Leopard Gecko

Looks how to spot one

Small scaled gecko with a thick, fat-storing tail

A stocky ground gecko with soft, bumpy skin, a broad head and a plump tail that stores fat reserves. Unlike most geckos it has movable eyelids and can blink, and its toes carry small claws instead of sticky pads, so it walks and climbs rocks rather than scaling glass. Young animals are banded, and the bands break up into spots as they grow.13

Personality what they are like

A calm, curious lizard that tends to tolerate gentle handling well once settled. It moves at a relaxed pace and spends the day tucked in a hide, coming out to explore and hunt at dusk.34

Daily activity how busy a day looks

Most active at dusk and during the night. It explores the floor, climbs low rocks and branches, and appreciates a roomy enclosure with plenty of cover for exercise.135

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Provide a heat gradient: basking surface about 34-36 °C, warm hide 32-33 °C, cool end 21-25 °C, with nights able to drop to about 16 °C. Keep general humidity around 30-40% and offer a moist hide at 70-80% for shedding. Low-level UVB is a helpful extra, kept gentler for pale and albino morphs. Leopard geckos shed in one go and usually eat the old skin.63

Home where they are happiest

An adult needs at least 90 x 45 x 45 cm of space, and 120 x 60 x 60 cm is better. Give at least three hides (warm, cool and humid), a natural-style floor and low climbing décor.56

Food basics what goes in the bowl

Insect-eater. Offer a rotation of live feeders such as crickets, dubia roaches, mealworms, silkworms and black soldier fly larvae, gut-loaded and dusted with calcium. Juveniles eat daily, young adults every 2-3 days and well-conditioned adults about every 5 days. Keep a shallow dish of fresh water available.73

Company who they like around

Wild leopard geckos live in loose colonies, but in captivity they are happiest kept one per enclosure. Two males should never be housed together.15

The story where it all began

English zoologist Edward Blyth described the species in 1854 from the Salt Range in Punjab. The genus name combines Greek words for 'good' and 'eyelid', and the species name comes from the Latin for 'spot'. Because it breeds so readily in captivity, the leopard gecko became one of the first lizards to be bred in large numbers by hobbyists, and it is sometimes called the first domesticated lizard. Today almost all pets are captive-bred, and breeders have produced a wide range of colour and pattern morphs. It ranks among the most popular pet lizards, second only to the bearded dragon.12

Recognised by the official bits

The Reptile Database

Valid species Eublepharis macularius (Blyth, 1854), with five recognised subspecies2

IUCN Red List

Least Concern1

Popularity One of the most popular pet lizards, second only to the bearded dragon (no year given)1