Whenever you want to keep leopard gecko as pets, you need to know about how to keep it well. Actually, leopard gecko is different from various animals you have ever found. Read the information below to know more about how to keep a leopard gecko.
What is Leopard Gecko?
Leopard gecko is a type of reptile lived in wild condition. But, you can also keep it as your pet. Leopard gecko often found in Pakistan, Iran and India. The appearance of leopard gecko looks like a lizard, but the skin is more exotic because the skin looks like leopard. You will see black spots on its yellow skin. No wonder if this animal called as leopard gecko.
Same with some types of reptile, leopard gecko experiences shedding process. It makes them easily getting new skin. But, the shedding process depends on some condition. Whenever they need to shed their skin, they need a moist environment. So, if you want to keep a leopard gecko, make sure you also prepare a place for gecko shedding, which is a moist area. It is useful for shedding process.
How to Keep a Leopard Gecko?
Actually, keeping a leopard gecko is not difficult as long as you have known about how to keep it well. The first thing you need to prepare is the area for keeping your leopard gecko. If you keep a small leopard gecko, a small place aquarium is enough. But if you want to keep some leopard geckos, you need to prepare a bigger aquarium.
Whenever you want to keep some leopard geckos in an aquarium, make sure you don’t mix 2 males leopard geckos in aquarium, because they may fight each other. For your recommendation, you can keep two female leopard geckos. You need to consider about the size too. Make sure you don’t place some leopard geckos that have different size, because the smallest one will be bullied by other leopard geckos that have a bigger body.
After preparing aquarium, layer the surface of aquarium with paper, towel, or sands. But, make sure the sand is sand for keeping leopard gecko or reptile. Whenever your leopard gecko has darker skin, it means that your leopard gecko will shed its skin. Prepare a moist area by placing wet towel in aquarium. It will help your leopard gecko to shed its skin easily.
About feeding, leopard gecko likes to eat insects, such as crickets, silkworms, and grasshopper. So, you can prepare insects for feeding your leopard gecko. If your leopard gecko is young, you need to feed 4-8 insects a day. Give insect to your leopard in every night, because leopard is a nocturnal animal.
But if your leopard gecko is adult, make sure you give 10 insects every 3 day. To give nutrients to your leopard gecko, you can feed the insect with carrot, potato and vegetables before you give that insect to your leopard gecko. Well, those are the information about leopard gecko as pets, and hopefully the information will help you to keep a leopard gecko easily.
Playing with the Leopard Gecko as Pets
Treating leopard gecko as pets doesn’t mean that you can’t touch or hold it at all. Interestingly, you are able to play with the gecko as long as they reach their adult age and already have strong bones. So, what you can do with your leopard gecko?
Hold the Gecko Smoothly
The basic thing you can do is holding them with your bare hands. The most important to know before doing it is checking the age of the leopard gecko. Just make sure that they are in their five or six months old or older. It is better not to hold a baby or younger gecko because they still have sensitive skin and bones. Then, you can rub their skin smoothly. This simple activity is a good thing to do to create a great bond between you as the owner and the leopard gecko as pets. The more you do it, they will be get used to with you and don’t afraid anymore when you come and hold them. At least, they don’t stress when you take them out from the cage.
Talking with Your Leopard Gecko
Talking with the leopard gecko is also a necessary thing to do daily. Just imagine that you are talking with your dogs or cats. The difference is that have to speak in the soothing tones and don’t speak too loud otherwise it makes them stress. Before talking with the gecko, just make sure that they see it. Talking with an eye contact is great. You can speak anything with the gecko such as saying that you love them, singing a song, and many more. It is not only relaxing for the gecko but also for you.
Let the Leopard Gecko Adjust to You
It is okay to hold them but sometimes you also need to let them adjust to your hand. This is also a simple playing activity to make the leopard gecko get used to with you. You just need to put your hand inside the cage and close to the gecko. Let the gecko walk slowly to your hand. By the time they stop and you think that it is safe enough, you can just take your hand out slowly from the cage. In this case, you don’t hold them but the gecko stick to your skin. It might fail in the first trial but you don’t need to disappoint or even force them to do it. Just have fun with your pet and introduce yourself slowly. Create a good bond with the gecko and soon they will be like your best friend.
Let the Leopard Gecko Explores Your Body
By the time the leopard gecko walk slowly to your hand, let them explore your body. Everything is not only new but also looks big for the leopard gecko. They have to know it first and do it until they get used to with you. Let the gecko exploring your body is also a fun game to do with your gecko. It creates a bond between you as the owner and the leopard gecko as pets. It is better for you to wear a short t-shirt so the gecko can walk easily and comfortable while exploring your body.