Here's my abbreviated Leo Caresheet:
1. ===> URGENT: No plain calcium, calcium with D3, or multivitamins inside a vivarium EVER <===
2. Best to buy stuff individually rather than getting a 10 gallon set up kit.
3. Quarantine Recommendations
Any new gecko should be quarantined for a minimum of 90 days prior to introducing her/him to the other geckos in the same cage. That gives adequate time to check for parasites, cryptosporidia, and the beginnings of coccidia plus. 3-6 months of quarantine are recommended if your new gecko is imported or wild caught.
The quarantine area should be in a separate room apart from your established geckos. Stringent sanitation methods MUST be followed!
4. Never keep 2 males together.
5. Best to keep leos alone. Even 2 females can fight. Leopard geckos do not need companions/"friends".
6. Advise NO particulate substrates (sand, calci-sand, cocopeat fiber, bark chips, ground walnut shell, aquarium gravel, et cetera). Risk of impaction simply not worth it. Best: textured ceramic, porcelain, or slate tiles. Paper towels also work. Add paper towel layers to poop spot to facilitate clean up.
7. A temperature gradient from warm to cool is very necessary for maintaining leo health. That is difficult to do within a 10 gallon enclosure. That's why many of us recommend a 30 inch long x 12 inch wide (deep) x 12 inch tall enclosure minimum. That's 76 cm x 31 cm x 31 cm.
8. Use an under tank heat mat (UTH) that is 1/3 the length of the tank and as close to the width as possible. If you have a 20 gallon LONG: 30 x 12 x 12, you will need to size up to the UTH recommended for 30-40 gallon enclosures.
9. Use a digital thermometer's probe to measure air temps and ground temperatures. Temperature guns are excellent for measuring surface temperatures. A stainless steel aquarium-type thermometer that has been verified can also be used.
10. Temperatures for all leos regardless of size:
88-93 F (31-34 C) ground temp at warm end inside the warm dry hide
no greater than 85 F (29.5 C) air temp - 4 inches above ground on the warm end
no greater than 75 F (24.5 C) air temp - 4 inches above ground on the cool end
Leave the UTH on 24/7. Can turn off overhead heating at night unless the ambient room temperatures are particularly cool during the night.
11. The UTH + the overhead heating both belong on the warm end of the tank. Your leo will be more active if you provide an UTH for belly heat/digestion as well as an overhead dome. Your leo will benefit from a "warm zone", not just a "warm spot".
12. To better meet the crepuscular needs of leopard geckos, place a low wattage bulb (15 watt standard incandescent bulb) dimmed to half power inside a 5.5 inch diameter fixture in the center of the screen top and right next to the Ceramic Heat Emitting bulb.
Vary the on-time monthly of both the CHE and the photoperiod bulb according to this Pakistan link. For example, 11 hours ON in February is good.
Click:
Sunrise Sunset Daylight Hours of Pakistan -- Timebie
13. UVB lighting is recommended for leopard geckos ONLY IF there is adequate space and opportunities for the leopard gecko to dodge some of the rays like in a 4.5 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot vivarium. A 48 inch long vivarium is a suggested minimum for using UVB for leopard geckos. Never use UVB lighting in addition to a powdered vitamin D3 supplement!
14. Need a thermostat! A thermostat will control your under tank heater, provide your leopard gecko with stable and comfortable temperatures, save $ on electricity, and lessen the chance of a house fire from accidental overheating.
15. 3 hides required per leo: warm DRY, warm MOIST, cool DRY. Keeping one hide warm and moist 24/7 is very important! Both warm hides should sit on top of the UTH. The warmth from your UTH will help generate the required humidity. Leopard geckos use their warm moist hides for hydrating even when not shedding.
16. Too much vitamin D3 is as bad as too little vitamin D3. Any multivitamin (Rep-Cal's Herptivite, Exo Terra's multivitamin) which supplies vitamin A in the form of beta carotene is not recommended because research on chameleons has shown that it is not absorbed. A very, very small amount of preformed vitamin A acetate is necessary for eye and skin health. For a detailed explanation please note mod Hilde's posts #22 and #48 immediately following the Basic Guidelines of my Leopard Gecko Care Sheet.
Lightly dust crickets/dubia with Zoo Med's supplements like this:
1. Monday - Repti-Calcium with D3 according to gecko weight on container label
2. Thursday - Repti-Calcium with D3 according to gecko weight on container label
3. PLAIN (no D3) Reptivite (multivitamin) with A acetate adjusted for your leo's weight: Spread out the lightly dusted Reptivite crickets over the course of a week. Use the Reptivite (multivitamin) very sparingly.
17. Urates should be white, not yellow, and be approximately 1/3 the size of the feces. A healthy feces is dark brown and about the size and shape of 2 tic tacs.
18. Vary the diet: crickets, roaches, grasshoppers, silkworms, hornworms, mealworm pupae, freshly molted mealworms, genuine Phoenix worms, calciworms, and locusts (smallest locusts possible)
19. There are no benefits to feeding waxworms, butterworms, or superworms (pure fat like ice cream). Hornworms and/or silkworms provide excellent variety. They provide nutrition as well as moisture.
20. Click: Care & Breeding of Feeders: crickets, Blaptica dubia, hornworms, & silkworms
21. Click: USDA Foods link
Foods List
22. Diet, DIET, D-I-E-T! A huge factor in the husbandry of any gecko is to feed the feeders (crickets, worms, etc) a very healthy diet 24/7. Variety of feeders is important too. Nutritious feeder bodies transfer like nutrients to your geckos. Consider light supplemental dusting of these feeders as just "icing on the cake".
Remember that, like humans, geckos are what they eat.
23. Consider covering three sides of your leopard gecko's enclosure with something like construction paper to provide additional security and privacy.
24. For live links to the products Tony uses go to post #26. Post #36 is a setup checklist.
25. For the whole story click: Leopard Gecko Caresheet (Eublepharis macularius)...demo video & 4 Jan 2013 update
