New to Leopard Geckos and this forum

[marcharer]

Hello all,

I got a young gecko about a month ago from a friend of mine. They had been given it by a friend of theirs, and didn't know anything about it. Basically, I want to make sure it is a leopard gecko and (if possible) figure out what morph it is. I think he/she looks pretty cool already, and I can't wait to see how he/she will look as an adult. I named it Lemonjello (leh-MON-gelo); here are some pics.

Thanks! and nice to meet you!

 

[acpart]

Welcome to GF. From what I can tell, this is not a leopard gecko. It is likely a Southwest banded gecko (Coleonyx) native to SW United States. It is a male; you can tell from the 2 spurs on either side behind the back legs. It's probably nearly full grown or is already adult. These geckos rarely get above 10 grams. I breed them and find them to be curious and interesting. They are kept just like leopard geckos but don't need as large a cage. Read a leopard gecko care sheet and you'll be in pretty good shape. The only differences I usually see is that some of mine like it a bit more humid and they do like to dig, so I usually give them a container of coco fiber in case they want to do that. I feed them small mealworms and crickets.
These geckos are usually born with alternating brown and yellow bands, which either remain that way or turn into spots. I'm including below pictures of my male, my female nad the babies that were produced this past summer:

Aliza

 

[marcharer]

Oh that's a surprise! Thanks for the species ID; I was wondering why he wasn't as bumpy as the leopard geckos. Is it ok to handle him?

 

[LZRDGRL]

He's beautiful! :main_thumbsup: When I saw the first picture, I thought the head looks like a leopard geckos, but the body is strangely long, and where are the bumps?? :main_laugh: The tail looks definitely different. I wonder why yours has circles and not bands like Aliza's. If yours is very young, it sure has large "balls" for that age With leopard gecko hatchlings, it takes about 4-5 months to see if they're male.

Have fun with your new gecko! :main_yes:

Chrissy

 

[lillith]

I think you have the first bold-type marked Coleonyx I've ever seen.
So cute! I wonder why more people don't like them?

 

[marcharer]

Thanks! He is cute, but I was hoping he would get bigger. Oh well

 

[acpart]

Some of them don't mind being handled, some do. I could see the males' spurs by the age of 3 months or less. In the picture I posted above, you can see the spurs on the 2 males in the baby picture. I've also seen these guys try to mate with other juvies as young as 4 months. The bands, as I mentioned, sometimes remain and sometimes go spotty. The ones on yours look as if they were incomplete in the middle. I've actually had some leopard geckos with that pattern. If you decide you want to breed them, I have a female available.

Aliza

 

[Leporard Geko Keeper]

Welcome to the forum