Eublepharis Macularius

Hey guys! I'm Charli; a hobbyist keeper of Leopard Geckos in the UK. I have 15 years experience with these little critters and a Herpetology HND. I'm here to answer any questions and worries you may have regarding your Leos. DISCLAIMER: I am not a substitute for a vet. I will always advise a vet check and faecal exam if I feel it's required. Duty of care is down to you.

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Hello! So I’m looking into buying a baby gecko and I wanted to know the best substrates to use when she first arrives? I heard paper towels are best to start off with and then switch them to an actual substrate after they are settled in? I’m unsure so that’s why I’m reaching out to you !

Defo start with paper towel. Appropriate lose substrates are safe as long as your supplementation is on point. As a new keeper you are bound to make a few mistakes so paper towels keep everyone safe.Once you are both settled Leo Life or Excavtor Clay are the best, most natural lose substrates available :)

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This is Judith! She is 5 or 6 now, and i couldn’t bring her to college with me so here’s some from a photo shoot when I cleaned her terrarium when I was home. She was Very Angry because her cage was cleaned. (P.S. the substrate is this weird textured eco carpet and not loose sand/rocks)

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What should you use for flooring instead of sand, especially if the leopard gecko is a baby?? Also, how many times should you give a leopard gecko baby crickets every week, and how many?? I'm planning on adopting a leopard gecko and i want to make sure im ready to take proper care of the lil thing

For a baby, any kind of non particulate substrate will be fine. So Slate tiles, kitchen roll, lino (not self adhesive) ect.Babies need to be offered food every day. With crickets it's important that they are not left in with the leo over night as they do bite. If you are going to feed crickets then I would feed as many as the baby will eat in one sitting, usually around 10-15 minutes. Every leo is different.

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Hi, I’m a first time Leo owner and I’m not sure exactly how much I should be feeding her? 4 days ago she downed 5 superworms, then 2 days ago she ate 3 superworms and 2 calciworms, and yesterday she ate 9 superworms (seemed interested in the 10th then walked off). The reptile guy ate the expo said she’s about 2 years old. I’d feed her more than superworms but the crickets give me extreme anxiety so I’m working up to that and all my mealworms are pupating.

At two years old I would probably be feeding 2-3 times a week, not every day. Leos very quickly become obese.My 1+ year olds have a bowl of meal worms in their tanks all the time which they pick at and then I feed them 2-3 imes a week with other live food like locusts or dubia cockroaches. I tend to give them as much as they will eat in about 10 minutes. As long as your worms are properly gutloaded and your supplement is good, just take your time with the other insects. I have had leos 19 years now and only started to be able to deal with the leggy bugs about 4 years ago!!! They still make me cringe now but I can grab what I need and catch escapees!Locusts are must less awful than crickets. They are slower and don't bite so I would start with those!

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How did I get 1000 followers? You guys are amazing.

Here's a photo of Pepper as a thank you

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Hi! I have been planning on getting my first leopard gecko for a while now, and I've been doing tons of research on their care etc. I recently found a roll of EVA foam I had kept somewhere, so would you recommend using that as a floor covering?

It's not something I have used, I would do a bit of reading to see how it reacts to heat spots in regards to fumes or melting? It's unlikely to melt but you never know.

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Hello! I’m getting a Leo in the next month or 2 and I’ve done a lot of research on them! But I’m jut worried about one thing. The heating! I know I need the heat mat for them to lay on but I live in a kind of cold climate and my room gets cold sometimes so is there any other heat source I can use to keep the temp high for the rest of the tank?

You don't really want a high temp all over thr tank, they need a thermal gradient. Heat lamps do warm the whole enclosure to some degree as well as giving a hot spot for basking, but I would not use a mat AND a lamp, pick on or the other. I live in the UK ane if my central heating is off over night in winter it can be almost freezing in my room but the leos just move to the warm side where their mat is. As a general rule, as long as you have the heat source on a thermostat it doesn't matter what the rest of the world is doing.(Unless the room actually is close to freezing all the time)

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Hello! I l9ve your blog! And I decided to submit a pic of my baby! This is Sparky, she is almost 1. She has a marking on her head that l9oks like a smiley face :) And I LOVE her tail! It’s so pudgy and soft! And I LOVE squishing it!

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I recently got an adult leo, and I was given sand as a substrate (not calcium sand), however I want to put her on lino or tile, but I use a heat mat and I'm worried how well the heat will transfer through them. I'm also worried that the cool side will become too cool if I'm using tile (I live in England and I'm worried it will be too cold in my room in winter). Do you have any advice, what do you keep your Leo's on and how do you heat your vivs?

I live in England and I use lino in some of my tubs and vivs. As long as your heat mat is connected to a thermostat the heat will get through. Just make sure the lino you use is not self adhesive.Tiles would also be fine, it's really unlikely that the cold side would get too cold in a house/flat because of insulation and central heating. Even in the coldest parts of the UK. If it is too cold for them one day they will just stay in the warmer areas :)

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Hello! This sounds weird but I've never seen my leopard gecko drink? He's a few years old, and I'm purifying the water, so it's totally safe. The thing is, the dish empties. And I refill it, so something is happening. Do some geckos drink at night, and I'm just missing it? I'm worried he's dehydrated, and only getting liquid from the super worms I feed him, and I just can't tell. Thanks

He will be drinking at night. Leo's don't drink an awful lot because they are designed to get most moisture they need from their diet anyway. Just make sure it is not RO (reverse osmosis) water you are using as that will actually dehydrate rather than hydrate. I have a leo here at the moment I have taken back off someone to help bring him back to health after RO water nearly killed him.If he is eating and a healthy weight then I doubt you need to worry :)

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Is it normal for a new (got him today) baby Leopard Gecko to drink a lot of water?

Sometimes when they first arrive they are a little dehydrated so can drink a lot for a few days, if it continues to drink lots it could indicate a kidney problem. Leos are adapted to arid conditions, so the do not need a lot of extra water if they are eating correctly (though it must always be available).

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Hi! I've been finding pieces of cricket all over my gecko's tank. They will suddenly appear at the front of the tank despite me not feeding crickets in weeks (I feed mealies and other stuff mostly). They don't look digested, just ripped up. I can't find a "stash" of dead crickets tho so I don't know where my gecko bis getting all these dead crickets or why she moves them around. Is this normal or should I be concerned? She is otherwise a healthy gecko. Thanks!

That is really weird. Do you have a polystyrene background or anything like that in there? Possible the crickets chewed in and have been hiding?

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Mlem Mlem Mlem

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The notes on this is ridonkulous!

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I've had my leopard gecko for a while now and he seems to be doing well. His sheds are always great and eats normally and everything but ever since I moved him to bigger tank a few months ago. He seems to show interest in escaping. I'm worried there may be something off with my husbandry. His daytime temps are usually around 83-85°F and at night they drop to around 79°. His humidity stays at around 44%. I'm using a probed digital thermometer so they should be accurate. He also has belly heat.

Your temps are a little low. Hot side should be around 90/91f.Escaping is unlikely to be due to that though as the gecko is inevitably going to find itself colder. It is probably seeing and opportunity and taking the chance to be free.Try giving the gecko more enrichment and remove any ways of escape.I had one that was forever getting out and would always be under my bed. In the end I had to get him a lockable vivarium. He was a little swine haha.

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Ok so I have a bling leopard gecko and I haven't really held him before cause I don't want him to freak out. What's the best way to hold him and have him not freak out?

Scoop don't grab. Give him time to get used to your scent too. Place flat hands in his enclosure for a few minutes everyday and he will come and investigate. Once he knows hands are not going to eat him you will be able to scoop him up

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Is it bad that I placed my heat mat on the side of my tank instead of underneath it? What can be a better way than handling your heat mat.

Leos need belly heat to properly digest their food so it would be better to place the mat on the floor of the set up. I have seen ones on the side work just fine, but from a sciency point of view, they do need warm bellies.

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hey, i have a question. when i introduced my male to my female, he did the the tail shaking thing. does this mean they bred? or was he just making himself known?

Did you watch the whole time or were they just left together in an enclosure.1) they should never just be left together. All Male/Female meetings should be supervised as Males can seriously injure or kill females who are not ready to mate, or females can do the same to an overly fond male.I have had males take chunks out of females tails and flanks, one boy actually shattered one of my girls elbows and she was luckynnot to lose her leg. I have had females bite and seriously damage the necks on males. Thankfully no deaths, because I ALWAYS supervise matings and once a mating has happened or if it just isn't going to happen I spilt them up again.2) if they have just been left together, chances are they did mate, but the male will continue to pester the female to mate again and again and stress her out.