Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis macularius): Wild Facts and Habitat

What does a leopard gecko look like?

A wild leopard gecko has a pale yellow to tan or brownish-orange back covered in small, irregular dark brown or black spots, which gave the species its name. The belly is white or cream. The skin is covered in tiny granular scales with scattered raised bumps (tubercles), which gives it a pebbly look. The specific name macularius comes from the Latin macula, “spot.”

The head is large and triangular, with big eyes and vertical, slit-shaped pupils that open wide in the dark. Leopard geckos have movable upper and lower eyelids, so they can blink and close their eyes while resting. The genus name Eublepharis means “good eyelid” in Greek. Most other geckos lack true eyelids and have a clear, fixed scale over each eye instead.

Young leopard geckos look quite different from adults. Hatchlings are boldly banded in dark brown and pale yellow or white, and the bands break up into spots as they grow. The bright yellow, orange, white and patternless forms seen in the pet trade are “morphs” produced by selective breeding; wild animals are much duller.

Size: how big do leopard geckos get?

The leopard gecko is a small to medium lizard. Adults usually measure about 18–28 cm (7–11 in) from snout to tail tip, and most are around 20–22 cm (8–9 in). Males are larger than females, with broader heads and thicker necks.

A well-fed gecko’s tail can be nearly as thick as its body, and the tail alone holds a large share of its body weight. Some captive breeding lines are larger than wild geckos, so record sizes from pet animals say little about the species in nature.

Habitat and range

The leopard gecko is native to South Asia and the eastern edge of the Middle East. Its range covers much of Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan, reaches into northwest India and eastern Iran, and extends into western Nepal, where the species was confirmed only in recent years. Scientists recognize several subspecies across this area.

It lives in arid and semi-arid country with sparse vegetation: rocky hillsides, dry grassland, thorn scrub and stony semi-desert with clay or gravel soils. It seems to avoid loose, sandy dunes, which do not hold burrows well. Crevices, rock piles and the burrows of other animals provide shelter from heat and predators. In parts of Pakistan and Nepal it is also found in dry open forest, sometimes hiding under loose bark.

The climate here is far from tropical. Summers are hot, but winter nights can fall well below 10 °C (50 °F). For more detail on where wild leopard geckos live and how they survive the seasons, see Where do leopard geckos live?

Diet: what do wild leopard geckos eat?

Leopard geckos are insectivores and opportunistic predators. In the wild they eat beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, spiders, scorpions, centipedes and other invertebrates they find while moving across the ground at night. Large adults occasionally take small vertebrates such as other lizards, and even hatchlings of their own species.

They hunt by sight and smell. A gecko stalks slowly toward its prey, often twitching or waving the tip of its tail, then lunges and grabs it with a quick snap of the jaws. Its teeth are small and numerous: a leopard gecko has about 100 teeth and keeps replacing them throughout its life, each one roughly every 3–4 months.

Like many lizards, leopard geckos eat their shed skin after molting. This may recycle nutrients and also removes a trace that could lead a predator to them.

Behavior: night life, eyelids and the fat tail

Wild leopard geckos are mainly nocturnal. They spend the hot day underground or under rocks and come out at dusk, when the ground is still warm. Rocks hold the day’s heat for hours after sunset, so the geckos can stay warm enough to hunt in the early night. Some field and keeper reports describe activity at dawn and dusk too, so the species is sometimes called crepuscular (active in twilight).

Although they cannot climb glass, leopard geckos are good climbers on rough surfaces. Their toes end in small claws, which grip rock, earth banks and branches. Read How do geckos climb walls? to see why other geckos can walk up windows and leopard geckos cannot.

The thick tail is the leopard gecko’s pantry. It stores fat that the lizard can live on when food is scarce or when it is inactive through the cold months. When attacked, a leopard gecko can drop its tail, which keeps wriggling for up to half an hour while the gecko escapes. A new tail grows back, but it is usually smoother, shorter and more bulbous than the original. This process, called autotomy, is explained in Why do lizards drop their tails?

Leopard geckos are fairly vocal for lizards. When threatened they may squeak, chirp or give a short bark-like call, and they raise their bodies and wave their tails as a warning. Their main defense, though, is simply staying hidden: the spotted pattern blends with gravel and dry soil.

Some herpetologists describe wild leopard geckos living in loose groups where suitable shelter is plentiful. Males are territorial toward other males. A male can tell another gecko’s sex by scent, using chemical cues on the skin, and adult males fight with arched backs, short charges and bites.

Reproduction and life cycle

In the wild, breeding takes place in the warm months after the geckos emerge from their winter retreat. A male courts a female by vibrating his tail and gently biting her skin or neck. Females can store sperm, so one or two matings can fertilize several clutches.

Leopard geckos almost always lay two eggs per clutch. A female can lay several clutches in one season, up to six or more in captivity. She buries the soft, leathery eggs, each roughly 28 mm (1.1 in) long, in damp soil or under rocks where they will not dry out. There is no parental care after laying.

Incubation lasts roughly 6–12 weeks, depending on temperature. Hatchlings cut their way out with an “egg tooth,” a small hard tip on the snout that drops off soon afterward, and they usually shed their skin within the first day. They reach adult size and breed at around 1–2 years of age.

The leopard gecko is a classic example of temperature-dependent sex determination: the temperature of the nest, not chromosomes, decides whether an embryo becomes male or female. Studies of incubated eggs show that cooler temperatures, around 26–29 °C (79–84 °F), produce mostly females, intermediate temperatures around 31–33 °C (88–91 °F) produce mostly males, and very warm temperatures near 34–35 °C (93–95 °F) again produce mostly females. Sex is fixed during roughly the first few weeks of development.

How long do leopard geckos live?

Lifespan in the wild is poorly studied. Small lizards face many predators and harsh winters, and most wild leopard geckos are thought to live well under 10 years. In captivity, with no predators and a steady food supply, they commonly live 10–20 years, and some individuals have been reported living past 20. That makes them long-lived for a lizard of their size.

Predators, threats and conservation status

A small, slow-moving lizard is food for many animals. Likely predators of wild leopard geckos include snakes, owls and other birds of prey, foxes and other small carnivores, and larger lizards. Nocturnal habits, camouflage, warning calls and tail autotomy all help them survive.

The main human threats are habitat change and collection. Grazing, farming and building can remove the rocky shelters and grassland they need, and wild geckos were once collected in large numbers for the pet trade, especially from Pakistan. Today the vast majority of pet leopard geckos are captive-bred, which has greatly reduced demand for wild animals.

The IUCN Red List classifies the leopard gecko as Least Concern. It has a large range across several countries, tolerates some disturbed habitat and is common in suitable places. Its biology in the wild is less well known than its life in captivity, and local populations in heavily farmed or built-up areas may still be affected.

Leopard geckos and related eyelid geckos

The leopard gecko belongs to Eublepharidae, a small family of eyelid geckos. Its relatives include the African fat-tailed gecko of West Africa and the banded geckos (Coleonyx) of the southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America, such as the western banded gecko of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. All share movable eyelids and lack sticky toe pads, and all are ground-dwellers of dry or forest-floor habitats. The genus Eublepharis also contains several other leopard gecko species in India, Iran, Iraq and Turkmenistan, some of them described only recently.

Myths and facts

Myth: All geckos can climb walls. Fact: Leopard geckos and other eyelid geckos have no adhesive toe pads and cannot climb smooth surfaces such as glass.

Myth: Leopard geckos are desert sand dwellers. Fact: They live mostly in rocky, dry grassland and scrub with firm soil, and they tend to avoid loose sandy dunes.

Myth: A dropped tail grows back exactly the same. Fact: The regrown tail is supported by a rod of cartilage instead of bone, and it usually looks smoother and stubbier than the original.

Relationship with people

The leopard gecko is one of the most widely kept lizards in the world, and it has been bred in captivity for so many generations that some biologists describe it as the first domesticated lizard. Captive breeding has also made it a valuable research animal, especially for studies of temperature-dependent sex, tooth replacement and tail regeneration.

In its native range it is harmless to people. It has no venom, and a wild gecko will usually flee or freeze rather than bite. If you see one in the wild, the best approach is to watch it quietly and leave it where it is. For another popular lizard with a very different lifestyle, compare it with the central bearded dragon of inland Australia.