Ross' Leopard Geckos

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Housing

There are many types of enclosures on the market. Most people use converted 10 gallon fish tanks. These are ideal as they keep heat in the cage very well. You can also get wooden ones with sliding front doors these would also be good as the sliding doors would give you great access to the cage. another way of getting a cage would be to make one my friend once made one for his green iguana.
  Once you have got you enclosure you need to heat it. the heat sources you can use depends on the size of your cage. If your cage is about 3ft x 1ft x 1ft (90cm x 30cm x 30cm) you could use a 60wott incandescent reflector bulb and a heat mat make sure you make one side of the cage hot and the other side cooler. Anything bigger than this size cage needs something that gives off more heat.  Try and keep the temp. in the cage at30-35c in the day and 20-25 at night. After you have got the temp. right you should put the substraight in. there are many different types my favorite is calci sand this is actually calcium that looks like sand. Another type is orchard bark this is O.K. but does not look very good the cheapest of them all is newspaper but this looks horrid. Now  you can start to decorate the cage try and make the cage look natural not only does this make the cage look nicer it will make your leo feel at home. When decorating your cage make sure it has plenty of hiding places cork bark is great for hiding places. put a piece of cork bark in the hot part of the cage and a piece in the cold part. Then put a rock in the hot part under the light bulb and then put a water dish in the cool part.

Lighting and Temp.

Leopard Geckos are nocturnal so a UV light is not needed. A simple spotlight with the appropriate wattage bulb can provide both daytime light and heat. Day time temp. should be about 90 and the nighttime temps can go down to the low 70's. Only under the directly under the spotlight should it be 90 degrees, this will allow the rest of the cage to remain somewhere in the 80's or room temp. I think that its better to let the gecko choose how hot it wants to be. Heat rocks and under the tank heating pads do not raise the air temp. Also some heat rocks get too hot and may burn your Leopard Gecko.

Feeding

leopard geckos eat lots of things such as crickets, mealworms, super worms, pinkies (pink mice) and much more. When deciding on the size of the food remember the cricket or what ever you decide to feed your leo should be about half the size of it's head. You should feed your leo(s) crickets or meal worms as their mane diet and super worms and pinkies only as treats. the best time to feed your leo(s) is about 8ish pm. or some time in the evening. You should feed your leo about 4-5 cricket a day. Juveniles should have their food dusted with a vitamin supplement every day and adults 2-3 times a week.

Leopard geckos should be served fresh water daily. Leaving them old water results in bacterial build up. Leopard geckos come from arid parts, but the burrows there in have a tiny bit of humidity.

Holding your gecko

• Do not grab your gecko tightly. This can cause your gecko to suffocate, panic, or injure itself.

• Do not pull your gecko off of the log, floor, etc. Remember: Leopard Geckos have claws on the bottom of their feet that they use for climbing. If you pull them up it may injure their feet. To get it off place your hand in front of the gecko then gently push their back legs until it walks onto your hand.

• Never allow your gecko to be shaken, thrown, turned upside down or fall. Never pull or let itself hang from its tail even though it can be pulled off; it is still painful for the gecko. Plus, if the gecko's tail comes off it will not be as nice as the original when it grows back. The gecko could also become malnourished without it's fat stores (which it keeps in it's tail.)

• Always watch your gecko, they can make unexpected movements that could cause you to lose your gecko.

• Always wash your hands after handling your gecko. They can carry bacteria (salmonella, specifically) that can make you very sick. Their are some types of alcohol-based solutions that you can buy at your local pet store that works very well for killing bacterial on hands.

Breeding

As previously mentioned, Leopard Geckos are an easy herp. species to breed. In fact, they make the ideal breeding subject for beginners. One male can be bred to as many as 10 females, and will share the same cage with these females in peaceful harmony. Two males, however, will fight violently if housed together, sometimes to the death. Heed this warning, and never house two males together.

Gravid females will lay their eggs in a Tupperware container with an entrance hole cut in one side. The container should be filled with moist soil or damp vermiculite to keep the eggs from desiccating. Check the nest box daily during the main breeding season (April to October), and remove any eggs for incubation.

Incubate the eggs in a container filled with a 1:1 ratio of vermiculite to water, by weight. Leopard Gecko eggs incubated in the low 80s will hatch out as females. Those incubated in the high 80s will all be males. Temperatures in the mid 80s will produce a fairly equal number of males and females. Armed with this information, Leopard Gecko breeders can "program" their geckos to be either one sex or the other.