Natural History of Leopard Geckos

Where do these guys come from?
What is the climate like?
What do they eat in the wild?
What is the natural "lifestyle" like?
Are chiton impactions common?
Does anyone feed the canned, (more tender and digestible) diets like Can O' Worms?

Thanks.

Well here goes any one correct me if I'm wrong, likeI know you will!!
They're native to pakistan/afghanistan. The weather is very hot and dry during the day sometimes reaching 115%. At night it gets very cool about 60-65 degrees or lower. They are a nocturnal species. Hunting mostly on beetles, spiders,grubs& smaller lizards. During the day they usually find a good cool rock crevice to sleep in or under.

And in my oppinion go with live worms/foods, The can o worms are jacked with preservatives plus gutloading is key to the health and well being of yor lizards.You never know what the worms were used for, before getting sent out to the taxiderm shop. LOL

Several months ago, someone let me know about this interesting and very cool website:

http://afghangeckos.netfirms.com/

I don't agree with all that's stated on the site, but I absolutely agree with the representation of the different leopard gecko variants and their adaptations dependent on reional differences (like food availability, terrain, migration ability, etc) which can be seen by their differences in size, coloration, and other differences. These differences are both physical and genetic, as we have proved with captive breeding- ie, Ray Hine HCT lineage vs. prior line-bred Tangs). Also, you can see that contrary to popular beliefs furthered by Petco et al., sand is NOT their natural base habitat.

Check it out

Sand is present in their natural habitat. In the wild they dig out the sand between the rocks to make a little crevice to climb into (to sleep, keep out of the hot sun or to lay eggs etc...)

Very informational site on wild type leos.u-da-man.

***wo-man!

Originally Posted by Ian S.

And in my oppinion go with live worms/foods, The can o worms are jacked with preservatives plus gutloading is key to the health and well being of yor lizards.You never know what the worms were used for, before getting sent out to the taxiderm shop. LOL

Excellent point.



Linz,
thanks for the research link.

As far as i know the canned insects are only cooked and packaged. No where in the ingredient list does it say perserves, BUT you never know! Doesn't mean they can't have them. Also Ian brough up a wonderful point, you never know if they were gutloaded either!