Mexican Banded Gecko General
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Sexing your gecko is fairly easy, as there are two main differences between males and females (see below). To sex your gecko it is usually easiest to place them in a see-through container and then look at their underside. Trying to sex your gecko whilst holding it may prove difficult, as they probably won't want stay there for long.
Male
- 'v' shape preanal pores between the back legs
- Bulbous tail base
Female
- Lacking preanal 'v' shaped pores
- Base of tail less bulbous
Mexican Banded geckos should be fed 3 to 5 times a week, with the main proportion of the diet consisting of crickets. Other foods which can be offered occasionally for variety include:
Mealworms- quite fatty, not as easily digestible as crickets, but can be left in the enclosure for the geckos to help themselves.
Waxworms-very fattening, good for livening the appetite of ill geckos HOWEVER highly addictive - should be offered to healthy geckos as a treat only.
Locusts- good as a treat. Very nutritional when gutloaded.
Freeze-dried alternatives are available, however do not always contain as many nutrients as live food. They can however, be offered once in a while to increase diet variety. Geckos hunt for their food, so remember by offering pre-killed alternatives, they may not be stimulated to eat non-moving prey. As a general rule, food items should be no wider lengthways, than the width of the geckos head (see picture).
Extra care should be taken to gutload the food, in order to provide essential nutrients for your 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 foodsFish food (flakes), Bran (Weetabix etc), Oats, Baby cereal
Food must be dusted with calcium and vitamin supplements.
Read more about vitamin and calcium supplements.
Vitamin and calcium supplements
The process of calcium and vitamin intake in banded geckos is complicated. In simplified terms, there are three key essential vitamins and minerals - calcium, vitamin D3 and phosphorus. Like in humans, calcium is essential to aid growth and maintain bones, but other vitamins and minerals are needed to aid the process of absorbing calcium. Vitamin D3 is also essential, among other things it helps absorb calcium and control phosphorous levels. Phosphorous obtains energy and aids in producing protein.
You must be careful with the amounts of calcium and multivitamins used as it possible to give too much to your leopard gecko which can be very harmful. Too much multivitamin can badly affect calcium intake.
How much and how often to use: Use a small pinch of multi-vitamin or calcium powder, a light dusting of supplements will suffice. Use the calcium only powder every feed, but replace with multi-vitamin powder once or twice a week.
How to dust the food: Place the desired amount of livefood in a plastic beaker type container with a lid or a plastic sandwich/freezer bag, drop in a pinch of calcium only/multivitamin powder and shake gently until all of the livefood is lightly dusted.
Banded geckos are nocturnal, and are therefore most active at night. They are normally slow in their movement, and spend most of the daytime hiding under substrate or objects where it is cool and moist.
If you wish to handle your gecko, 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. Some seem to tolerate bit of human contact quite well, while others despise it . 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. Remember to wash your hands before and after handling, for the benefit of both you and your gecko.
Enclosures should be spot-checked everyday for faeces, which your gecko will usually select a corner for, uneaten or dead livefood, and shed skin which is uneaten.
Water bowls should be cleaned and fresh water provided at least every other day.
The entire enclosure should be completely cleaned once every 4 to 6 months with new substrate provided. Reptile disinfectants are available, avoid using bleach and other toxic chemicals.
Full grown adults reach up to around 4 inches in size, and live up to an average of 7 to 10 years in captivity.
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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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