How Big Do Leopard Geckos Get? Average Weight & Growth Chart

The Leopard Gecko, scientifically known as Eublepharis macularius, is a magnificent reptile that boasts a leopard-like appearance.¹ It has a yellow body with dark spots. It has an enormous tail to store fat, which can regenerate after it’s cut off. This reptile also uses its tail for communication, rattling it when mating and hunting and to show other geckos that they have been seen.

Although these reptiles are identified by their distinctive yellow and black markings, Leopard Geckos come in various colors, patterns, weights, and sizes. Just like with other reptiles, their sexual maturity is determined by size and weight more than age. A Leopard Gecko’s weight and size generally reach 40–80 grams and 8–11 inches.

When Do Leopard Geckos Reach Their Full Size?

At birth, a Leopard Gecko is usually 3 to 4 inches long. It’s still a baby if it measures up to 3 grams in weight. As they grow, young juvenile geckos measure between 3 grams and 30 grams for 10 months. A Leopard Gecko reaches adulthood at 12 months of age and can grow up to 120 grams.

Adult female geckos reach 7 to 8 inches. Males grow to 8 to 10 inches. These lizards can keep growing from birth until they reach their full size as an adult at 18 months.

Leopard Gecko Size and Growth Chart

What Other Factors Affect Leopard Gecko Growth?

1. Poor Habitat Conditions

Incorrect size enclosure and lack of hides for privacy and security will affect your pet’s health and impact its growth.

2. Inaccurate Light, Humidity, and Temperatures

These reptiles are native to areas with humid subtropical climates. Therefore, a lack of similar conditions in captivity will impact a pet Leopard Gecko’s growth.

Ensure that its enclosure temperatures range between 75 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit during the daytime and 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit at night. You should also maintain between 60% and 70% relative humidity levels to facilitate maximum growth.

3. Wrong Substrate

The wrong substrate will cause impaction and affect relative humidity levels that will impact your gecko’s growth. However, using correct reptile substrates like reptile carpets, shredded coconut fiber, and shredded bark will help preserve moisture and support necessary humidity for optimal growth.

4. Parasites

When parasites infest a Leopard Gecko, you’ll start noticing diarrhea, severe weight loss, and reduced growth.

5. Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD)

MBD is caused by a calcium deficiency in a Leopard Gecko’s body. It will affect their inability to absorb calcium, resulting in low skeletal development and rapid weight loss. You can provide UVB lighting, calcium-rich foods, supplements, and vitamins for captive geckos to prevent this disease.

Ideal Diet for a Healthy Weight

Leopard Geckos are carnivorous, feeding mostly on live insects. They mainly feed on crickets and mealworms, but you can give them waxworms, cockroaches, tomato hornworms, beetles, sowbugs, and silkworms. However, do not overfeed them, as it can lead to obesity. Avoid large insects and serve the insects within 15 to 20 minutes.

How often you feed your gecko depends on its age and well-being. For instance, you can feed baby geckos every day, while healthy adult geckos only require meals once every other day.

Leopard Geckos are picky eaters and tend to change food preferences. Therefore, you should mix up your gecko’s diet with a blend of crickets, worms, or any other insect to give it a variety.

Why Is My Leopard Gecko Not Growing?

Here are some of the reasons that your leopard gecko might not be growing.

Poor Nutrition

The biggest reason that your pet is not growing is a low diet. Feeding the gecko on time and with the correct amount per serving is useless if the meals do not contain all the nutrients it needs.

Transfer of Nutrients

Your pet can stop growing if its tail is healing or it is recovering from sickness. The reason is that the body has been exerting extra energy and using up all the nutrients to “repair” the lost tail or general healing. During this time, the only thing you can do is wait as you give it supplements until it gets back to its old self.

Cold Temperatures

These reptiles require heat to digest their food. Therefore, if the tank is too cold, the food may fail to digest well. Excess cold also affects their immunity.

Feeling Insecure

Leopard geckos are territorial. For this reason, if you have more than one gecko, have them in separate enclosures.

Your gecko may not be growing because the other Leopard Gecko in the enclosure is bullying it for food, a hiding spot, or water, leaving one gecko with improper body nourishment. Stress and poor nourishment will lead to stunted growth.

Facts About Leopard Geckos

Family

Leopard Geckos have been bred for more than 30 years. They are naturally solitary, but if they should have a family, a male gecko should live alone because they get aggressive if housed together with other males. Other family structures include a group of one male and several females or all-female gecko groups.

Habitat

These reptiles are mostly found in the rocky grasslands in the dry regions of the Middle East, Eastern, and Southeastern Asia. They usually burrow on the ground and are nocturnal to avoid daytime heat.

Diet

Leopard Geckos use their strong eyesight for hunting insects at night. Their diet mainly consists of crickets, mealworms, and caterpillar-like species.

Personality

Leopard geckos are small and beautiful lizards that are docile and harmless. They adapt fast to being handled and are easy to care for if you’re a first-time pet parent.

Predators

Their predators include snakes, foxes, and other large reptiles. However, geckos have extraordinary predator-evading abilities and can camouflage in the desert’s rocky grasslands thanks to their leopard-print skin.

They can stay hidden for a long time, only depending on their fat storage in their tails, until they do not feel threatened anymore. Unlike other lizards, these geckos shed more often to prevent predators from detecting their scents.

Final Thoughts

It’s easy to create a perfect home for Leopard Geckos because they are not-so-demanding pets. They are also not fussy eaters, and as long as you give them the correct nutrients and suitable living conditions, they can live for over 20 years.

Housing these endearing little reptiles is simple and straightforward because they are placid and not so active. Therefore, they don’t require vast enclosures.

However, a little distraction, a lack of substrates and hiding spots, and poor nutrition can adversely affect your lizard friend’s growth or it can get catastrophic metabolic bone disease.

• See Also: Types of Leopard Gecko Morphs

Featured Image Credit: Reinhold-Leitner, Shutterstock