How do I keep my leopard gecko healthy?

What should I know about leopard geckos at a glance?

Leopard geckos are small lizards from the dry scrublands of Pakistan and Afghanistan that live on the ground and come out at dawn and dusk, according to the RSPCA. Most grow to 15 to 25 cm and live 10 to 20 years, so a gecko is a long commitment.

What do vets see most in leopard geckos?

Most leopard gecko illness comes from the setup and the diet. MedVet, a US veterinary hospital group, lists poor nutrition, metabolic bone disease, stuck shed on the toes, impaction and egg retention among the most common problems, and Cryptosporidium is a known cause of wasting (see below).

• Metabolic bone disease: weak, soft bones from too little calcium, vitamin D3 or UVB. The RSPCA lists muscle twitching, swollen legs and fragile bones, and later bent limbs, jaw, spine or tail. Geckos fed crickets and mealworms without supplements are most at risk.
• Stuck shed: old skin that stays on, most often on the toes and the tail tip. As it dries it tightens and can cut off the blood supply until the toe is lost. MedVet links it to low humidity and says a moist hide prevents it.
• Impaction: sand, fine sharp gravel, crushed walnut shells or other loose bedding swallowed with food can block the gut, which can be fatal. Straining, lethargy and not eating are the usual signs.
• Cryptosporidium: a gut parasite that makes geckos waste away, with weight loss, a thinning tail and diarrhoea. There is no reliable cure (see below).
• Egg problems: females make eggs with or without a male. Some can't pass them (egg binding), and in others the follicles grow but are never released (follicular stasis). Both are common reasons for surgery in reptiles, according to the Merck Veterinary Manual.
• Dropped tail: a gecko can drop its tail when it is grabbed or scared. It grows back, but the gecko loses its fat store while it does.

Does a leopard gecko need vaccines or deworming?

No vaccine exists for any reptile, leopard geckos included. What a gecko needs instead is a fecal exam: the Merck Veterinary Manual notes that your vet can test your reptile's droppings for gut parasites and treat what is found.

Reptile vets deworm after a fecal exam finds a parasite, not on a calendar. Ask for one when you bring a gecko home and at its check-ups, and ask your vet how often to repeat it.

What is Cryptosporidium?

Cryptosporidium varanii is a gut parasite that causes wasting in leopard geckos. In a 2025 study in Animals of 35 geckos on a breeding farm in Thailand, about half carried it, a third of the infected ones were wasting, and infected geckos had thinner tails. Wasting was also more likely when geckos shared an enclosure.

• No reliable cure. The Merck Veterinary Manual says most suggested treatments don't work consistently. Earlier studies, cited in the 2025 paper, found that signs came back once treatment stopped.
• It hides. Infected geckos can shed it on and off while looking well, so one negative test doesn't rule it out. Ask your vet whether to repeat it.
• Quarantine every new gecko. Keep a newcomer in its own terrarium, with its own tools, away from your other reptiles until your vet has checked it. It spreads through droppings, and its oocysts resist most household disinfectants, bleach included, according to studies the 2025 paper reviews. Ask your vet how to clean and how long the quarantine should last.
• A sick gecko. Because the disease progresses and spreads easily, some vets advise euthanasia for a gecko that is ill with it (Vet Times). Your vet will talk you through the options.

Can a leopard gecko make people sick?

Yes. Reptiles can carry Salmonella while looking healthy. The CDC advises washing your hands with soap and water after touching a reptile, its food or anything in its terrarium, keeping reptiles and their things out of the kitchen, and not letting children under 5 handle them. It suggests a different pet for homes with young children, older adults or people with weak immune systems.

Which signs in a leopard gecko can't wait?

Leopard geckos hide illness, so by the time you see a change the problem has often been building for a while. Call your vet now if you see any of these.

• Something sticking out of the vent: a prolapse. Call your vet now.
• Twitching, trembling or a gecko that can't lift its body off the ground: these can be signs of metabolic bone disease or another serious problem. Call your vet now.
• A female straining or restless without laying: she may be egg-bound. Call your vet now.
• Straining with no droppings, or a swollen belly: this can be an impaction. Call your vet now.
• A black, dry or shrivelled toe or tail tip: the blood supply may be cut off. Call your vet today.
• A burn: usually from a hot rock or an unguarded lamp. Call your vet today.
• Not eating and a tail getting thinner: see your vet soon, even if your gecko still looks active.

Find a vet who sees reptiles before you need one. Don't pull stuck skin off dry or give medicines at home unless a vet says so.

How do I set up a leopard gecko's terrarium?

A leopard gecko needs a heat gradient: a warm end and a cool end, so it can move to the temperature it needs. Sources give slightly different numbers, so here is who says what. Use a thermostat on every heat source and check both ends with a digital thermometer every day, as the RSPCA advises.

• Heat: leopard geckos feel warmth through their bellies, so the RSPCA suggests slate or flat rock in the basking zone. Guard every lamp. VCA advises against hot rocks, which burn.
• Humidity: 30 to 40%, measured at the cool end, according to the RSPCA. A terrarium that is too damp can cause skin and breathing problems.
• Humid hide: a closed hide with damp moss, misted every few days, so your gecko can shed cleanly. Add more hides at both ends, so it never has to choose between warmth and feeling safe.
• Size: at least 60 by 40 by 30 cm for one adult in RSPCA guidance, and Vet Times suggests a floor of about 60 by 60 cm. Bigger is better.
• Substrate: keep young geckos on paper towel, tile, slate or reptile carpet, with nothing loose they can swallow. For a healthy adult, the RSPCA accepts a mix of half organic soil and half clean play sand, while VCA warns against coarse sand, corncob and walnut shells. Never calcium sand or wood chips. Ask your vet what suits your gecko.
• UVB: sources differ. VCA calls UVB not required but recommended. The RSPCA asks for a 2 to 5% UVB tube over the warm end, reaching a UV index of 0.7 at the basking spot and zero in the shade, replaced on the maker's schedule. Vet Times prefers low-strength UVB and says a gecko can do without it when its diet gives enough calcium and vitamin D.
• Light: 12 hours on and 12 hours off, on a timer, with all lights off at night. The RSPCA says red-eyed morphs may find bright light harmful, so ask your vet about lighting for them.
• Water: a shallow bowl of fresh water at the cool end, changed every day.

How do I feed a leopard gecko?

Leopard geckos eat live insects. Feed young geckos every day and adults every other day, according to the RSPCA, or young ones every 1 to 2 days and adults 2 to 3 times a week, according to VCA.

• Insects: crickets, dubia roaches, calciworms, locusts, silkworms and mealworms. Waxworms only now and then, because they are fatty.
• Size: no bigger than your gecko's head, the RSPCA's rule.
• Gut-loading: feed the insects a good diet for 24 to 48 hours before they go to your gecko, so their nutrients pass on to it.
• Calcium: dust the insects lightly just before feeding. VCA recommends a phosphorus-free calcium powder, and both VCA and the RSPCA keep a small dish of plain calcium in the terrarium.
• Vitamin D3 and vitamins: the RSPCA advises a vitamin and calcium supplement and says a gecko under good UVB needs less D3. Vet Times suggests calcium and multivitamins every day for young geckos and every other day for adults. Too much can harm, so follow the label and ask your vet how often to use a calcium with D3.
• Leftovers: take out uneaten insects, which can bite your gecko, or feed in a separate container so it doesn't swallow substrate.

How do I care for a leopard gecko day to day?

Check the tail and the droppings, keep the humid hide damp, spot clean and weigh your gecko regularly. The tail tells you most: in the 2025 Cryptosporidium study, each extra millimetre of tail width went with lower odds of wasting.

• Shedding: adults shed every 6 to 8 weeks, and young geckos as often as every 10 days, according to Vet Times. After each shed, check the toes and the tail tip. If skin is stuck, don't pull it. Let your gecko spend time in its humid hide or on warm damp paper towel, and see your vet if it stays, as the RSPCA advises.
• Handling: scoop your gecko up with both hands, supporting all four feet, and never put pressure on the tail. The RSPCA suggests 10 to 15 minutes out at a time, so it doesn't get cold.
• Dropped tail: it grows back over 5 to 8 weeks and won't look the same, according to Vet Times. Your gecko has lost its fat store, so keep the terrarium clean, watch its weight and ask your vet to check the wound.
• Company: keep leopard geckos alone. The RSPCA says they don't need company and can be aggressive, and Vet Times says adult males fight and injure each other.
• Eggs without a male: an adult female may lay infertile eggs on her own. Give her a nest box of moist soil or a sand and soil mix, or she may become egg-bound, as the RSPCA warns. A clutch is almost always 2 eggs, so MedVet advises an X-ray when she lays only one.
• Winter: many leopard geckos eat and move less in the colder months. Some keepers also cool them on purpose, which is called brumation. Ask your vet before you try it, because it is only safe for a healthy gecko at a good weight, and any weight loss during it needs a vet.
• Cleaning: remove droppings as soon as they appear and clean the whole terrarium once a month with a reptile-safe disinfectant, rinsed and dried (RSPCA).
• A new gecko: set up the terrarium and run it for at least a week before your gecko arrives, then let it settle without handling for the first week.

Can I keep a leopard gecko legally?

In most places, yes, but rules on keeping and selling reptiles change by country and region, so check the rules where you live.

• Brazil: the leopard gecko is an exotic species there. Buy only from a breeder or shop authorized by IBAMA or your state's environmental agency, keep the invoice (nota fiscal), and get the certificate of origin, which CONAMA Resolution 489/2018 requires the buyer to obtain. The same resolution forbids breeding a pet and asks owners to report an accidental clutch. Rules can vary by state, so ask your state's environmental agency.
• United Kingdom: all leopard geckos there are bred in captivity, according to the RSPCA, which notes that many are waiting to be rehomed.

How do I keep my leopard gecko's health record?

VetVitae, a pet health record app, keeps your gecko's weight in grams and warns you when a weigh-in is 10% below the highest of the last 3 months, which in reptiles needs a vet. A clutch laid in that time skips the warning, since females lose weight when they lay.

It logs each feeding, refused ones too, with the supplement (Calcium, Calcium with D3, Multivitamin), and suggests feeding young geckos every day and adults every 3 days. It records sheds and where they got stuck, like Toes or Tail tip, brumation, eggs, and the terrarium setup with its temperatures, humidity and UVB lamp, and reminds you to change the lamp. See reptile records, weight and routines.

VetVitae is free on iPhone, Android and the web.

This guide is general information, not veterinary advice. Your vet knows your pet.

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