Leopard Geckos as Pets

"This is a little leopard gecko. He's a little hatchling. He's about four months old. Leopard geckos are excellent first pets, as far as reptiles go. They are very hardy. They're easy to take care of. They don't have a lot of requirements. They're more of a display pet, than a socializing pet. Although short term handling for really short periods of time, once or twice a week, is good for socialization. Leopard geckos are good with children, at the adult size. You don't want to handle them much when they're young. You want to wait until they're about five inches. But after that, they tend to be really calm, pretty docile. They don't move very quickly. They are definitely capable of it and they do at this age. But once they get older, they tend to calm down a lot, and their movements become very slow and deliberate. So it's a pretty easy reptile for kids to handle. These are desert creatures. They dwell in the desert areas. I believe they're from Australia, although I'm not absolutely positive on that. They like the sandy areas, the hot areas, dry areas. Now if you do plan on purchasing a leopard gecko, keep in mind that you would want to purchase one male. If you want just one leopard gecko, either a male or female is fine. They both make excellent pets. If you do purchase more than one, make sure that they are not two males. Two males will fight and you absolutely cannot house two males together. One of them will end up killing the other one.So that's a very important thing to remember when you're purchasing your leopard geckos."