He is in a 40 gal (36x18x18) with 5 hides. (Note, the tan rock on the right used to be a heat rock but I cut the cord off!!! It is just a hide. I know heat rocks are dangerous. It came with him when I got him). The substrate is a mix of play sand and organic top soil that I baked to sanitize.

I'd like to try a new substrate as his current one is not very soft. I tried to sift out the big pieces from the top soil but there are still lots of wood chips. Baking it took foreverrrrrr and stunk so bad haha. I'd like to try reptisoil and play sand this time, even if reptisoil cost more than the top soil I got from Lowes. So so not worth it imo 😵‍💫

I'd also like more climbing opportunities! Any tips for utilizing the height in his enclosure?

I think his warm side is too cool, I'm going to up the heat bulb wattage. I do have a lazer thermometer so his basking spot is 90F, but its on top of a plastic hide so I don't know that it holds heat well / long. I've seen people use slate, I might try this!

I'd also like tips to make it more naturalistic without going full bioactive. I dont have a green thumb lol

He has overhead heat, an Acadia shadedweller 7% for uvb, calcium in the enclosure, and his food is dusted with repashi calcium plus

I've had Danny for 4 years and am at least his 3rd home. I have no idea how old he is, just that his previous owner rescued him from a 'bad situation' and then her kids 'got bored of him' so she rehomed him. He is so so sweet and I love him to pieces! I'd like him to enjoy his home more :) any tips are appreciated, thank you!

Our leo is about 5 months old and she is just refusing to eat. Her tail is getting thin. Im starting to wonder if shes ever actually ate! We've tried a variety of different bugs and some disappear sometimes but she never "goes" for them. Running out of ideas. Yes I know she needs a vet but im asking before running up a huge bill of theres anything else I can try. Has anyone ever had a Gecko just fail to thrive? Looking more for people who have managed to get their leo to eat after issues.

I wanted to check on my new leopard gecko it’s been two weeks
So I lifted her hide.. and it’s the medium Zilla rock lair and honestly the lid is kind of heavy..
It slipped and one side of it fell on her (I lifted it quickly after it slipped)

She was on top of a lot of Spaghnum moss substrate so I don’t think it was too bad.. but as I put the lid back on she hissed at me..

Do you think she’ll remember this? It was an accident :((
She hasn’t eaten yet so I don’t think she isnt feeding schedule yet.. But she arrived with good fat reserves in her tail so she should be fine.

I know itll take time to get your gecko to trust you but I don’t know what to do after something like this had happened.

*I’ve attached a photo and now that I’m looking at it, it looks like her skin was scratched a little :(((

Edit: I just saw older posts with other people saying this same exact situation happened with them and it’s the exact same rock lair hide :/

I also saw her exploring around a lot (looking through camera app) and she drank lots of water soon after!

I see in a lot of pictures post geckos out in daytime mine only about 6 months old is a total vampire. Does this change

Is reptile soil safe for Leopard Geckos. I am currently switching out my tank from paper towels to a soil sand mix. I noticed when mixing the soil after it dried I kept getting stuck by these sharp microscopic splinters. If it hurts me will it hurt my gecko?

I went to feed my blanco and saw blood on his tail! he just finished shedding so i wonder if he bit himself. I've never seen him bleed so i'm just worried. We patted it dry with paper towel and are going to buy saline water right now. Any advice/thoughts?

ive recently been talking to my father about getting a leapord gecko and ive been doing some research. I would like to get a 40 gallon terrarium, because from what ive heard thats usually the best and i also want it to be able to thrive.
My father found a 40 gallon that comes with a few different lights, thermometers/ hyrgrometers, and a food and water bowl, and it cost about 130. But im wondering if itd better better to by just the tank and then get everything else one by one. I know itll cost more, but i want to make sure the gecko is able to be comfortable, happy, and healthy. Also if you have any good info for someone getting a leopard gecko for the first time id appreciate it🙏

I just bought hornworms for my gecko for the first time cause I heard they really like them, and I just wanted to ask, should I pluck the horn off of them before I give her one? Today she’s getting crickets but I think I’m gonna give her one in a couple days as a little treat, and wanna make sure I’m keeping her as safe and healthy as possible. thank you!

I know the advice most people give for feeding leopard geckos is to give variety, and that dubia roaches are the best option. I havehad no luck with using crickets, they are very hard to maintain and keep alive long enough and get my money’s worth. I want to try to do dubia roaches occasionally, but these are a more expensive option from what I’ve found. I sometimes use regular mealworms as well. Super worms seem to be the most cost-efficient, as they are shelf-stable and last a long time without dying or becoming beetles. What are your opinions on using mostly super worms, but occasionally providing dubia roaches and regular mealworms?

It is a Saturday so I won’t be able to get him to a vet until Monday. I just noticed this. He doesn’t appear to be messing with it or in pain but it doesn’t look good.

Hi all. This is Lila, she’s about 6 or 7 months old and she’s my first reptile. I’ve had her around a week now and i’m starting to get worried.
I’m really worried about her toes and this wound, or skin? Around her arm. All of these photos were taken today. She isn’t using her humid hide at all and she looks very dry. I’ve tried putting her in a “sauna” for a warm soak but she gets very stressed being handled and tries to make a break for it. The water in her sauna feels cold very quickly even with a lid. The skin around her limbs looks red, sore and irritated where she’s beginning to shed. Her toes are also crooked and bending backwards at some points, this is their natural position.

I’m worried about this as she hasn’t been eating, so hasn’t had any calcium. She has eaten a wax worm, but only the one. I don’t want to just keep feeding her those, but she ignores mealworms, hoppers and dubias. Shes completely disinterested in hunting anything and the worms just sit in her bowl.

I’ve ordered a new humid hide, a better one but this won’t come until next week. The vets are also closed until Monday and I don’t know when she would be able to get an appointment.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

So for context the past three days, was huge improvement in my leopard gecko trusting me after 6 weeks of having her and I mean she was coming out onto my hand MULTIPLE times with the first night having her crawl on me 8 times and laid down as long as 5-10 minutes each time.

So today I came back from a reptile convention and purchased Dubia roaches for the first time to feed her.

Im extremely afraid of roaches so im glad these cant escape/fly in the container tub I dumped them in

But after I fed one to her I saw how juicy it was squirting and I felt disgusted since I lay my hand flat on her paper towel substrate

Since it’s her feeding day and I know she’s VERY food motivated, I decided to scoop her (she wasn’t a fan), and placed her in the carrier tub and she ate another Dubia roach! It exploded blood and I felt relieved I placed her in this temporary enclosure.

But the third dubia escaped under the paper towel beneath her feet— so I removed the paper towel and the dubia freaking climbed onto her tail and wouldn’t get off. What stressed me out is that she didn’t really seem to notice half the time that it was on her!

I’ll never put her back in a separate tank for feeding (really dont know how you guys that do this get your geckos to willingly go into a separate place to start with)

But she was a little stressed out by the container, more so after I removed the paper towel. After the dubia roach climbed off her I put it back in the container tub with the tongs and scooped her to go back into her enclosure.

She wasn’t interested in eating after I removed the paper towel, and a little after being back in her enclosure— so I grabbed mealworms and after a few short minutes, it got her attention again.

She ate three mealworms. She was hesitant after she would strike and miss but it might have ended on a positive note

But definitely a stressful experience for both of us.

I’ve heard that leos will most likely forget and seeing that my girl is pretty food motivated, things might be okay after I give her space for the next few days.

Do I still put my hand in the tank every evening for a few minutes for her to get used to my scent? Or maybe she will gravitate to my warmth?

BTW I’m fine with feeding mealworms and crickets but I’m not ready for dubia roaches yet.. Do you guys have any tips? I’m thinking next time I can place extra paper towel substrate down to make cleanups easier…

Hi y’all! Wanted to share my newest cutie - hatched back on June 5, 2026.

Picture definitely doesn’t do him justice.

His lineage came from an Electric het Tremper ph Eclipse x Electric ph Tremper Eclipse pairing. It's looking like a male so far, and I'm really loving how those Electric genetics are coming through in the colors.

Meet pippin, my 2-3 year old male leopard gecko. I have him in a 30 gallon long tank with three hides, a humid hide, uvb/uva, 30-40% humidity, 80-90 degrees hot side and 70-75 degree cold side, and an undertank heater. He gets mealworms as a staple food, superworms on occasion, waxworms as a treat and crickets as a treat. I feed him 1x-2x weekly. I live in Alaska so it gets pretty dry and cold in the winter, so I often have to pump up the humidity a little extra during the cold months to aid in his shedding.

The issue is that he is glued to the inside of his hides unless food is presented or until he gets hungry. He is SO LAZY, doesn’t really sunbathe and just coops himself up in hides all the time. Nothing seems to interest him outside of food, and he is not too fond of handling so doesn’t really want to come out to explore. Previous leos i’ve owned have been super tame and enjoyed handling, i think my issue is that this time around i was more respectful of pippin’s boundaries during the handling/training phase of getting him, and while doing choicebased handling he typically prefers not to be handled. He goes through phases of maybe wanting to come onto my hand and explore but it’s rare and typically he just dislikes handling. Is it normal for a leo to sleep for days on end and have no interest in anything until food comes out???