Crazy about leopard gecko pets!
Medical researchers are looking for an alternative to medical sutures or stitches. Researchers are inspired by the sticky nature of gecko’s feet to develop a similar surgical tape. Just so you know, leopard geckos are one of those geckos who do NOT have sticky pads on their feet, but still this video is AWESOME. Nature teaching medicine.
From Leopard gecko care
Exciting week as our beloved leopard gecko makes pet of the week as chosen by The Independent newspaper.
What next? A guest appearance on Leno or Letterman?
Pet of the week: The leopard gecko
By Jamie Buckley
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Who’s this wriggly customer? The leopard gecko is one of the most popular reptiles in captivity. As its name suggests, it is decorated with black spots similar to those of a leopard, and it is mainly creamy or yellowy in colour. All this, of course, provides vital camouflage in the wild, but due to selective breeding in captivity the leopard gecko is now available in all sorts of colours, or morphs.
What’s his natural environment? The mountainous deserts and scrubland of Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern Iran. He’s a real desert warrior, hunting by night for crickets and suchlike (even mice, so long as they’re not too big), then sensibly hiding out under rocks to escape the midday heat. He eats when he can and stores excess food in his tail which can be digested in lean times. His tail is detachable, too.
Sounds like a tall tale? It’s true. If the leopard gecko needs to take flight from predators, it will vibrate muscles in its vertebrae that will disengage the tail, leaving just a wriggly stump to distract its would-be assassin while it makes good its escape. A new tail takes about 40 days to grow back. If you are planning on keeping a leopard gecko, please remember: this is not a party trick.
What’s substrate? It is what leopard geckos use as bedding and shelter, but they also like to nibble at it. A common problem with leopard geckos is that they cannot digest this compound, so it’s best to obtain some professional advice on what best to put in the tank. Paper towels or broken bits of slate seem to be least harmful. With reptiles it is best to be clued up on their correct environment before starting out, rather than learning as you go along. Thankfully there are plenty of reputable reptile retailers. Try getting Jonathan Ross to say that.
What’s the difference between a gecko and a lizard? Geckos are part of the lizard family, but what marks the leopard out from other geckos is that it has eyelids. Other lizards lick their eyeballs to remove dust, not so the leopard. It blinks.
So how does he get on in suburban Britain? By and large very well, as he is relatively easy to keep. He feeds on dried insects, such as crickets and fat, juicy wax worms. You need a 20-gallon vivarium with plenty of heat and moisture at one end of the tank (30C), and places to keep cool at the other end (room temperature). And he needs coarse matter to rub against when he is shedding skin. Males should not be kept together as they do not get along. It is best to install the vivarium first, get the temperature right and put in the right substrate, then introduce the reptile.
How do I get hold of a leopard gecko? As always, you should go through an accredited animal breeder. Exotic-pets.co.uk has an excellent reputation and extensive knowledge, as well as a wide range of reptiles for sale. A juvenile leopard gecko will cost upwards of £35, plus about £100 in start-up costs for the vivarium. And Exotic Pets takes great care in delivering the creature, too.
Wow, here’s a gutsy little leopard gecko.
The New Zealand Herald News are reporting that staff at Ti Point Reptile Park saw what appeared to be the back legs of a cricket sticking out of their leopard gecko’s mouth. They simply thought the gecko was finishing off his favorite food.
Then they took a closer look.
It turns out that the ravenous and adventurous gecko had just devoured a large centipede and was having problems swallowing it. Staff considered removing it and decided it was best to wait a day to see if the gecko would digest her meal by herself. The gecko was 10 years old and in good health.
They next day, they discovered that the leopard gecko had regurgitated the centipede – in once piece. The centipede was 160 mm long, and the gecko was only 150 mm long!! Can you imagine eating something that is longer than you! She must have had a monster appetite!
The gecko was lucky to have got to the centipede first as the centipede was capable of killing a small lizard.
Since the gecko has poor eyesight and is quite primitive, maybe that’s the reasons she thought herself capable of devouring an animal longer than herself.
Mr Borich who works at the Reptile Park thinks that they are not the most intelligent creatures around:
“When you go in to feed them, they will go for your foot rather than the food you are bringing to them.”
Talk about literally biting off more than you can chew!!
An interesting story. Click here if you want to read the whole article including photos of the gecko and the sorry centipede.
Really fascinating article about leopard gecko tail loss from the New York Times.
Researchers studied leopard gecko tails and what happens when they fall off. The leopard gecko’s tail has tons of complex movements and patterns. The theory is that since the leopard gecko is a ground dweller, when the tail falls off, it is probably still visible on the ground to a predator so it will move more and for longer. However, other geckos like tokay geckos which live in trees, probably don’t need such wild movements as their tail would probably be less noticeable when it fell off.
Have a read, great stuff! They have a short video clip too.
 Global |
The Gecko’s Tail Has a Life of Its Own
New York Times Just a pinch near the base is all it takes to cause the gecko to drop, or autotomize, its tail. The researchers studied leopard geckos, taking videos of the … Severed Lizard Tail Has a Mind of Its OwnFOXNews Severed Gecko Tails Have a Mind of Their OwnWired News Detached gecko tails dance to their own tuneAFP Clemson University -The Canadian Press all 104 news articles » |
CONFESSION: This post isn’t really about leopard geckos at all, but hey…
I just watched Wall Street again on DVD. Love that film. Oliver Stone used to be such a great film maker, why doesn’t he make them like this any more? While I’m ranting…why doesn’t Eddy Murphy, Dennis Miller and that other Dennis guy who used to rant on MTV do stand up any more?
Anyhow…my favorite Gordon Gecko quotes from Wall Street by the formerly great director Oliver Stone. I have to say that I googled these quotes, I’m not going to pause the DVD and write them down…that’s the kind of geeky stuff my brother does. So here we go:
1. If you’re not inside, you’re outside
2. Lunch is for wimps
3. You stop sending me information and you start getting me some
4. There’s no nobility in poverty
5. Greed is good, greed is right, greed works.
6. Now you’re not naive enough to think that we’re living in a democracy, are you, buddy? It’s the free market and you’re part of it
7. When I get hold of the son of a bitch who leaked this, I’m gonna tear his eyeballs out and I’m gonna such his *bleep* skull
8. It’s not a question of enough. It’s a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn’t lost or made, it’s simply transferred from one perception to another.
9. Right in the *bleep* you *bleeping bleeping bleeping bleep*!
10. If you need a friend, get a dog
11. This is the kid, calls me 59 days in a row, wants to be a player. There ought to be a picture of you in the dictionary under persistence, kid
12. It’s all about buck, kid. The rest is conversation.
GECKO LOVE!
1. They are generally docile and calm creatures
2. Unlike other geckos, Leopard Geckos are ground dwellers so they can’t climb all over the place, up onto the ceiling etc
3. They don’t require too much care compared to other reptiles
4. They’re not ravenous eaters like other reptiles
5. They aren’t physically intimidating. They’re not going to scare off the neighbors.
6. They seldom bite (except for baby leopard geckos) or show any other dangerous behavior. The worst you’ll probably get is a growl and a mean stare.
7. If they do bite you, you’ll barely feel a scratch
8. They are more the type of pets that you look at and enjoy by viewing (kinda like fish) rather than constant handling/interactive play
9. They come in a wide variety of colors and patterns: so you can have so much fun picking them out
And of course…
10. They’re just so cute!
Leopard geckos never seize to surprise. They can do the funniest things (have you ever seen a leopard gecko crawl upside down, Spiderman style at the top of his cage and then land a perfect sommersault?), and they can make the strangest noises.
If you ever hear a leo making a frog-like noise (I kid you not!), it’s usually because she’s unhappy in some way. Maybe you interrupted her flow, or she doesn’t like the way you poke her like that. It’s nothing to be scared about, but it is really quite strange when you hear it for the first time let me tell you!
Another leopard gecko pet video courtesy of the almighty YouTube. This one features a chubby nine month old leopard gecko. As the video poster says, she sure does love butter worms but they are one of the most expensive worms. She also loves silkworms, and phoenix worms. She feeds them as staples as it’s easier then crickets…but they can be a bit fattening as you can see from this video of a chubby, but that aside, pretty healthy and happy looking gecko
I’ve just been asked why they are called LEOPARD geckos.
That’s because the normal colors of a leopard gecko is a yellow base with black spots and splotches on the body and a white underside.
With breeding there are now tons of different colors and patterns available.
They’re not called leopard geckos because
~ they hunt and eat humans!
~ they are seven times stronger than human beings
~ after the 80’s hair band, Def Leppard
~ after Apple Mac’s Snow Leopard software