Hatchling Gecko Introduction

Moving out of the incubation container into a new home
The main importance is to not stress the hatchling, this can be avoided or minimised by not handling the hatchling. Place the incubation container into the new home and remove the lid. You can either be very patient and let the hatchling make it's own way out, or very, very gently tap the hatchling from the back, which should encourage it to move forwards and then 'guide it out of the container. It is best to then not disturb the hatchling again until the next day when water should be changed.

Basic setup



A basic home for your hatchling leopard gecko should include:

• A water bowl (Click here to read more information about water bowls, including sizes and cleaning)
• A humid hide (Click here to read more information about the purpose of a humid hide and how to make one)
• Hides (Click here to read more information about the purpose of hides and how to make them)
• A calcium dish (Click here to read about calcium and vitamin supplements)
• A basic size for a hatchling set up: Length: 8 to 10 inches (20-25 centimetres) Width: 8 to 10 inches (20-25 centimetres) Height: 4 to 5 inches (10 to13 centimetres). See the housing types and sizes section for more information.

First shed
The first shed will normally occur from 2 to 5 days after hatching, and evidence of a shed can normally be seen in the form of discoloured (pale/grey/green) faeces.

First feeding
After their first shed hatchlings should be ready to feed. It is important to be patient, some hatchlings take longer before they feed, and most will only eat a few crickets on their first few feedings. It is advisable to house hatchlings separately at this stage to monitor eating habits. For information on what to feed your hatchling, how often, how much, what size, vitamin & calcium supplements etc, click HERE to go to hatchling feeding information.

General Hatchling Information

Select............................................... .................... Sexing Shedding Handling Cleaning

Sexing
Temperature sexing is obviously not always completely accurate, and sexing a hatchling leopard gecko can be quite hard until later stages of development. It is easier to establish the sex of a male, due to the more prominent attributes. Sexing is possible in the first few months, but with a growing gecko it will be more accurate to sex after five to six months of age when more developed, to avoid confusion. For more information on how to sex your gecko click here.

Shedding
Hatchling and juvenile leopard geckos will shed more often than adults due to more rapid growth. It is essential that you provide a moist hide in order for the gecko to shed properly. Click here to find out how to make one.

Handling
Hatchling geckos are very skittish and normally petrified of human contact, but with growth, usually calm down and become a lot more easy to handle. It is best to let the gecko climb onto you out of choice, rather than grabbing it when it may not wish to be picked up. Remember to wash your hands before and after handling, for the benefit of both you and your gecko.

Cleaning
The enclosure should be checked everyday for faeces, uneaten shed skin and remains of uneaten food. The water bowl should be cleaned every day, and fresh water provided. Kitchen roll on the floor of the enclosure and inside the humid hide should be changed at least every other day, or when soiled.

Hatchling Housing Information

Select................................................. .................... Housing Types & Sizes Lighting & Heating Substrate How to make a Humid Hide Hides Water bowls

Housing Types and Sizes
Because your hatchling leopard gecko is constantly growing, it is unadvisable to invest in a wooden vivarium or glass tank which can both be expensive. 'Geo-Flats', 'Critter Keepers' etc are great for providing good ventilation and a fairly inexpensive compared to other enclosures. Large 'tupperware' containers can be used for very young hatchling geckos.

It is essential to make sure there is plenty of ventilation in the enclosure. It is not important to have a tall tank as leopard geckos are terrestrial (ground-dwelling) and a fall could be very serious at this early stage.

Lighting and Heating
Lighting is not necessary for a leopard gecko, however, correct heating is essential. Leopard geckos thermoregulate in order to find the optimum body temperature. This is where the gecko will move about to find the temperature where they are most comfortable. Therefore they require both a warm side and cool side in their enclosure, creating a temperature gradient.As geckos are cold-blooded they gain their heat from the air, rather than generating their own body temperature.

For daytime, the temperatures should be about 28-31◦C (83-88◦F) at the warm end and 20-21◦C (about 70◦F) on the opposite side of the enclosure. And for the night time, a drop of about 5-10◦C from the daytime temperature is required. So at the warm end, 22-26◦C (72-79◦F). In the summer months, the daytime heat should last approximately 12 hours a day, and in the winter months, approximately 9-10 hours a day.

These are generally the temperatures needed on the substrate rather than the air. The main heat source should be a heat mat, placed at one end of the enclosure on the floor, (leopard geckos acquire most of their heat through warming their bellies on the ground). It should cover about a third or just over, of the floor space, no more as this does not allow for a heat gradient and should also be left on 24 hours a day. It is recommended, as with all heat sources in your geckos enclosure, that a thermostat is used, to maintain required temperature properly, and to prevent the temperature getting too high, which may result in burns.

Substrate
Hatchling and juveniles (or until they are at least 5-6 inches long), should only be housed on kitchen roll. Using anything else such as sand or bark chips will more than likely result in impaction. Damp kitchen roll can be used in the humid hide.

How to make a humid hide
Leopard geckos require a humid hide in order to aid their shedding. Without adequate humidity, the gecko may not shed properly which can result in loss of toes and many other complications. A humid hide for an hatchling leopard gecko can be made from an empty wax-worm tub, with a hole cut in the side, large enough for easy access, with kitchen roll placed inside, changed and dampened regularly. For larger juvenile leopard geckos, a humid hide can simply be made out of a small plastic tub, such as a small butter or margarine tub, with a hole cut in the side or lid, big enough for the gecko to easily fit through. The best way again to keep humidity is to line the bottom of the tub with a few layers of damp kitchen roll, which will need to be changed and dampened regularly.

Hides
Plenty of hides are essential for leopard geckos, especially if housing more than one together. They do not feel safe without many of secure places to hide, and this may result in problems such as aggression and stress, which can lead to many other problems, and bullying of other geckos. Hides can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish, but just remember the main aim - to make your gecko feel safe. It is preferable to keep the hide quite dark, and give enough space for the gecko to be comfortable and move around in, but not so vast that it feels lost. A good sized hide for an hatchling or juvenile leopard gecko, as a guide, is a small butter or margarine tub. If housing more than one gecko in the same enclosure, provide at least 2-3 hides per gecko to minimise the possibility of bullying.

Water bowls
Water bowls should be easily accessible and should be placed on the cooler side of the enclosure. Make sure that the water bowl is not too large for your growing gecko, otherwise a fall into the water bowl may result in drowning. A screw-top milk container lid is an ideal size for hatchling geckos. Water bowls should be cleaned every day, and fresh water provided.

Hatchling Feeding Information

Select............................................... .................... Food Types & Sizes How Much / How Often? Gutloading livefood Vitamin & Calcium Supplements

Food types and sizes
Crickets should be the main food source, other livefoods are too fatty or not easily digestible for hatchlings at this early stage. The cricket should be no wider lengthways than the width of the geckos head.

How much / how often?
Hatchling geckos should be fed everyday, and will usually eat up to ten to fifteen items per feed after their first few weeks.

Gutloading livefood
Extra care should be taken to gutload the food, in order to provide essential nutrients for your growing gecko. Livefood when bought has usually not been fed for a while, or even at all, and therefore does not contain many of the nutrients vital to the diet of your geckos. It is essential to feed livefood for 24 hours before feeding to your geckos (known as gutloading). Livefood can be fed on a variety of dried or fresh foods. Below is only as a guide for basic gutloading of livefood, and the food listed only contains some of the required vitamins. It is important to provide fresh foods as well as dry, particularly for crickets and locusts. Meal worms and wax worms however require less moisture.


Fresh foods: Green leafy vegetables, such as lettuce, Carrots, Apple
Dried foods: Fish food (flakes), Bran (Weetabix etc), Oats, Baby cereal

Vitamin & Calcium Supplements
Food should be dusted with calcium only powder four to five times a week, and a multivitamin powder two to three times a week. Read more about this in the vitamin and calcium supplements section.

Hatchling Behaviour

Select............................................... .................... General behaviour Handling Behaviour Towards Other Geckos

General behaviour
Leopard geckos are nocturnal, meaning they are most active at night. Hatchling geckos will spend most of the daylight ours sleeping in hides. They are usually petrified of humans, and will often let out a 'scream' or hiss if scared or annoyed. They are also normally very skittish and fast, which should be taken into consideration when cleaning, feeding etc. They normally adapt a calmer temperament within a few months, and become less timid and skittish with age.

Handling
Hatchling geckos are very skittish and normally petrified of human contact, but with growth, usually calm down and become a lot more easy to handle. It is best to let the gecko climb onto you out of choice, rather than grabbing it when it may not wish to be picked up. Remember to wash your hands before and after handling, for the benefit of both you and your gecko.

Behaviour towards other geckos
If housing more than one hatchling together, it is firstly essential to make sure they are of the same size, otherwise bullying is likely to occur. Behaviour varies in each individual gecko, some may live happily housed with others, some may either bully or be bullied - something very important to watch out for when housing together. Should bullying occur, the geckos should all be housed separately as soon as bullying behaviour is noticed if it is not apparent which gecko or geckos are doing the bullying. However it may be possible just to remove the bully/bullies but is often safer just to re-house them all individually.

Hatchling Health Information

Select................................................ .................... Shedding Problems Parasites Bullying Tail loss

Shedding problems
Shedding problems are usually caused by the lack of humidity from a humid hide. If the conditions are too dry, geckos will have particular problems shedding the skin on their toes and around their face. If left, it may progress to a number of problems such as loss of toes and infections. To remove unshed skin from the toes: use a tub large enough for the gecko to comfortably stand in for ten to fifteen minutes, fill just enough of the tub, to cover the geckos toes, with warm water. After ten minutes, very gently rub the unshed skin with a cotton bud. Do not force the skin as this will make it sore and may lead to infections, if the skin doesn't come loose after ten minutes leave for another five to ten minutes and try using the cotton bud again.

Parasites
There are two types of parasite, (usually) visible parasites on the outside body of the gecko, and internal parasites which are not visible to the human eye. Parasites thrive on dirt and faeces, therefore the geckos enclosure should be spot checked every day for uneaten crickets, faeces and uneaten shed skin, which should be removed immediately, and water bowls should be cleaned out at least every two days. See the cleaning section for more information. Geckos with parasites may show signs such as loss of appetite and lack of energy. If in doubt, visit a reptile vet as soon as possible with a most recent sample of faeces, so that tests can be done to establish the cause of the illness. Parasites, if caught in time are easily treatable, but are very easily spread to other geckos. If you suspect your gecko has parasites, especially if they are housed with more geckos, remove them from the enclosure immediately and put them into quarantine. It is also advisable that if housed with other geckos, that they are also quarantined and tested for parasites before being introduced back into the enclosure, which should be very thoroughly cleaned, including decorations, and fresh substrate provided.

Bullying
It is not always apparent at first that a gecko may be being bullied. You may not see the bullying, as geckos are nocturnal, it is more likely to occur at night. MALES should NEVER be housed together as bullying is inevitable, although a male can be housed with many females, If housing geckos together, plenty of hides should be included in the enclosure so the geckos are able to retreat and feel safe. At least one or two hides per gecko is an absolute minimum. Signs of bullying may include:

• Loss of appetite or fear to eat
• Bite marks, which appear most commonly on the tail and head, which may range from looking severe to appearing like scuffed, dry skin
• Tail Loss
• Lack of energy
• Hiding more than usual
• Fearful of movement

If housing a pair, and they both show signs of bullying, the only way to resolve the problem would be to house them separately, or in the case of more than two geckos housed together, observations may point out who's doing the bullying and then the particular gecko can be singled out and re-housed individually, avoiding re-housing the whole group

Tail loss
Leopard geckos have the ability to 'drop' their tail for the purpose of defence, which is known as autotomy, HOWEVER, this does not mean that geckos should be picked up or pulled by the tail. When a tail has been lost, extra care should be taken to keep the wound clean until it heals. The gecko should be quarantined whether in with other geckos or on its own. The gecko should be kept on clean kitchen roll until the wound has healed, so that no sand or dirt can get into it, and an antibacterial cleaner such as 'Tamodine' should be used. The tail will regenerate , but will very rarely look the same as before the tail was dropped. Geckos will live a perfectly normal life with a regenerated tail.

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Please note that all information represents our own views and experiences, and those of other experienced breeders and hobbyists who we have worked closely alongside. Winston's Web therefore holds no responsibility. If in doubt, ask a qualified herpetological veterinary surgeon.
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