Leopard gecko

Taxobox
name = Leopard Gecko
status = Least Concern

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image_width = 200px
image_caption = A young Leopard Gecko
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
familia = Gekkonidae
subfamilia = Eublepharinae
genus = Eublepharis
species = "E. macularius"
binomial = "Eublepharis macularius"
binomial_authority = Blyth, 1854The Leopard gecko ("Eublepharis macularius") is a nocturnal ground-dwelling gecko found in the deserts of Pakistan, Western India, Afghanistan, and parts of Iran. Unlike most geckos it possesses eyelids. Leopard geckos have become well established in captivity, particularly the pet industry. Prices usually range from 15 US Dollars to 2000+.

Taxonomy

Leopard geckos were first described as a species by British zoologist Edward Blyth in 1854 as "Eublepharis macularis". The generic name "Eublepharis" is a combination of the Greek words "Eu" (true), and "blephar" (eyelid), as having eyelids is what distinguishes members of this subfamily from other geckos. The specific name, "macularius", derives from the Latin word "macula" meaning "spot" or "blemish", referring to the animal's natural spotted markings.

There are five subspecies including the nominative species:"Eublepharis macularius macularius" ,Blyth,E. 1854. Proceedings of the Society. Report of the Curator, Zoological Department. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 23 [1854] : 737-740] "E. m. afghanicus"(Börner 1976),Borner A R 1976. Second contribution to the systematics of the southwest Asian lizards of the geckonid genus Eublepharis Gray 1827: materials from the Indian subcontinent. SAUROLOGICA (No. 2) 1976: 1-15] "E. m. fasciolatus" (Günther 1864),Günther, A. 1864. Description of a new species of Eublepharis. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (3) 14:429-430] "E. m. montanus" (Börner 1976), and "E. m. smithi" (Börner 1981).

Distribution

Leopard Geckos are native to south-eastern Afghanistan, throughout Pakistan, north-west India, and into Iran where it inhabits the rocky, dry grassland and desert regions of these countries. As nocturnal creatures, they spend the day hidden under rocks or in dry burrows to escape the daytime heat, emerging at dusk to hunt insects. - citation - | last = Tallant - | first = Shannon - | title = Leopard Geckos - | publisher = Simon & Schuster - | location= New York and NH - | pages = 107 - | date= 1989 and 2008 - | isbn = 067147654 ]

Care

Leopard geckos are very low maintenence in consideration to other reptiles commonly kept as pets. The substrate in their vivariums should be changed at least every two weeks, but the water bowl needs to be cleaned daily to keep the water clean from sand, skin, and dead crickets. They should shed just fine on their own but if they don't you should NOT pull the skin off because you risk pulling out their claws and leaving them handicapped, if the skin doesn't come all the way off their toes you should soak the feet in water and then try to gently roll it off with a que tip.

The most common method to help pet geckos shed their old skin, is to add a 'humid hide' into the vivarium. These are usually small dens with damp kitchen towelling, vermiculite or moss.Another, less manual way of helping pet geckos shed skin, is to add a piece of large bark, or another natural-looking, rough surfaced ornament for the gecko to rub up against.

Anatomy and morphology

The leopard gecko is a cream to yellow colored lizard with black spots and/or stripes similar to the markings of a leopard attaining a total length of 6 to 11 inches. However, selective breeding in captivity has produced different color morphs, including high yellow, tangerine, striped, patternless (no spots or stripes), lavender, blizzard (which are solid white or gray), and albino (no black pigments in markings) in addition to some captive specimens measuring 11 or more inches in length.

A Leopard Gecko's markings at birth are different from those of an adult. The skin has no spots, instead large dark bands and intermittent light yellow bands cover the body from head to tail. These bands fade within one year.

The leopard gecko is one of only a few gecko species (all of them members of the subfamily Eublepharidae, a small family of tropical/subtropical species found in the Americas, Africa, and Asia) that have eyelids.citation
last = Cogger
first = Harold
authorlink = Harold Cogger
last2 = Zweifel
first2 = Richard
title = Reptiles & Amphibians
publisher = Weldon Owen
location = Sydney, Australia
pages = 146
date = 1992
isbn = 0831727861 ] This helps the gecko keep its eyes clean and particle-free in its dusty environment. Like most other geckos, the leopard gecko can clean and moisten its eyes using its tongue.

Unlike other species of gecko, leopard geckos have small claws instead of adhesive toe pads, which prevents them from climbing vertically. However, their claws give extra traction on the ground and are helpful in digging. These differences have been cited as a possible reason to name "Eubelpharinae" as a different family apart from geckoes.

Like most lizards, the leopard gecko can drop its tail, in a process called caudal autotomy. When frightened or disturbed, muscles at the base of the gecko's tail constrict and snap the vertebrae, severing most of the tail. The detached and wriggling and spasming tail distracts the predator as the gecko makes its escape. Although the leopard gecko will grow a new one in time, the regenerated tail will differ from the original, appearing bulbous and inferior. The new tail will have spots instead of lines. Some regenerated tails may still have a "carrot-tail." When a leopard gecko drops its tail, there will be a pinkish stump. When the tail starts to grow it will start out as a pink cone shape. When the tail gets fatter, it will turn a red-violet color. As it grows larger it will become lavender, eventually a very light gray color.

Diet and longevity

Leopard geckos can be fed a staple diet consisting of crickets, mealworms, superworms, roaches, silkworms, phoenix worms, fruit flies, horn worms or locusts(outside of the U.S.). Waxworms are very fattening, and should rarely be offered to geckos as to avoid obesity, and/or fatty liver disease. Many people believe that Geckos are purely insectivores, however in the wild they will eat anything they can over power, including mice. Leopard Geckos will not eat vegetables however it can be a good idea to put some in their vivarium for the crickets to feed upon, this way they won't bite your leopard gecko. Another recommendation is feeding young leopard geckos mashed, raw egg yolks and egg whites for extra digestable protein.

Leopard geckos can easily live 10-15 years in captivity with proper care and have even been documented to live over 25 years.

Reproduction

Leopard Geckos become sexually mature at around 10-14 months of age. Males are larger than females and have a V-shaped row of spots in front of their cloacal opening with a noticeable bulge at the base of the tail caused by the hemipenis.

Leopard Geckos breed from March through September, although the season may begin as early as January and finish as late as October. When a male encounters a female he will shake his tail. In response, the female silently sways her tail from side to side along the ground. Following this action, the male will lick her to obtain her scent and will begin biting her from the lower body upwards. If the female does not wish to mate, she will bite back and the male will cease his activity. If she accepts, he will continue up to her neck,making his body parallel to hers and placing his hind leg over her tail, inserting one of his hemipenes into her cloaca.

Thirty days later, the female will lay one or two eggs with a leathery shell. Clutches of two eggs will then be laid every two weeks to monthly throughout the rest of the mating season varying from each gecko according to age, with older females gradually laying less eggs with each year. The eggs will need to be incubated.

Like many other egg-laying reptiles the sex of Leopard geckos are determined by incubation temperature. Eggs incubated at 79 F will result in a majority of female neonates, where as eggs incubated at 85 - 87 F will result in a more even sex ratio and eggs incubated at 89 - 90 F in the first four weeks will result in more males. Females hatched from these eggs are generally more aggressive than other females, and they tend to reach sexual maturity later if at all. An incubation temperature lower than 77 F or higher than 97 F will cause deformities and usually death of the neonates incubated at these temperatures.

The eggs hatch 6-12 weeks after being laid depending on temperature. The gecko breaks the surface of the egg and pushes its head out, remaining in this position from 2 to 4 hours adapting to lung breathing and obtaining oxygen from the egg membranes as well as absorbing yolk from inside the egg.

Number of eggs laid by age

Color morphs

There are various leopard gecko mutations also known as 'morphs', each morph having its own specific genetics and traits. Multiple morphs can be 'mixed' or 'bred' together to make combination morphs and on occasion, a whole new morph will develop.

Some morphs include:
* High Yellow - an animal with mostly yellow pigmentation
* Lavender - Like a normal, but with purple bands on back
* Patternless/Leucistic - a recessive gene where the animal has no spots
* Blizzard - Patternless and grey in colour
* Blazing Blizzard - Patternless and light pink in colour, an albino blizzard, also known for red "blazing" eyes
* Patternless Albino - Patternless X Albino
* Eclipse
* Sunglow
* Hypo - hypomelanistic, submorphs include Hypo Snow/Super Hypo Snow
* Hypo Tangerine - an animal with strong presence of orange in its coloration, and reduction of spots
* Mack Snow - is a body coloration of white and yellow with reduced banding
* Super Snow - presence of the "Mack Snow" gene and one other trait
* Mack Snow and Super Snow Albinos
* Snowglows - Snow X Sunglow
* APTOR
* RAPTOR
* Tremper Albino (Texas) - Recessive Gene
* Bell Albino (Florida)- Recessive Gene
* Rainwater Albino (Las Vegas) - Recessive Gene
* Enigma - various submorphs ie. Tremper Enigma, Mack Enigma, Super Snow Enigma, Enigma RAPTOR
* Diablo Blanco - RAPTOR X Tremper Blazing Blizzard
* Emerald/Emerine
* RADAR Bell
* Ember - Tremper Albino X Patternless X RAPTOR
* Pastel
* Phantom
* Tangerine Tornado - extreme orange colouration
* Normal- typical colouration, medium yellow with stripes or bands of grayish lavender, black spots.
*Tangerine albino-lavender stripes with orange bodies and white and brown tails (no black pigmentation)
*Tangerine Hybino-tangerine and Hypo and Albino mixed
* Abyssinian - A paradox leopard gecko that has red vein lines in the eyes and that can express every color on the body except for black pigment. Adults have a speckled tail and often a very faded look. Some people might classify this morph as a type of albino as seen in hooked-billed birds. There are also a larger form of Leopard Gecko Morph:

* Giant- can be any morph
* Super Giant- Homozygous form of the GiantThese are determined by size and weight, often classfied at sub-adult/adult age and can be any morph

Common Problems

One of the most common problems, albeit one thats well talked about among gecko enthusiasts, is that of impaction.Impaction occurs when a gecko eats the substrate it lives on, and over times builds up causing major internal problems.

Symptoms Include:
*Obvious Bloating of the abdominal region (often with bruising)
*regurgitation
*loss of appetite
*Unusual stools (if any)
*Constipation
*Breathing Troubles
*Leg trembles
*Paralysis.

Reasons for the geckos eating their substrate are not proven, but there is evidence to suggest that the geckos feel a need to 'top-up' their mineral levels, and in their natural surroundings would be able to do this through eating sand (natural sand, thus digestible).There is no fool proof cure for impaction in geckos, and the problem is that when Impaction is discovered; in most cases it is too late to do anything about it.

An easy way to solve this problem is prevention. Knowing a herpetology vet and having regular checkups is a simple(although expensive) way of making sure the gecko is in good health.This not only prevents impaction but keeps checks on weight and growth.

An easier way to solve the problem revolves around prevention as well. Do not use loose substrate for your leopard gecko, this will cut the risk of impaction to 0%. Instead use what most dedicated owners use, which is either paper towel or tiles. The tile mimics the hard packed clay of the natural gecko environment.

References

Paternless Hybino

External links

* [http://www.pet-care-portal.com/leopard-gecko.html Leopard Geckos as pets]
* [http://geckofile.top-site-list.com Gecko Support Forums and topsite list]
* [http://www.leopardgeckocare.net Leopard Gecko at leopardgeckocare.net]
* [http://www.leopard-gecko.eu Leopard Gecko Information Resource]
* [http://www.leopardgeckowiki.com Leopard Gecko Wiki]