Life with A Leopard Gecko: Two Months In
I know reptile and leopard gecko content isn’t for absolutely everyone, but when we were studying the best form of reptile for our loved ones, I devoured all of the information and facts I could come across out there which was, generally, from experts or seasoned reptile fans. It was all very helpful and what inevitably led us to choosing a leopard gecko for our family members, but I would’ve loved to have been capable to communicate with a pal about anything and it is my hope that this blog site publish will come to feel like just that for any person who may possibly be contemplating a leopard gecko as a family members pet.
Why We Chose a Leopard Gecko
We browse a large amount of guides and talked to a lot of reptile fanatics about the course of about a year ahead of choosing on a leopard gecko for our household. It would seem like bearded dragons are a go-to lizard for novices to contemplate and at first we believed which is the way we have been heading to go until finally a dialogue with a gentleman who labored at Chilly Blooded & Weird, a local Charlotte-spot specialty reptile shop, steered us in a unique path. (Finally we decided against a bearded dragon simply because they get quite big — 2x the measurement of a leopard gecko — and need a bigger aquarium while also getting a minimal greater servicing than leopard geckos.)
The far more we uncovered about leopard geckos, the a lot more confident we grew to become that a leopard gecko was the ideal in shape for us. They are wildly acknowledged as wonderful pets for newcomers and are relatively small maintenance. Leopard geckos are more compact in dimensions (Lucky is comprehensive developed and fits effortlessly in 1 of my hands) and adapt to currently being held carefully rather very well. They do not require as well substantially in phrases of specialty lights, managed humidity, habitat upkeep, and so on.
One particular point that is Very important to know: Leopard geckos can live 20+ a long time. They are a motivation and will be with your spouse and children for a Prolonged time. This is a little something incredibly important to take into account considering the fact that children’s passions are fleeting but a leopard gecko’s everyday living is not.
How We Located Our Leopard Gecko: A Reptile Rescue!
As a result of my exploration about many lizards and geckos, I discovered reptile rescues! I am not guaranteed why I in no way considered of this as an selection but the moment I recognized there are rescues out there focused to caring for reptiles and rehoming surrendered and rescued reptiles, I realized this was the route we would go to uncover a leopard gecko for our loved ones.
There are SO many pros to rescuing a reptile apart from the clear (providing a reptile a second opportunity!) and I can not suggest heading by means of a reptile rescue to find a lizard or gecko for your spouse and children ample, specially if you have young small children. A lot of of the rescues know their reptiles effectively and can direct you to a lizard or gecko that will match finest in your spouse and children dynamic. This was undoubtedly the scenario for us, as we identified Lucky by means of Southern Reptile Haven, a rescue located in the Jacksonville Beach front place. They were being capable to recommend 3-year-old Blessed for our household, understanding we have 3 younger boys in our family members who would want to be able to maintain their new pet on situation. There are quite a few reptiles out there who favor not to be held so locating a leopard gecko who would mesh properly with enthusiastic small children was vital to us.
(FYI, if you dwell in the Jacksonville Beach front spot, I can not recommend Southern Reptile Haven plenty of. They were being past wonderful, not only with serving to us uncover Fortunate but they were being also the star of Chase’s birthday social gathering. You may well browse far more about Chase’s reptile birthday bash and the minute we astonished him with Lucky here!)
Lucky’s Habitat
We majorly lucked out when it arrived to location up the great habitat for Lucky. We bought all the things we essential for Fortunate from Southern Reptile Haven it was the total habitat she’d currently been living in which served make her transition into residing with our family members so easy!
Lucky’s established up includes the following:
Caring for Blessed
I was admittedly extremely intimidated by caring for a reptile but mastering to treatment for Blessed was actually simple and she’s a pretty, very reduced routine maintenance pet. As I’m typing all of this out, it may well feel like a great deal but on a day-to-working day foundation we really don’t have to do a lot!
We joke that Blessed is a bougie tiny leopard gecko due to the fact she has a powerful preference for live crickets. This is the only semi-superior upkeep point about her mainly because it usually means we’re producing weekly trips to the pet keep for large reside crickets to feed our lady.
In excess of the past two months, we have been able to preserve crickets alive for lengthier in a cricket keeper cage with some dark leafy greens, a compact slice of whole wheat bread, carrots, oranges, and many others. so we never have to go to the pet shop a lot more than once a 7 days. (Also, feeding crickets nutrient-dense foodstuff 24 hours ahead of feeding them to your reptile is a follow called “gut loading” and it is added helpful for Fortunate!) I assume we can almost certainly extend our pet shop visits to bi-weekly visits but we have not attempted stocking up on much more than 30 crickets at a time nevertheless. We feed Lucky 10 crickets a number of times a week and viewing Blessed hunt is one of the coolest items for our household! Chase retains note of her searching development and the most crickets we have witnessed her consume at a single time is 6. Go Lucky, go!
Lucky’s water dish is constantly crammed with new h2o. We were being instructed by the reptile rescue to consist of a drop or two of ReptiSafe h2o conditioner drops in her water to clear away chloramines, chlorine and ammonia, and present vital ions and electrolytes.
Calcium powder is incredibly important for leopard geckos to ensure fantastic bone density. We preserve a major sprinkle of ReptiCalcium in a small dish in Lucky’s cage at all situations.
This is the Very best aspect of leopard gecko upkeep simply because we have still to want to clean Lucky’s cage. She only poops a number of moments a 7 days and it’s normally been in the identical considerably corner of her cage. Her poop is simple to scoop out with a tissue and toss absent and her cage does not smell at all. (The cricket keeper cage, even so, can get pungent.) We continue to haven’t essential to transform her bedding but the reptile rescue explained we should not need to do this additional than a couple occasions a 12 months. The terrarium liner mats seem to be like an even less difficult choice for cleansing/routine maintenance and I certainly would’ve looked into this selection if we didn’t go by the rescue for Lucky’s habitat.
Managing Lucky
With a few curious, excitable and reptile-loving young boys in our property, we realized we required a reptile who would tolerate remaining held rather perfectly. Thankfully Southern Reptile Haven realized Fortunate and her character and ensured us she was a very good healthy for a loved ones with young children. They ended up ideal but that doesn’t suggest Blessed was sprinting out of her small cave and into our arms when we opened the doorways of her terrarium.
Chase and I watched a bunch of YouTube films about how to thoroughly maintain and handle a leopard gecko and also watched educational films about a leopard gecko’s entire body language. We discovered about “gaping” — when a leopard gecko opens their mouth quite wide — and the boys comprehend that when Blessed gapes at us, she is incredibly considerably done currently being held and it’s promptly time to set her back into her cage. The boys also know that if Blessed operates absent from our fingers when we attempt to scoop her out of her terrarium, it suggests she’s not up for staying held and we’ll hold her one more time.
Leopard geckos are nocturnal and Lucky undoubtedly suits this mould. She enjoys her night time gentle and will come out of her cave each individual solitary night time when we switch her heat gentle from her day gentle to her evening heat gentle. (This is also the time we usually feed her!) Since Lucky looks most energetic in the evenings, this is normally the time the boys keep her. She’s come a Long way in conditions of tolerating their notice and appears to be to enjoy crawling all around in the spaces they develop for her out of their magnetic PicassoTiles for a little experience!
And now that I have penned waaay more words about Fortunate and leopard geckos than I at any time dreamed I would, I’ll signal off but be sure to let me know if you have any thoughts about leopard geckos and I’m more than satisfied to respond to them in the opinions portion of this post.
In summary: Blessed is brilliant! Leopard geckos are great and we’ve cherished possessing Blessed as a superb, scaly member of our crew.
