Leopard Gecko

A single adult needs a front-opening terrarium of at least 90 x 45 x 45 cm (larger is always better); glass or PVC holds heat well. Use a naturalistic substrate that holds a little moisture such as a topsoil and play-sand mix, or bioactive soil with a clean-up crew, and avoid loose calci-sand and walnut shell which cause impaction. Provide at least three hides: a warm hide, a cool hide, and a humid hide filled with damp sphagnum moss to aid shedding. Add a shallow water dish plus flat stones, cork bark and low branches for basking and exploring.

Insectivore. Staple feeders are appropriately sized crickets, dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae and the occasional mealworm; hornworms and waxworms are treats only. Gut-load feeders for 24 to 48 hours on vegetables and commercial gut-load, and dust with a plain calcium powder at most feeds plus a calcium-with-D3 or multivitamin one to two times per week. Feed juveniles daily and adults every two to three days; a small dish of plain calcium can be left in the enclosure.

Provide a warm-end surface basking zone of 30 to 33 C (measured on the ground where they belly-warm) and a cool end of 22 to 25 C, with a gentle night drop to around 18 to 21 C. Use an overhead halogen basking bulb on a thermostat plus a low-output UVB tube (Ferguson Zone 1, basking UVI around 0.5 to 1.0; keep albino and other pale morphs at the lower end as they burn easily); avoid heat-mat-only setups because belly heat without proper air and overhead warmth is outdated and risky. Keep ambient humidity around 30 to 40 percent with a humid hide microclimate near 70 percent, and run lights on a 12-hour on, 12-hour off cycle.

Solitary and territorial. House one per enclosure; two females may fight over resources and two males will fight, while males housed with females leads to constant breeding stress. Handling is well tolerated with gentle, low, supported holds, but never grab or dangle by the tail as it will drop.

Rotate hides and add cork tubes, rock ledges and low climbing branches for a stable, complex layout. Encourage natural hunting by offering some feeders loose to chase, and provide a dig-friendly substrate so they can burrow and thermoregulate between microclimates.