How to Select a Healthy Pet Leopard Gecko From a Leopard Gecko Breeder – Pet Store
If you’ve thought it through and made the decision that a gecko is a pet you want, then you can begin your search for your new pet. You should choose carefully and you should go into the shopping process having decided on a couple of things.
One of these factors is the color and pattern you’d prefer your new gecko to have. You should choose one attractive; geckos can live a long time, so select a color you enjoy looking at! You’ll also need to know how to properly care for your new pet. You have to know what to feed your gecko when they need to be fed, and as much as possible about its behavior. You’ll also want to have their vivarium ready to go for when you bring them home.
You should then start looking for a pet shop that deals in reptiles. Many pet shops sell geckos and there are also specialized gecko breeders who breed leopard geckos for particular colors and patterns, so you may want to look into this if you have your heart set on a certain color of leopard gecko.
You can find all of the information you need about owning and caring for a gecko from a variety of books and websites, as well as forums that are frequented by people who have pet leopard geckos themselves. Reptiles like these geckos have different needs than cats or dogs, so make sure you know all of the important facts before you pick up your new pet.
When you’re looking at geckos, you’ll want to choose one which is healthy. The following tips can help ensure that the gecko you pick is in good health:
1) You should be looking for a gecko that is lively and alert. If they run and hide when you get near their cage, this is a good sign. A gecko that doesn’t seem to mind you approaching it is probably sick.
2) A healthy gecko should have lustrous, healthy-looking skin. If their skin looks dull or has bits of old skin that should have been shed sticking to it, then it is likely not in good health and has been cared for poorly.
3) Make sure that any gecko you’re considering adopting does not have any broken or weak limbs or other signs of injury. If a leopard gecko you’re looking at has an injury that seems not to have healed or a missing tail that is showing no signs of growing back, this is an indicator that they are in poor health and that you should keep looking for another leopard gecko to take home.
4) Check for signs of parasites. One of the most common parasites affecting leopard geckos will be manifested by red specks on their skin, especially around the base of their legs, necks, eyes, and rectum.
5) A well-fed gecko is a healthy gecko, so make sure that any gecko you want to take home as your new pet does not have extremely prominent pelvic bones (this is a sign of malnutrition).
