When taking care of your leopard gecko, there are certain things you should avoid. Some of these things include certain food choices or environmental factors. Learning the different aspects of feeding or daily care that may harm your leopard gecko should help you give them the best and keep them healthy.
Things that can stress or cause illness in leopard geckos include poor lighting, lack of access to clean water, poor food choices, loud music, and chemical deodorizers among others. By reducing exposure to these items, you can prolong the health of your leopard gecko.
If you take a step to comprehend the different foods and factors to avoid, you will keep your nocturnal gecko safe and happy. This article provides you with some of the essential foods you need to avoid feeding your gecko. It also explains the different factors to avoid for your pet’s health.
Bad Things for Leopard Geckos
There are several bad things that your leopard gecko shouldn’t consume. Note that some food types may be suitable for other animals, but they aren’t the best options for your gecko. Generally, leopard geckos consume different types of insects. However, feeding them with lighting bugs and some other types of food is inadvisable.
For better comprehension, this article provides a detailed breakdown of the different foods that are bad for your leopard gecko. It explains why each of these food choices is bad and the harm that it may cause for your pet. You’ll also get information about the different signs that indicate your leopard gecko is ill or stressed.
Four Foods Bad for Leopard Geckos
It’s essential to avoid feeding your leopard geckos with certain types of foods. You geckos can get sick by consuming the wrong meals. Here are the four different foods to avoid:
1. Lightning Bugs
Leopard geckos shouldn’t eat bugs that light up. Most of these insects contain harmful chemicals that will be very toxic for your gecko. The chemical in these lightning bugs is called luciferin and when it’s combined with oxygen, it becomes a new chemical called oxyluciferin.
The luciferin in lightning bugs has a low toxicity level for humans, but it’s not safe for your leopard gecko. Luciferin is also evidently resistant against chemical inhibitors, which also signifies that they may have slightly significant levels of toxicity.
The toxins in lightning bugs can be poisonous to your leopard geckos, which may cause sickness or death in the long run. In most cases, geckos consume lightning bugs and vomit them afterward. However, these reptiles may re-ingest them. It’s imperative to always keep these bugs away from your pet because they may also cause nausea.
Instead of feeding your leopard gecko with lightning bugs or fireflies, you should consider crickets. Most gecko owners know that crickets are one of the best food options for geckos. If you have a baby leopard gecko, you should feed the pet with five to seven small crickets. For adults, consider feeding them with six to seven large crickets.
2. Kale
Kale is a very common green and leafy vegetable with lots of nutrients for humans, but not always the best for your gecko. It’s a member of the cabbage family and they prevent leopard geckos and lizards from absorbing calcium properly. Less calcium for your gecko signifies a lower amount of nutritional content, which affects your pet’s overall health.
Generally, reptiles like leopard geckos shouldn’t have high amounts of kale. Hence, gut loading your gecko with that leafy vegetable may cause more harm than good to your gecko. The major reason why your kale isn’t the best option for your leopard gecko is that it contains oxalic acid, which is also in foods like spinach.
Since kale contains oxalate that inhibits the proper absorption of calcium, your leopard gecko may have poor bone health. If your pet reptile lacks a significant level of calcium, it may cause a condition called metabolic bone disease. This disease occurs due to your reptile’s effort to use stored calcium from the bones due to lack of adequate amounts of the nutrient.
A great alternative to kale for your leopard gecko is broccoli. You can choose to gut load some crickets with broccoli instead of kale or other high-oxalate veggies. Broccoli is also a great source of protein, fiber, and other healthy nutrients like potassium, selenium, and magnesium.
3. Wild-Caught Insects
As a leopard gecko owner, one of the significant foods to avoid is the ones that you catch outside your home. Wild-caught insects can be very dangerous for your precious pets and may cause different types of medical conditions that affect the overall well-being of your leopard gecko.
Wild-caught insects may include any of the typical foods for your geckos, including crickets, mealworms, locusts, or any other ones. The reason why you should avoid wild-caught insects as an owner is because they may contain parasites that can harm your leopard gecko. Apart from the possibility of a parasite, they may also contain some amounts of pesticides that can be highly toxic.
Due to the toxicity of the wild-caught insects, your leopard gecko may sustain a severe injury that may result in death. For this reason, you should also be careful when using insecticides in your home. It’s best to combat the insect population in your home naturally, instead of using insecticides. Your gecko may consume the toxic insect and get sick.
Consider purchasing the food for your leopard gecko from a reputable pet store. You can either go for the online ones or the physical shops. Ensure you select a notable brand that provides crickets, waxworms, silkworms, or Dubia Roaches. Some stores also offer dried ones because they tend to last longer. Note that fresh food is always a better alternative to dried ones.
4. Iceberg Lettuce
Another name for the Iceberg lettuce is “crisphead lettuce.” This vegetable has pale green leaves and they are common in cool climates but need a long winter for full growth. There’s nothing essentially horrible in your leopard gecko consuming iceberg lettuce, but it shouldn’t be an option where other healthy veggies are present.
Iceberg lettuce has a low amount of nutritional content and many individuals regard it as an unbeneficial source of the nutrient. Some may also liken it to cardboard due to its unimpressive health benefits. Note that iceberg lettuce is not a completely useless vegetable, but when you compare it with other veggies, it’s no match.
Constant feeding of your leopard gecko with iceberg lettuce is what may cause harm to your pet. However, if you don’t always give your gecko this inadvisable treat, you’re safe. Since the lettuce is low in some major nutrients, it can cause bad health conditions for your gecko if that’s all you feed your pet. On the positive side, the water content may help.
You should try feeding your leopard gecko with acorn squash, instead of iceberg lettuce. You should gut load crickets with this squash to help them enjoy the benefits of the vegetable. One of the significant advantages of acorn squash is its antioxidant level, which tends to neutralize free radicals (potential harmful molecules).
Four Environmental Factors / Conditions Bad for Leopard Geckos
As a leopard gecko owner, you must keep your pet in the right environmental conditions. A suitable environment will help in keeping your gecko’s social and physical behaviors. One of the benefits of the best conditions in the environment also includes disease prevention due to good hygiene.
For better overall health for your leopard gecko, here are four significant environmental factors you should avoid:
1. Poor Lighting
Avoid housing your leopard gecko in an environment with poor lighting. Maintain a reasonable lightning schedule by giving your gecko up to 14 hours of light during summer. Note that you should also try offering your pet a little bit of darkness, for approximately 10 hours in the entire day. On winter days, consider 12 hours of light and another 12 hours of darkness.
Due to the importance of lightning to geckos, you may need to recreate natural light cycles. Note that the importance of good lighting doesn’t automatically equate to the need for extremely bright light. Your leopard gecko is a nocturnal creature so, you should consider using UV bulbs. Utilizing UVB lightning proves to improve the health and the immune system of reptiles.
Bad lighting will make your leopard gecko less healthy and happy. Note that these reptiles are also nocturnal and a poor lightning routine or management can cause significant levels of discomfort. The fact that your leopard gecko is nocturnal doesn’t stop their sensitivity to both night and day to help them maintain a balanced night and day life.
It’s simple. The better alternative to bad lightning in your leopard gecko’s home is good lightning. You can achieve this by using black heat lamps both night and day. Avoid over-bright lightning because that can cause your pet to feel significant levels of stress and discomfort. If your choice of lighting is a bit too bright, you can leave out spots where your gecko can hide for less illumination.
2. Deep, Short, and Poorly Structured Terrarium
Generally, a poorly structured terrarium will stress your leopard gecko and cause high levels of discomfort. Your gecko should be in a long and shallow terrarium. Note that the least size for a leopard gecko should be ten gallons. Some use bigger sizes to house more than one reptile, but that’s not an advisable step to take.
Wire cages as a terrarium for your gecko are also highly inadvisable, no matter their dimensions. Go for terrariums that are glass materials to prevent them from sustaining injuries. It’s also advisable that the home of your gecko has a good source of ventilation and lightning for better survival.
A deep, short, and poorly structured terrarium will prevent your leopard gecko from displaying its natural characteristics, which may result in health conditions. If you notice any of the common stress signs in your gecko, it may be due to the poorly structured terrarium. Examples of these stress signs include stress licking, stress waving, excessive hiding, and glass surfing.
There’s no direct alternative to a deep, short, and poorly structured terrarium, other than a well-structured habitat. Use the best landscaping, furniture, and plants in the gecko’s home. Objects like rocks and logs will help in keeping your pet’s terrarium looking natural and comforting. Consider including artificial plants as well to create hiding areas.
3. Poor Temperature Control
Poor temperatures affect the overall state of your gecko’s body. These reptiles are exothermic, which means they can’t produce heat on their own. For this reason, they need to have supplemental heat sources. During the day, you should ensure that the tank has a temperature of approximately 80-to-85-degree Fahrenheit.
The basking region of your pet’s home should also be within 88 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Note that in the nighttime, the most suitable temperature should also be within 70 degrees Celsius. Any temperature that falls really below 70 degrees for either night or day is dangerous for your gecko. If you need to perform a temperature check, make use of a thermometer.
If your leopard gecko has a poor temperature, it will affect its overall health. You may observe that your gecko has problems with digestion of food and egestion of waste. Over time, this condition may cause malnutrition for your gecko because it becomes difficult for them to spend energy on eating.
If you’re trying to prevent poor temperature regulation in your leopard gecko’s terrarium, you need to practice thermoregulation. Note that thermoregulation is a concept that involves the geckos moving from a hotter region to a cooler region or vise-versa. The main purpose of this technique is to raise or lower the body temperature.
4. Lack of Access to Clean Water
Constant access and availability of clean water for your gecko is highly important for their overall health. Ensure that you always change the water supply for your gecko to avoid any problems with your pet’s health. As an owner, you should have a specific bowl or container for providing water to your pet reptile.
One of the most advisable steps to take is using a flat or shallow bowl for water, which helps you maintain a clean habit for your gecko. Following that technique also allows your gecko to drink easily without disturbing any of its natural activities. Please change the water if it contains drowned feeder insects or fecal matter.
There’s a tendency for your leopard geckos to contract infections directly connected to dirty water. Examples of these medical conditions include zoonotic diseases associated with bacteria. Note that you should always try avoiding any food source or water that hurts your gecko’s health.
There’s no other better alternative to no access to clean water apart from a good source of water. Ensure that you regularly change your gecko’s source of water and keep it clean to prevent significant zoonotic diseases.
3 Things Pet Owners Do that are Bad for Leopard Geckos
Apart from the foods and factors that pet owners should avoid, certain things are bad habits. Here are the three different things that you shouldn’t do to your gecko as a pet owner:
1. Playing Loud Music
Playing loud music is generally discomforting for both your pet gecko and other humans around. Very high music can result in hearing problems like temporary hearing loss. Your gecko is sensitive to sounds because they typically use their hearing for protecting themselves and hunting prey at night. Hence, loud music may cause significant discomfort for them.
What Harm Can Loud Music Cause?
Consistent loud music can make your leopard gecko lose trust in you. There’s a tendency that your pet will associate you with a bad experience like noise due to loud music. If an experience with loud music is associated with you, then you may observe that they become scared of you.
Better Alternative to Playing Loud Music
Instead of playing loud music, you should consider playing music at low volumes. If you want to listen to high-pitched music, ensure that you use headphones to sustain the trust between you and your pet geckos.
2. Chemical Deodorizers in Room
Chemical deodorizers are also called air fresheners, which are great for giving the room a great smell. These chemicals have significant advantages, but they aren’t safe for your geckos. Chemical deodorizers release semi-volatile and volatile organic compounds that may irritate your geckos. Instead of chemical deodorizers, it’s imperative to look for other alternatives.
What Harm Can Chemical Deodorizers Cause?
Your leopard gecko may inhale the air freshener, which will lead to significant levels of wheezing or sneezing. In more severe cases, using chemical deodorizers may result in respiratory infections in your pet reptile. Leopard geckos may ingest chemical deodorizers when they settle, which may result in sickness and death in the long run.
Better Alternative to Chemical Deodorizers
The best alternatives to chemical deodorizers include garbage disposal cubes or deodorizing carpet powders. Note that you shouldn’t use any major deodorizers close to your leopard gecko to avoid any respiratory form of discomfort.
3. Other Pets Causing Stressors
Many owners may think that their leopard geckos are lonely and for this reason, they decide to get more pets to keep them company. These pets are very solitary and bringing two geckos together will affect their natural characteristics. Generally, it’s advisable to avoid letting any additional gecko, reptile, or pet intrude in your gecko’s space.
What Harm Can Other Pets in Your Gecko’s Space Cause?
If you let other pets into your leopard gecko’s space, it may result in significant competition between your gecko and the pets. Your gecko will compete for food, water, and heat, which affects its health. Pairing your gecko with other pets, including another leopard gecko will cause territorial troubles. In most cases, this makes your gecko obtain severe injuries or lose its tail.
Better Alternative to Pairing Leopard Geckos with Pets
The safest alternative to pairing leopard geckos with pets is looking for another gecko of different sex. Note that this doesn’t stop potential fights between these reptiles, but it may reduce the chances of severe injuries. It’s also imperative to ensure that the geckos have similar sizes and weights. Pairing your gecko with any other reptile or pet is highly inadvisable.
Signs Your Leopard Gecko is Stressed or Ill
When your leopard gecko is stressed or ill, there are always significant signs that make it evident. However, if you avoid most of the different bad foods, factors, and things in this article, there’s a lower chance of your gecko sustaining any illness. For better comprehension, here are some of the major warning signs that indicate your gecko is ill or stressed:
- Aggression: One of the common signs of stress in leopard geckos is aggression toward their owners. If you put your gecko under the wrong environmental conditions, you may observe that they try getting aggressive when you want to touch or carry them.
- Tail Wagging: This type of reaction occurs when a gecko tries to defend itself from a potential attack. Potential attackers focus on the wagging tail, which makes them escape the situation.
- Irregular Bowel Movements: If your leopard gecko has irregular bowel movements, it may be due to low consumption of food or bad tank temperature. Hence, this sign is a significant red flag that indicates stress.
- No Food Consumption: Stress due to a change in temperature may cause your leopard gecko to go days without eating anything significant.
- Hiding for Extended Periods: Overfeeding of your leopard gecko causes stress and they react by hiding in certain regions of their terrarium.
Immediate Steps to De-Escalate the Situations & Lizard Stress Levels
Once you know the source of the stress to your leopard gecko, it’s easier to find a quick solution. Here are some of the major tips that could help in reducing the stress levels of your gecko:
- Ensure the gecko is under the appropriate temperature (80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Remove other geckos or pets around its habitat
- Feed your leopard gecko with the right types of food (crickets, mealworms, waxworms, and more)
- Give your gecko the right portion of food (five to seven gut-loaded crickets, depending on your pet’s size)
- Stop playing loud music or engaging in acts that may make your gecko uncomfortable
When Should You Consult a veterinarian?
Before consulting a veterinarian, you should consider taking immediate steps to reduce your leopard gecko’s stress levels. However, if your gecko is still ill, then it’s imperative to consult a veterinarian. In other words, if symptoms of sickness or stress persist, you should see a veterinarian with immediate effect.