# leopard geckos and heat rocks



## madozza (Jan 16, 2013)

Hi all-new member here, nice to meet you all! Im new to reptiles, have shaun my beautiful beardie for a year and danny my corn snake is 8 months.
I am wanting to get some leopard geckos- any advise on how many I can keep together will be appreciated. Also I am getting mixed messages about heat rocks??


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## Gratenkutzombie (Dec 28, 2012)

Hey there!

I wouldent recommend housing males and females together. I also wouldent recommend housing males together because they'll fight and one might end up dying. You can however house females together with the number dependent on how big the vivarium is. Usual rule of thumb is 2ft of vivarium floorspace per gecko with an additional square foot of floor space for each additional leo. Although, i personally advocate as much room above this rule as possible so that they can roam around and go on gecko patrol.

As for heat rocks, if your gonna use one use a thermostat, this is a must! BUT, if it fails, why risk cooking your pet..just a thought.


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## vgorst (Sep 27, 2011)

Welcome to RFUK!

You will get contrasting opinions about housing leos I'm afraid. Personally, I think that they are better housed alone, for their own sake. Aggression between leos is all too common (there's tonnes of threads on leo bullying/aggression and some horrible injuries). They view another individual as intruding on their territory; there will always be a dominant individual that gets the best food, heat, hides, lay spots, mates etc. The subordinate will be intimidated, bullied and stressed; it's just how these geckos compete and survive in the wild. Remember that bullying/dominance isn't always physical and obvious to us, in reptiles it is as much as a body posture, eye contact or 'cuddling' up together.

Some people do cohabit 'successfully' (depending on what you mean by successful). The best chance of cohabiting working is getting geckos that have grown up together, a female-female pairing and a large setup, loads of hides, plenty of food and preferably multiple heat sources. However, if you do choose to get more than 1, have spare equipment ready for separating if things turn nasty (and spare cash for vets).

I, however, can not express how much leos should not be housed together. They can turn on each other in an instant (my other half has experienced this first hand on geckos that were housed together for 6 years!)

Heat rocks - avoid them like the plague. They aren't statted and can heat up irregularly, so one area stays warm while another gets very hot. This can result in burns. You're far better just sticking to a bog standard statted heat mat


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## madozza (Jan 16, 2013)

Thanks for your advice. I get really suspicious about advice from stores that just want you to spend your money! I dont mind keeping one on its own as long as it us best for them. Both my beardie and corn are on their own and are healthy and happy. Would you say that gecko set up is similar to that of a beardie.?


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## vgorst (Sep 27, 2011)

madozza said:


> Thanks for your advice. I get really suspicious about advice from stores that just want you to spend your money! I dont mind keeping one on its own as long as it us best for them. Both my beardie and corn are on their own and are healthy and happy. Would you say that gecko set up is similar to that of a beardie.?


Most people round here tend not to trust shops for that exact reason (as well them spouting misinformation). Obviously I'm generalising here as not all shops are like that, but best to be a bit sceptical.

Beardy and leos tend to be housed in desert theme tanks... that's about it as far as similarity goes  they have different temperatures, recommended heat sources are different, slightly different diet, different setup size, leos can survive without UVB lights etc etc.

These are good care sheets >

Home - Moon Geckos
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet - Classy Collection Leopard geckos
Leopard Gecko Care Sheets

Try to get information from as many sources as possible though, don't take just one as gospel


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## madozza (Jan 16, 2013)

Thanks. Again this was the advice from a so called 'expert'. Il be sure to research into this more before I go buy my little fella! Links will be very helpful:2thumb:
Thanks again


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