Leopard Gecko Tips For Beginners

Good morning, Reptilians, welcome and welcome back to the channel. So this week I was looking through my old videos just to see kind of the videos that I've done so far, and I realized that I haven't done a leopard gecko video in forever, so I think that it is well overdue to finally talk about some leopard geckos. I didn't want to do the exact same video that I did last week of just what I wish I knew before I got a leopard gecko. So instead, we're just going to do 10 leopard gecko tips for beginners, for those of you that are just now getting your leopard gecko. Really quickly, I wanted to draw some attention to that little subscribe button right there. Last week, 83 percent of you guys that watch my videos were not subscribed. We have gone down to 82 percent. So make sure if you are watching to hit that subscribe button so that you know when I post videos. Before we get started, this video is sponsored by the Doobie Do. So make sure to stay until the end of this video to find out how you can save 10 percent off of your entire purchase at thedoobiedo.com. Let's get started. The first pretty huge and pretty important tip to know is that leopard geckos can lose their tails. This tip is so important because it just kind of tells you to be careful when handling it. And if you are getting a leopard gecko for a kid, just kind of lets you know that you should be supervising that kid when they are handling that leopard gecko, because if they pull that leopard gecko's tail or the tail gets caught or anything like that, they can lose it. And if they lose it, yes, it can go back. But definitely doesn't look as cute and flexible as the original tail. So just keep that in mind. The next very, very important tip is that leopard geckos need three hides. So most of the time, yes, you want to have a lot of enrichment and hides and stuff in reptile tanks. But with leopard geckos, it is very important that you have at least three because you want to give them a hot hide, a cool hide, and they need something called a moist hide. So if you've never kept reptiles before and you don't know what that is, that is basically just some sort of enclosed hides. I use these. You can also use something as simple as Tupperware with wet paper towels in them. And that just allows them to go in there when they are shedding in order to properly shed. And leopard geckos will utilize this. They will know when they are shedding and they will go in there and hang out to make sure that they shed correctly. Without that moist hide, you run into a whole mess of problems that you don't want to have with your leopard gecko. So make sure that you have at least three hides in that tank. That leads us to shedding. So a couple of things to know about leopard gecko shedding. Number one, most of the time they will eat their shed. So if you see that your leopard gecko is growing, but you don't think that they've shed, they just eat it as it comes off. So you might not see it. Sometimes the only way that you know that your leopard gecko is about to shed is that they look a little milky. And even with that, certain morphs like the albino is going to be a little harder to tell when they are going into shed. You also want to make sure when they are shedding that you are paying very close attention to their little toes. If you look at their toes, they are tiny. And those tiny toes allow it to be very easy for shed to wrap around it and cut the circulation off. And if that happens, unfortunately, they can lose toes. And we don't want that to happen. So make sure that you have that moist hide and that you are paying attention to when they're about to shed. And if you see that there is stuck shed on their toes, then you need to be soaking them in a very shallow water or getting some kind of shed helper or just taking a wet Q-tip and massaging it in, just doing something to get that off. They can be very shy at first. So I'm including this one because leopard geckos are known to be the sweetest little creatures. But when you very first bring them home, especially if they're babies or if they came from a not so great situation, there is a very high chance that they are going to be kind of shy and might not want to be handled for a little while. Percy took a little while to be comfortable being handled and Winter took even longer, even though he was already like six months old when I got him because he came from a bad situation. So just be patient. Keep putting your hand in there, letting them get used to your scent and you being around. Try hand feeding them. Anything like that will slowly get them used to you. But just don't be discouraged if you get them home and they hide all the time or they run into a hide when they see you coming. Most of the time, just time and putting your hand in there will help a lot with that. Knowing their body language. So before I got my leopard gecko, this is something that I thought was the coolest thing. This is actually one of the things that gravitated me towards leopard geckos, and that was that they will communicate how they are feeling with you through their body language. They are very animated lizards. So things like slow movements might mean that they're hunting or screaming might mean that they're scared or they want to be left alone or little tail flicks might be distracting the prey that they're about to attack so they can attack it. Things like that are super cool to know. And they're also very helpful for you when you're peeking in at your leopard gecko, trying to see what it is that they're doing. I did a video on this right here called leopard gecko body language, if you're curious. But yeah, just kind of knowing what's going on there is going to help you out in knowing what your Leo's thinking. Knowing how to handle these guys is also going to be very important. So leopard geckos can be fast when they want to be. They can go from a very slow movement to just darting. And so when you're handling them, you want to make sure that you are doing one hand in front of the other. So that way they're not darting off onto the floor. That way you have some security blanket there to prevent them from hurting themselves. I also would be careful about putting them on your clothes. Make sure you're watching them. Putting them on your shoulder always worries me. If I ever put Percy on my shoulder, it's either because she climbed up there and I'm about to take her off or because there's someone standing there with me to make sure she's not going to fall. Because again, they can dart. And especially if you're standing or even sitting, them darting from this height could hurt them. So you want to make sure that you're not putting them in a situation that could be harmful. And of course, that will depend on the leopard gecko. Some leopard geckos are going to be just the laziest. And if you stick them up here, they're going to be fine. Whereas others are going to be more flighty. And that's just something that you're going to kind of know with your particular leopard gecko. Feeding these guys. So just helpful tips for feeding them. First, they love active foods. They like to hunt them. They like to attack them in the bowl. So whatever food you're giving them, make sure that it's not half dead. Make sure that it is moving around. It's wiggling, it's crawling, it's doing whatever. Them liking these active foods is also a reason that it's going to be pretty easy to hand feed them when you're trying to get them used to you. There's also a reason that it is very important that you are feeding your leopard geckos live food. When I first got Winter, Winter was being fed dead mealworms. So she was already slightly impacted because she had just been consuming these empty shells. She also is very stunted. She is an adult now and Percy is an adult and she is so much smaller than Percy. And that's why because she wouldn't eat those mealworms and even when she was eating them, they weren't very nutritious. So she is forever stunted. Make sure they are alive prey and make sure that they are moving a lot. And another helpful hint, leopard geckos love waxworms. That is like their favorite. But be careful with feeding a lot of waxworms to your leopard gecko. They make amazing treats, but your leopard gecko could potentially become addicted to waxworms. And what that means exactly is that they have these waxworms over and over and then they will refuse to eat anything else except for waxworms. They will starve themselves for more waxworms. If you're feeding a lot of waxworms, they are very fattening and it could quickly lead to obesity for your leopard gecko. So waxworms are amazing treats. Just make sure that you are careful with them. Heat sources for these guys, this is a question I get a lot. And my personal opinion is that heat pads are going to be the best. And the reason for that is that leopard geckos are crepuscular. Crepuscular animals come out at dawn and at dusk. And at dawn and at dusk, the sun isn't out. So leopard geckos aren't really used to going out to bask because they sleep all day. And also with a heat pad, you can put it in their hot hide and they can sleep in that hot hide and be warm and digest their food and feel secure and just be relaxed all day instead of them having to wake up to come out and bask in order to thermoregulate. Like I said, that is my personal opinion. People have had luck with basking lights. I just personally would not use them because they are crepuscular. If you are using a heat pad, make sure you are using a thermostat. A leopard gecko only needs to be about 90 degrees on their hot spot and heat pads can get up to 140. So make sure that you are using that so it's not too hot for your animal. So as far as other lights, leopard geckos don't need any other light other than just a room light to let them know if it's day or night. However, it has been shown that UV light for leopard geckos is beneficial. It has been shown that it makes them more active, and I have found that to be the case with mine. At first, I did not have a light on Percy's tank and then I got her one and I could tell the difference. So I do suggest using UV lights because they are coming out when the sun is up a little bit, so they are getting a little bit of that UV radiation. The last one and one that I'm sure all of you knew was going to be on this list is don't use calcium sand, don't use calcium sand. If you went somewhere like Petco or PetSmart, you see all the colorful calcium sand and usually there's a picture of a leopard gecko on it. And usually they will tell you that's OK. But that is not OK in the wild. Leopard geckos live more in rocky crevices than they do on sand. And yes, they are coming into contact with sand. But it is not calcium sand. Their natural environment sand is not the same as sand that is made from tums. Calcium sand can lead to impaction. It can dye your leopard gecko different colors. It isn't good for them at all. I know there's always comments saying, well, I've used calcium sand for however long. That's wonderful that your animal is OK, but that's not always the case. And I highly suggest not risking that just because you want your tank to look a certain way. Hello, future editing me here who has just gotten over a cold. So sorry about all of this sound. But I realized as I was editing this video that I forgot two very important things. And that is number one, leopard geckos possess the ability that a lot of other lizards don't that allows them to eat calcium directly out of a dish. And what that means is put a small bottle cap or some kind of dish in your leopard geckos tank with calcium in it. And if they ever feel like they are getting low on calcium, then they will just go and eat it. And the other big tip that I forgot was that leopard geckos love to dig. So if you provide a safe substrate like organic topsoil that doesn't have any kind of manure or vermiculite or anything like that in it or any kind of bioactive substrate, you can do eco earth. I'm not a big fan of eco earth or dry creatures, but you can do that. Anything like that, that they can get in and dig, they will enjoy it and they will utilize that dig space because they love to dig. Again, I was editing and realized that these were two very important tips, especially if you've never had a leopard gecko before. So I just wanted to throw these in really quick at the end. Back to past me, that is future me, present me for you guys. Back to the normal sounding me. And that's it. Hopefully this helped you out. If you are getting a leopard gecko or you just recently got one, hopefully at least one of these tips was helpful. If you have a leopard gecko, let me know down below what tips you would give to beginners that are keeping leopard geckos for the first time. As I said at the beginning of this video, this video is sponsored by the Dubia Dude. DubiaDude.com is an awesome place to get Dubia roaches. Dubia roaches are an amazing feeder for so many reptiles, including leopard geckos. They are highly nutritious. They contain so much protein. They don't have a lot of fat. They don't die off easily. Nowhere near as easy as crickets. Super easy to keep. I know a lot of you guys are scared about Dubia roaches escaping and breeding in your house, but Dubia roaches don't do that. They're not like normal roaches and they can't climb smooth surfaces. So if you're keeping them in a Tupperware or a glass tank or whatever, they can't climb out of it. So that is not something that you have to worry about. The Dubia Dude's website is also super easy to navigate. Just a couple of clicks and you have Dubia roaches coming directly to your house. And he even has a subscription service so you can have your Dubia roaches sent to you periodically so you don't even have to think about it. Make sure to use my code L at the DubiaDude.com to save 10% off of your entire order. Thank you so much to the Dubia Dude for sponsoring this video. As always, if you have not already, please feel free to follow me on my other socials and like, subscribe and hit that bell for notifications every single time I put out a new video, which is every Sunday and some Wednesdays. This week's Instagram shout out goes to KayPromise18 for following me on Instagram and going through and liking a whole bunch of my stuff. And this week's subscriber shout out goes to StuckInTheLazyCorner again for commenting on my videos and being super supportive. Thank you guys both so much. You are the bee's knees. Thank you guys so much for watching. And I hope you have a fantastic day. Bye. Good morning, reptilians. Welcome. I didn't want to do the exact same video. What's this curl? What are you doing, curl? Or getting some kind of shed or getting something. Yes, it will grow back, but.