Raising reptiles might not be common to many people. They might be relatively unattractive as pets compared to dogs and hamsters. Many people might not know much about reptiles and think it might be hard to raise. However, leopard geckos, one of the most popular pet reptiles, are adorable and easy to raise.

Leopard geckos live in dry and desert areas in Afghanistan and Iran. Unlike other common lizards, leopard geckos cannot climb walls because they don’t have sticky feet. However, they like to climb up rocks and logs with their sharp nails. They rarely bite people and make sounds.

Leopard geckos require two types of hiding places. They need both warm, dry hides of about 30~32°C  and cool, humid hides of 25 °C as desert regions in Afghanistan.

Like many other reptiles, leopard geckos shed regularly. They can shed by themselves in humid hides without help. However, you should make sure that the humid hide is humid, not dry.

The most challenging part of raising leopard geckos is their food. Leopard geckos are carnivores. They do not eat vegetables or fruits but living insects. To raise leopard geckos, you also need to raise insects such as mealworms and crickets. Crickets are the best food for leopard geckos because they are high in protein. Adult leopard geckos are usually fed about six crickets three times a week.

It is easy to raise mealworms. Put them into wheat bran, and they will eat the wheat bran and get fat. You can sometimes put vegetables or even meat in there. Crickets, on the other hand, are relatively harder to raise because they are sensitive to temperature and humidity.

When raising leopard geckos, It is important to feed them sufficient calcium. Calcium is necessary for leopard geckos. Lack of calcium can result in Metabolic Bone Disease(MBD). Leopard geckos with MBD suffer from symptoms such as bowed legs, lack of appetite, curved spines, and softened jaws that cannot bite insects. You should buy calcium supplements for reptiles and dust insects with calcium powder before you feed them.

Leopard geckos live about 10 years or more. Even though leopard geckos are cute pets that are easy to raise, be aware that leopard geckos are long-lived pets like dogs and cats.

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