How to Pick a Healthy Gecko

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Johan Svahnström on behalf of expertvillage. Let's stick with leopard geckos for a little while. It's very important to find a healthy lizard when you pick your first one. The first thing you need to do is to go to a reputable dealer, or a breeder. Try to avoid the big pet stores and go to someone that has a lot of experience with the type of gecko you want. A couple of things to look for. The body needs to be full and not too skinny. If you pick it up, the legs need to be real strong. You can feel how you're...there's a little resistance when you do this with your geckos legs. On a leopard gecko, the tail is crucial. A healthy leopard gecko has a big fat tail like this. Now, this is a young gecko so the tail isn't as big as they can actually get. But, take a look at the tail. If it's skinny, like a tail that you would have outside...uh, on a lizard that you would find outside, that's not a healthy gecko. Next, look at the mouth of the gecko. Okay, look at the mouth and the eyes. If there's bubbles coming out of the mouth, good sign that the gecko might have a respiratory infection or something like that; it's been held too cold. Try to avoid it. This is difficult to fix. Eyes, as well. Eyes need to be clear. Like this one right here. Check the eyes real close. Also, check real close around the head and the neck for mites or ticks or something like that. If it has mites, it's difficult to get rid of. You might want to choose a different gecko. If its got ticks, it's a good chance that it will come from the wild and you probably want to buy a captive-born gecko anyway. So, don't buy one with mites. So, important number one - strong body, strong legs, and a full tail. Very important. The tail needs to be thick on a leopard gecko."