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Leopard Gecko
Reptiles · Geckos

Leopard Gecko

Eublepharis macularius

Ground-dwelling desert gecko with eyelidsBeginner

Lifespan
15-20 years
Size
8-10 in
Social needs
Solitary; house singly
Time
Low-Medium; daily checks, evening feeds
Cost
Medium-High
Diet
Insectivore (live insects)

Overview

What is this animal?

  • The leopard gecko is a ground-dwelling, crepuscular lizard from the rocky scrublands of Central and South Asia.
  • It is hardy, slow-moving and tolerant of gentle handling, which makes it a reasonable first reptile for a committed keeper.
  • Unlike most geckos it has movable eyelids and lacks adhesive toe pads, so it cannot climb smooth glass.
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  • These geckos are long-lived, often reaching their late teens, so acquiring one is a real commitment.
  • They are quiet and low-odour and need only modest space, but they still require precise heating and a properly furnished terrestrial vivarium to thrive.

Temperament

  • Leopard geckos are calm and generally tolerant of handling once settled.
  • They are most active at dawn, dusk and into the night, so expect a quiet animal during daylight hours.
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  • With patient, regular short handling sessions most become confident and rarely bite.
  • They are solitary and should be housed singly.
  • Males will fight, and mixed or same-sex groups frequently lead to stress, injury or competition over food and warm spots.
  • Keeping one gecko per enclosure avoids these problems.

A good fit for

  • First-time reptile keepers
  • People wanting a hardy, handleable lizard
  • Keepers with limited space
  • Those who can commit 15+ years

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Loose sand substrate contributing to impaction
  • Skipping UVB and calcium supplementation
  • Housing two together, causing fights
  • Over-feeding fatty waxworms leading to obesity

Enclosure

Minimum 7.5 sq ft of floor · 35 x 30 x 24 in

Must be housed alone. Solitary; house singly

  • Provide a vivarium of at least 36 x 30 x 24 in for one adult, larger if possible, with a tight-fitting lid and good ventilation.
  • Establish a warm zone with a basking surface of about 86-91°F and a cool end around 72-75°F, all controlled by a thermostat.
  • A low-output UVB tube (around 5-7%, T5 in a suitable enclosure) supports vitamin D3 synthesis and bone health and is now recommended despite older care advice.
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  • Offer at least three hides: a warm hide, a cool hide and a humid hide with damp moss to aid shedding.
  • Use a solid substrate such as tile or paper towel for young animals and first setups, or a packed naturalistic soil mix (for example topsoil with some play sand) for established adults; avoid deep loose sand alone, which can contribute to gut impaction.
  • Spot-clean daily.

Check your enclosure

Supplies

Setup

  • Enclosure, 36 x 30 x 24 in, usually custom-built
  • Heating and thermostat
  • Low-output UVB fixture and bulb
  • Thermometers and hygrometer
  • Substrate, hides including a humid hide, decor

Ongoing

  • Complete powdered fruit-gecko or day-gecko nectar diet (for cresteds, gargoyles, chahouas, mourning and day geckos; not for leopard, fat-tailed or tokay geckos)
  • Live crickets, dubia roaches or black soldier fly larvae
  • Plain calcium powder without D3
  • Calcium with D3 plus a reptile multivitamin
  • Feeder gut-load and a ventilated feeder tub
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  • Shallow ledge-mounted feeding cups (fruit-eating geckos)
  • Blunt-tipped feeding tongs
  • Shallow water dish

Safe substrate: Topsoil and play sand mix for arid geckos · Coco fibre and orchid bark for tropical geckos · Paper towel

Work out the cost

Care routine

Daily

  • Check temperatures and humidity
  • Fresh water bowl
  • Look the animal over
  • Spot-clean waste and uneaten food
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Every few days

  • Feed insects or prepared dietevery 2 days
  • Check the humid hide is still damp (leopard and fat-tailed geckos)every 3 days
  • Check toes, tail tip and eyes after a shedevery 3 days
  • Short handling session, species permittingevery 3 days

Every few weeks

  • Weigh-inevery 2 weeks

Monthly

  • Deep-clean decor, glass and bowls
  • Test thermostats, lamps and guards

Less often

  • Refresh the substrateevery 3 months
  • Check the UVB lamp's age and replace it if due (if one is fitted)every 6 months

Vet: Annual exam and faecal check, every 12 months (every 6 months from 10 years old)

Tools

Is your enclosure big enough?Check your measurements against the recommended sizeWhat will it cost?Setup, monthly and over its whole life, itemisedCan it eat that?Search 22 foods, from everyday to never

Care in depth

Diet

Insectivore (live insects)
  • Leopard geckos are strict insectivores.
  • Feed a rotation of appropriately sized live insects such as crickets, dubia roaches, locusts and black soldier fly larvae, reserving waxworms as an occasional treat because they are high in fat.
  • Gut-load insects and dust them with calcium and a vitamin/D3 supplement on a regular schedule.
  • Feed juveniles daily and adults every two to three days, offering insects no longer than the space between the eyes.
  • Always provide a shallow dish of fresh water.
  • Obesity from over-feeding fatty insects and metabolic bone disease from poor supplementation are the two most common diet-linked problems.

Health

Signs of good health, and the common problems
  • A healthy gecko has a plump tail (its fat store), clear eyes, alert behaviour and a good appetite.
  • Watch for retained shed on the toes and around the eyes, which can constrict and cause infection; a humid hide and correct husbandry usually prevent it.
  • Tail loss is a defensive response, and the regrown tail differs in shape and colour.
  • Common ailments include metabolic bone disease, impaction, and respiratory infections from cold or damp conditions.
  • A wobbly gait, soft jaw or weight loss warrants a veterinary visit.
  • Use a vet experienced with exotics, as general practices may lack reptile expertise.

Is this urgent?

4 warning signs and how fast to act, 1 of them right away

Small geckos dehydrate and lose condition quickly. Weight is the fuel gauge, and in leopard and African fat-tailed geckos so is the tail.

Go now

Tremors, weak grip, or a jaw that will not close properlyGo now. Calcium and D3 deficiency.
Now

Today

Tail visibly thinning in a species that stores fat thereWeigh, then call with the trend. The fat store goes before the body condition does.
Today
Stuck shed around the toes or over the eyesRaise humidity, offer a damp hide, and call if it is not clear within a day. Constricting shed rings cost toes. This is the most common avoidable injury in geckos.
Today
Refusing food with weight lossCheck the cool-end and warm-end temperatures, then call. A gecko that cannot reach its preferred temperature cannot digest.
Today

This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it, and the time to find one is before you need one.

Bedding and substrate

3 safe, 1 with a caveat, 3 to avoid

Match the substrate to the species' humidity, and never let a small gecko stand on anything it can swallow whole.

Safe

Topsoil and play sand mix for arid geckosPacks firm, holds a burrow, and is what a leopard gecko would actually stand on.
safe
Coco fibre and orchid bark for tropical geckosHolds the humidity a crested or day gecko needs.
safe
Paper towelCorrect for quarantine, for hatchlings, and for any animal whose output you are watching.
safe

With a caveat

Sphagnum mossExcellent in a humid hide, poor as a whole-floor substrate: it stays wet.
with a caveat

Never

Calcium sandSold as digestible, which is exactly why it gets eaten. Implicated in impaction.
never
Crushed walnut shellSharp and indigestible.
never
Loose play sand alone for hatchlingsToo easy to swallow at that size.
never

Ground-dwelling geckos such as leopard and fat-tailed geckos need a humid hide whatever the main substrate is, and most of their stuck sheds trace back to its absence. Arboreal geckos get their shedding humidity from misting the whole enclosure, so stuck shed in them usually means the enclosure is too dry.

Top resources for more info

Independent creators and organisations we would send a friend to. We have no affiliation with any of them, and nothing here is sponsored. Links checked 2026-10-22.

YouTubers

Leopard GeckoLeopard and crested gecko care, setups and healthReptiles and ResearchEvidence-led husbandry: enclosure size, UVB, thermal gradients, enrichmentClint's ReptilesWhich reptile suits you, with honest care and handling verdicts

Sites

Keep going

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Is your enclosure big enough?

These are the smallest sizes that give good conditions, not legal minimums. More room is always better.

Minimum 7.5 sq ft of floor · 35 x 30 x 24 in

Every figure, and where it comes from

The 30 in depth is set so that a typical adult, about 4.5 in head-body length, has the floor Swiss law asks for: six head-body lengths each way, 28 x 28 in. Most stock enclosures are only 24 in deep, so this is usually a custom size. A larger gecko needs six of its own head-body lengths in each direction.

Minimum floor area7.5 sq ft of continuous, unbroken floor
As dimensions35 x 30 x 24 in
CompanyMust be housed alone. Solitary; house singly
The recognised standards do not agree on this one
ReptiFiles: No smaller than 36 x 18 x 18 in, with at least 4.5 sq ft of floor; 3 x 2 ft enclosures rated better, and 4 x 2 x 2 ft best. The length and height this site uses come from its better size, 35 in long and 24 in high. Checked 2026-10-23.
Swiss Animal Protection STS: 55 x 30 x 30 in for up to four leopard geckos. Its recommendation for an animal-friendly group enclosure. Its 30 in depth is the depth this site uses. Checked 2026-10-23.
TVT, the German veterinary association for animal welfare: 31 x 16 x 20 in for one adult; 39 x 16 x 20 in for up to three females, or one male and two females, plus 20 percent more floor for each further female. A minimum, below the figure used here. TVT gives an adult's head-body length as about 4.5 in, at 8-10 inches in total. Checked 2026-10-23.
RSPCA (UK): 24 x 12 x 16 in for one adult, and as large as possible. Its minimum, below the figure used here. Checked 2026-10-23.
Austria, 2. Tierhaltungsverordnung (legal minimum): 5.5 sq ft of floor and 16 in of height for one or two adults. A legal minimum, recorded for context. Below the figure used here. Checked 2026-10-23.
Switzerland, Tierschutzverordnung (legal minimum): 6 x 6 head-body lengths of floor and 2 of height for up to two: 28 x 28 x 9.5 in at a 4.5-inch head-body length. A legal minimum, recorded for context. The figure used here meets it for a gecko of up to 5 in head-body length. A standard 4 x 2 ft enclosure, only 24 in deep, would not. Checked 2026-10-23.
Legacy pet-trade figure: 20 gallon (30 x 12 in). Still printed on shop care cards. Below what is now considered adequate. Checked 2026-08-30.

What it really costs

Setup, monthly, first year and across a whole life, itemised and with the electricity worked out from the actual wattage. Published figures for the same animal disagree by a factor of four, so the calculator shows ranges rather than picking one.

Can a Leopard Gecko eat that?

Leopard geckos are strict insectivores: a rotation of gut-loaded, dusted live insects is the whole diet.

The full list: 22 foods

Never (15)

AlcoholNo safe amount at any body weight on this site.
never
AvocadoPersin.
never
CaffeineCoffee, tea and energy drinks. Cardiac and neurological toxicity at tiny doses for an animal this size.
never
ChocolateTheobromine and caffeine. Small mammals and reptiles cannot clear either.
never
CitrusAcidic enough to upset the gut, and sugary. Not worth the risk.
never
Complete crested gecko diet powderNot food for this gecko. It is a strict insectivore: fruit and fruit-based diets are not part of its diet and can upset its gut.
never
FirefliesLucibufagins. Fatal to geckos.
never
GarlicSame allium toxicity as onion, and more concentrated by weight.
never
Insects larger than the gap between the eyesA recognised cause of impaction and neurological injury in small geckos. Size the feeder to the animal, every time.
never
LeekAllium family. Same mechanism as onion and garlic.
never
Mashed fruitNot food for this gecko. It is a strict insectivore: fruit and fruit-based diets are not part of its diet and can upset its gut.
never
OnionOrganosulphur compounds damage red blood cells. The whole allium family is out.
never
RhubarbVery high in soluble oxalate, high enough to cause acute kidney injury. The leaves are worse than the stalks.
never
Salty or seasoned human foodSalt, oil and seasoning. Crisps, chips, seasoned leftovers and processed meat are all out.
never
Wild-caught insectsPesticides and parasites.
never

Rare treats (1)

WaxwormsVery fatty and habit-forming. Useful to get weight on a thin animal. One or two, rarely.
rare treat

Occasional (3)

HornwormsHigh water content; useful for a dehydrated animal. One occasionally.
occasional
MealwormsHard chitin and a poor calcium ratio. A gecko fed only mealworms is heading for calcium problems. A few alongside better feeders.
occasional
SuperwormsFatty. One or two.
occasional

Everyday foods (3)

Black soldier fly larvaeHigh in calcium, and readily taken. Several per feed.
everyday food
CricketsStandard feeder. Gut-load for 24 hours before offering. Sized to the eye gap.
everyday food
Dubia roachesThe best routine feeder for insectivorous geckos. Sized no wider than the space between the eyes.
everyday food

That food is not on our list. Check which kind of gecko you have first (the two diets barely overlap), then ask an exotics vet.

Dust feeders with calcium to the schedule in the species guide, and keep a small dish of plain calcium available.