Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have purchased a leopard geko and have had it for 23 days now and I was wondering on when I should start handeling it. I've heard people say you shouldnt handle them when there babbies(mine is a babby). On the other hand the guy at the petshop where I bought my leo says he handles the babbies all the time. What should I do?

O and one more quick question how long usually does it take for a leo to reach adulthood? Thanks guys

>>I have purchased a leopard geko and have had it for 23 days now and I was wondering on when I should start handeling it. I've heard people say you shouldnt handle them when there babbies(mine is a babby). On the other hand the guy at the petshop where I bought my leo says he handles the babbies all the time. What should I do?
>>
>>O and one more quick question how long usually does it take for a leo to reach adulthood? Thanks guys

You can start handling it now. I would start by just putting your hand down in the cage for 5-10 minutes at a time. Let the little guy/girl get used to you as a non-threatening presence. You will most likely get licked, and then eventually climbed on, at which point you're pretty well good to go to lift him/her out of the cage and let the gecko walk across your hands. Be patient though, this may take a while, as juveniles tend to be a bit more high-strung/jumpy/easily frightened than adults. With patience, though, this method tends to have them pretty calm and handleable - pretty sure mine just thinks my hands are warm, moving terrain.

As far as how long to reach adulthood, growth rates vary with diet and temperature, but they can reach adulthood in anywhere from just under a year to 18 months. Adult size is 8-10 inches, 50-60 grams for normal sized ones, giants are obviously larger than that.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

Ok I will start doing that. Thanks for your help

What is your whole setup? Temps, substrate, food, and is their a calcuim dish in the tank as well?

My setup is really i guess what you can call newbish right now, the one thing i regret getting is the black calcium sand i got which was recomended. But i have a 10 gallon tank, black calcium sand, heating pad, water dish, leaves, rock hiding spot on the warm side and a log hiding spot on the cold side and i feed my leo crickets/meal worms with Bone Aid calcium stick powder "shake and baked" on them lol. The temp on the warm side is 85 and the cold side is 70. I think i should get a basking light as well but the guy said no lighting equiptment is needed for the babby geko i got. O and how do u tell the sex of a babby leo?, the pet shop i bought it at didnt have them sorted or anything. Thanks

Ok first off i would take off the calcuim sand IMMEDIATELY!! He will get impacted and eventuallu pass on. I would recommend paper towels i personally use them and they are very simple and easy and always available. You could also use newspaper and tiles. Baby leos are not supposed to be on any kind of sand at all.

Crix should be no bigger then the width between his eyes. Mealies should be very tiny and i would also not feed mealies to much. I would try and feed them just as treat.

You should have a humid hide and a cool hide. You can use a red bulb and a uth and should be fine. Uv light is not needed. Temps sound pretty good to me. The more cluuter you have in the tank the more easier it is for the crix to hide and the leo not to eat.

You should be dusting the crix and mealies about 1-2 x a week with vitamins and calcuim. You should have a PURE calcuim dish in the tank in a little milk lid or something like that. They will provide themselves with the amount of calcuim needed at that time. (That's why calci sand is VERY bad for a leo especially a BABY leo)

So i should get different substrate and have a lid with just calcium powder in it, ok cool. Thanks for all ur help.

Yes for sure!! May want to pcik up a leopard gecko book and read a little bit! May help alot as well.

Yea, thanks for all your help