start out as a pink cone shape. When the tail gets fatter, it will turn a red-violet color. As it grows larger it will become lavender, eventually a very light gray color.

The genus name is from the Greek and means "good eyelid" because it is one of the few geckoes to have eyelids. The species name is from the Latin and refers to the spots.*

VII. STATUS IN THE WILD:

Pakistan is the only country that allows the export of wild caught Leopard Geckos to the United States. Nearly all of the leopard geckos sold in the U.S. are captive-bred. While they are still in the wild they live in Pakistan, but they are spread out though many other middle-eastern deserts as well.*

*- means more information is coming soon.