Eublepharis macularius, the Leopard Gecko

The most recent taxonomy places the Leopard Gecko in Family Gekkonidae (which now comprises all geckoes) and within this to the Subfamily known as Eublepharinae, which comprises species that possess movable eyelids. Eublepharis macularius can be loosely translated as "well-lidded spotted" (Greek eublepharis, from eu = good, well + blepharis = eyelash, eyelid; and Latin macularius, from macula = spot, mark, stain).
Other popular species in Eublepharinae include members of the genera Hemitheconyx (African fat-tail geckoes), Coleonyx (Central and North-American banded geckoes), and Goniurosaurus (Far East leopard geckos). Besides possessing eyelids, most of these geckoes share being nocturnal or crepuscular (natively more active during the night or dusk), being terrestrial (living on the ground rather than on trees), and having toes that cannot stick to surfaces.

Distribution: Leopard geckos are original of Central Asia, specifically SE Afghanistan, Pakistan, W India (Rajasthan, Ajmer, Madar foot hills), Iraq, and Iran. Their typical biotopos is found in the Salt Range of Punjab.
Natural History: Leopard geckos inhabit arid lands, particularly rocky deserts and sparse grasslands, but they are never found in sandy deserts; an environment with too much sand is bad for them. Because of their native habitat they have evolved as nocturnal, keeping out of the heat during the day and emerging at night from holes and crevices to hunt for food; they are good climbers on rocky terrain but awkward and uncomfortable if negotiating branches and above the ground vegetation. Their diet in the wild mainly consists of insects, including small scorpions, but they will occasionally eat suitably sized lizards, snakes and small mammals. They are frequently found to live in loose colonies, with males competing for limited territories which females randomly share, but no herd structure has been observed. Leopard geckos are oviparous: females lay clutches of two eggs, after the mating period that follows the cooler season, several times over several months, burying them in what moist dirt they can find in their environment. Sex of the hatchlings and partially the degree of colouration is dependent on incubation temperature. Lifespan is presumably some 30 years in the wild, a documented 28 years in captivity.
Description: The leopard gecko is a smallish but sturdy lizard, reaching at most a length of 11 inches as an adult for the wild type, and a weight of at most 70 grams; heftier animals within the typical length are unhealthy. The original livery consists of many black/brown spots on a greenish/yellow background: the spots develop slowly to the adult stage from the striped bands with which hatchlings are born, and this remains true for the many colour mutations that captive breeding has produced, with babies and juveniles always looking "banded" even when the final form is monochrome. Leopard geckos have movable eyelids, therefore they can blink and close their eyes to protect them from dirt or light, but for the same reason their eye is more exposed than the eye of geckos that have a spectacle (hardened transparent sealed lid) permanently over the cornea. Their toes are similar to those of most ground lizards, furnished with a small claw on the tip of each toe, and they are delicate spots during the shedding of the skin, because if skin is retained there it may shrink while drying and block off circulation, causing even the necrosis and loss of the toe. Leopard geckos store a fat reserve in their typically shaped tail, to be used as an insurance against times when food runs scarce, and the state of the tail may be used to give a general assessment of the health of the individual: adult geckos with thin tails are rarely healthy. As with many other lizards, a leopard gecko's tail will be dropped to be left in the clutches of a potential predator, so allowing the tailless owner to get away with its life; most pet geckos, though, do not drop the tail out of stress like some of their wild reatives, but only if brutally grabbed or threatened; a dropped tail will regrow over time, but will never be the same shape and symmetry as the original one. Like all reptiles, leopard geckos shed their skin at intervals dependent on temperature, humidity and available food; their shed comes off seldom in one piece, but rather in tatters, and they are likely to eat most of it; the areas around the eyes, the tip of the tail and the toes are the most subject to risk of suffering from retained dead skin.

Pet Potential: The leopard gecko has been bred in captivity for over 30 years and is an extremely popular reptile pet. Long lived, relatively easy to keep and good tempered, it can take much handling and even enjoy it, if treated with gentleness and respect. Many individuals seem to recognise their owners after a time, and all but the most nervous and unsocialized ones will bite only if very roughly mistreated. Several colour, pattern and size mutations have been developed by breeders, and none seem to have health downsides to them. All albino mutations (characterised by red/pink eyes) are somewhat photophobic and show distress if exposed to direct natural sunlight or strong artificial light; therefore they should be sheltered from such.

Goldfrost

Goldfrost is a sunglow boy born on 07 July 2005. He is a sturdy, large and fearless gecko that everybody loves. He's always on the go if allowed and will explore anything he's faced with. He can walk alongside a person with a little harness and really enjoys outdoors time if the season is mild and the sun not too bright; he's also very patient with children and one of the stars at the many educational events in which we take part. Goldfrost has several offspring already, none of whom live with us at the moment.
He comes from the Urban Gecko, son of Apollo and Flare.

Charlemain

Charlemain is a jungle giant albino born on 01 April 2006. We find his orange and white pattern amazing. He's quite large and extremely sweet, at times to the point of dorkiness; he will allow any human, adult or child, to do almost anything to him, without protesting; so he is always the first of our leopard geckos to be introduced to new people, just to start things on the right foot. His one problem is that he's quite a bit oversensitive to light, and will spend most of the time squinting if he's taken out outdoors. Charlemain had two offspring that live with our friend Rebecca of Triple R Corn Ranch.
He was produced by Jason Lavictoire of Capital City Geckos.

Hoar

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nullam diam. Nullam malesuada ipsum non lacus. Nam egestas tincidunt mauris. Pellentesque neque diam, dignissim at, porttitor nec, vulputate ac, nibh. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Nam venenatis lacus in sem. Aliquam rutrum orci et massa. Nam in risus non nunc pretium scelerisque. Integer sed dolor cursus enim vulputate mattis. Cras purus mauris, rhoncus vel, tempor sit amet, vulputate non, pede. Integer at arcu. Curabitur in augue. Sed euismod. Ut bibendum, leo eu dictum facilisis, sapien risus ullamcorper est, in gravida lectus quam in dui. Etiam id diam. Nulla eu metus. In sapien.

Copperlode

Copperlode is a sunglow girl born on 06 August 2005. She is extremely bright and has a wonderful, uniform orange colouration. Her temperament is mild but less patient than the males, and she will scramble away if she has had enough of being held; she also tends to boss around the other girls in her enclosure. Copperlode has had a few offspring, none of whom live with us at the moment.
She comes from the Urban Gecko, daughter of Apollo and Amaterasu.

Rubydrop

Rubydrop is a super hypo tangerine carrottail baldy, quite a mouthful to say! Born on 22 January 2006, she's one of the brightest I have seen of this morph and her colouration is only improving with age. She has a bold and forward temperament and is quite fast on her feet, really not favouring to be held on a hand but rather willing to walk around on the couch, or preferably the playpen on the lawn. She will jump away from anybody holding her too tight or too still, but she defers to Copperlode in gecko-land. She has not had any offspring yet.
She was produced by Jason Lavictoire of Capital City Geckos.

Topaz

Topaz is a very beautifully pale jungle giant albino, born on 25 May 2006. Her colours are golds and light oranges shading to pearly white, very distinctive. She is laid back and friendly, which seems to be a rule with this morph. She has had a few offspring already, none of whom live with us at the moment.
She was produced by Jason Lavictoire of Capital City Geckos.

Amber

Amber is a classic jungle giant albino, long and sturdy, born on 26 March 2006. She is a calm girl with a demure attitude and a lovely nature, who does well around quiet relaxed people. She has had a few offspring already, none of whom live with us at the moment.
She was produced by Jason Lavictoire of Capital City Geckos.

AnyDots

AnyDots is a normal het for jungle giant, born on 23 April 2006. Her colous, where they are darker, have a sparkly metallic wash, both the greens and the oranges. We like her very much also because, in a terrarium full of different morphs, her patterns stand out as unique. She is inquisitive and persistent and loves to hunt for her insects, twitching her chubby tail this way and that before she pounces. As a youngster she was more shy of people, but now she is quite relaxed. She has not had any offspring yet.
She was produced by Jason Lavictoire of Capital City Geckos.

Venom

Venom is a midnight blizzard born on 20 December 2006. As her name and her face can tell, and quite accurately, she's the feisty one. She won't tolerate being handled more than a little on her very own terms, and she will wiggle frantically, bite and jump away if grabbed. With a lot of patience and lots of luring we have managed to get her to calm down and even climb on hands, but she's always on the verge of shieing away. We have heard that this temperament is very much shared among most individuals of this morph, and although we have not tested it yet with our own babies, at this time we would not recommend midnight blizzards as pets for people who want a cuddly gecko. Venom has not had any offspring yet.
She was produced by Garrick of crestedgecko.com in the USA.

Boys
	Goldfrost Goldfrost is a sunglow boy born on 07 July 2005. He is a sturdy, large and fearless gecko that everybody loves. He's always on the go if allowed and will explore anything he's faced with. He can walk alongside a person with a little harness and really enjoys outdoors time if the season is mild and the sun not too bright; he's also very patient with children and one of the stars at the many educational events in which we take part. Goldfrost has several offspring already, none of whom live with us at the moment. He comes from the Urban Gecko, son of Apollo and Flare.
	Charlemain Charlemain is a jungle giant albino born on 01 April 2006. We find his orange and white pattern amazing. He's quite large and extremely sweet, at times to the point of dorkiness; he will allow any human, adult or child, to do almost anything to him, without protesting; so he is always the first of our leopard geckos to be introduced to new people, just to start things on the right foot. His one problem is that he's quite a bit oversensitive to light, and will spend most of the time squinting if he's taken out outdoors. Charlemain had two offspring that live with our friend Rebecca of Triple R Corn Ranch. He was produced by Jason Lavictoire of Capital City Geckos.
	Hoar Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nullam diam. Nullam malesuada ipsum non lacus. Nam egestas tincidunt mauris. Pellentesque neque diam, dignissim at, porttitor nec, vulputate ac, nibh. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Nam venenatis lacus in sem. Aliquam rutrum orci et massa. Nam in risus non nunc pretium scelerisque. Integer sed dolor cursus enim vulputate mattis. Cras purus mauris, rhoncus vel, tempor sit amet, vulputate non, pede. Integer at arcu. Curabitur in augue. Sed euismod. Ut bibendum, leo eu dictum facilisis, sapien risus ullamcorper est, in gravida lectus quam in dui. Etiam id diam. Nulla eu metus. In sapien.

Girls
	Copperlode Copperlode is a sunglow girl born on 06 August 2005. She is extremely bright and has a wonderful, uniform orange colouration. Her temperament is mild but less patient than the males, and she will scramble away if she has had enough of being held; she also tends to boss around the other girls in her enclosure. Copperlode has had a few offspring, none of whom live with us at the moment. She comes from the Urban Gecko, daughter of Apollo and Amaterasu.
	Rubydrop Rubydrop is a super hypo tangerine carrottail baldy, quite a mouthful to say! Born on 22 January 2006, she's one of the brightest I have seen of this morph and her colouration is only improving with age. She has a bold and forward temperament and is quite fast on her feet, really not favouring to be held on a hand but rather willing to walk around on the couch, or preferably the playpen on the lawn. She will jump away from anybody holding her too tight or too still, but she defers to Copperlode in gecko-land. She has not had any offspring yet. She was produced by Jason Lavictoire of Capital City Geckos.
	Topaz Topaz is a very beautifully pale jungle giant albino, born on 25 May 2006. Her colours are golds and light oranges shading to pearly white, very distinctive. She is laid back and friendly, which seems to be a rule with this morph. She has had a few offspring already, none of whom live with us at the moment. She was produced by Jason Lavictoire of Capital City Geckos.
	Amber Amber is a classic jungle giant albino, long and sturdy, born on 26 March 2006. She is a calm girl with a demure attitude and a lovely nature, who does well around quiet relaxed people. She has had a few offspring already, none of whom live with us at the moment. She was produced by Jason Lavictoire of Capital City Geckos.
	AnyDots AnyDots is a normal het for jungle giant, born on 23 April 2006. Her colous, where they are darker, have a sparkly metallic wash, both the greens and the oranges. We like her very much also because, in a terrarium full of different morphs, her patterns stand out as unique. She is inquisitive and persistent and loves to hunt for her insects, twitching her chubby tail this way and that before she pounces. As a youngster she was more shy of people, but now she is quite relaxed. She has not had any offspring yet. She was produced by Jason Lavictoire of Capital City Geckos.
	Venom Venom is a midnight blizzard born on 20 December 2006. As her name and her face can tell, and quite accurately, she's the feisty one. She won't tolerate being handled more than a little on her very own terms, and she will wiggle frantically, bite and jump away if grabbed. With a lot of patience and lots of luring we have managed to get her to calm down and even climb on hands, but she's always on the verge of shieing away. We have heard that this temperament is very much shared among most individuals of this morph, and although we have not tested it yet with our own babies, at this time we would not recommend midnight blizzards as pets for people who want a cuddly gecko. Venom has not had any offspring yet. She was produced by Garrick of crestedgecko.com in the USA.

Our Leopard Geckos