how to keep leopard geckos

ive been keeping leopard geckos for few years now and they are so much fun to keep ,but before you rush out to buy one take the following into account the can live for upto 20 years and do take up some time so you need to be sure they are the pet for you.

Things you will need:

A glass vivarium ,a heat mat and heat lamp,thermometer,water bowl,calcium powder,substrate for the bottom of your tank try not to use sand as this can lead to it compacting in the geckos stomach and result in death.also a hide box is needed so your gecko has to go and rest make sure this is on the warm side of the tank eg where your heat mat and lamp is situated.last but not least have a pot with damp vermiculite in or damp moss so it aids your gecko during skin shedding.

How to assemble these things:

So you have your tank now put a layer of substrate in the bottom about 2 inchs deep then put your heat mat at one end under your tank i think is best ,then place a hide at this end this could be an upturned ice cream tub with a small opening cut into it next place your water pot at the opposite end ,also place your tub with damp moss or vermiculite at this end .you need to make sure the temperature at the end where you heatmat is between 86 and 90 fahrenheit.A simple house hold light at the top of the tank should be kept on for 12 hours a day.

Food your gecko will eat:

crickets and locust are great ,also mealworms and waxworms and superworms only feed waxworms and superworms once a week.Make sure to gut load your food in other words put the cricket ,mealworm,locust,mealworm or superworm in with a piece of potato for twelve hours first before you feed your gecko and also dust all food with calcium and nutrients before feeding time you can also leave a dish of these nutrients in the tank some where your lizard will lick this if needed.also make sure you have a shallow dish of water in the tank.

Handeling your gecko:

you may handle your gecko but its best to not be constantly picking your pet gecko up and never grab your gecko by its tail as it will drop off as this is there defense mechanism in the wild if this does happen the tail will grow back but never looks the same again