This is an unusual pet, which is the favorite of many terrumists. Spotted (leopard) eublefar - one of the representatives of a large family of geckos.
Connoisseurs in a narrow circle call him “leopard” for its spotty coloration. It's funny, but this lizard even drinks water, like a cat - lap tongue. Eublefar spotted is popular not only because of its extraordinary appearance, but also because of its unpretentiousness - even a child can look after a gecko.
Two subspecies of eublefara are known - Afghan and typical.
Spread
This cute gecko (spotted eublefar) hails from India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. He lives on the slopes of low mountains, in the dry steppes.
The life expectancy of such a lizard in natural conditions is no more than 10 years, and in captivity it can live up to 30 years.
Lifestyle
The spotted eublefar, whose photo you can see in our article, prefers to lead a twilight or nightlife. In the daytime, he takes refuge in the stones.
Arthropods, their larvae, various insects, newborn mice, and smaller lizards make up its diet. It often happens that geckos eat their own young. The spotted eublefar is social, settles in groups. They consist of several females and one male. Males guard their territory and drive their relatives from it.
External features
It is interesting that the spotted eublefar contained in captivity may differ in appearance from its fellow living in natural conditions. Specialists claim that this is a consequence of the selection of gecko.
The main difference between eublefara and other lizards is spotted color. The size of these animals is small. The length of their body does not exceed 20 cm. Rarely, but larger individuals are also found (up to 30 cm).
Spotted eublefar has a thick massive tail, in which it stores moisture and nutrients under natural conditions . The lizard is able to easily discard it, then it grows back, but narrower and shorter.
The head of this gecko is large, having a triangular shape. The body is covered with small scales, among which there are pimples. Paws are thin, having five fingers. The eyes are convex, elongated, a little resembling cat's in shape.
Color
Under natural conditions, the body of this lizard is painted yellowish-gray with dark spots. On the tail there is a drawing. Usually these are transverse rings.
When kept in captivity, the color is different. This is due to breeding work. Today, more than a hundred varieties of color have been registered.
Eublefar spotted: content, nutrition
This gecko is quite unpretentious. Therefore, its content is not difficult. In food, these harmless and even cute-looking lizards can show a real predator instinct, since in nature they prey on insects. They can be given crickets, cockroaches, grasshoppers, and mice so that the eublefar satisfies their hunter instinct.
Gecko is fed once a day. After three months, you can switch to once every two days. For several days, the gecko may refuse food, but this should not bother the owner, since he has a stock of nutrients in the tail. It is sometimes necessary to add calcium powder to the feed.
Spotted eublefar needs a small terrarium, a dwelling of 50 × 40 × 30 cm is suitable for one or two animals. Sand should not be used for soil, since a lizard can swallow it with food. It is preferable to use small pebbles, pebbles.
Eublefar spotted needs to be heated. For him, the optimal temperature is 31 ° C during the day and 27 ° C at night. The most important thing is not to let the temperature fall sharply. In this case, your pet may lose your appetite. It is advisable to constantly maintain air humidity of 40-45%. To do this, occasionally spray the terrarium.
Since eublefaras are twilight animals, they do not need to be highlighted. You can install a mirror lamp with a power of no more than 25-40 watts, which will simulate solar heating, but only at one point of the terrarium. Solar radiation in animals is necessary for the synthesis of vitamin D3. You can purchase a special lamp for reptiles that emits ultraviolet light.
However, there is an opinion of experts that by providing the lizard with lower heating and adding the necessary vitamins and minerals to its feed, UV can be dispensed with. Today there are many vitamin D3 vitamin complexes designed for eublefar.
The use of ultraviolet light is indicated for medicinal purposes. For example, with developing rickets in reptiles, when vitamin D3 is poorly absorbed, and to stimulate reproduction. In the case of rickets of eublefar, it is enough to irradiate 10 minutes a day, and to stimulate reproduction, it is necessary to regulate the daylight hours, changing it upwards. The longer the day, the more active the lizards mate, so in this case the length of daylight hours can be brought up to 12 hours.
Hibernation
Today spotted eublefar is so domesticated that it does not have an urgent need for wintering, for the same reason it does not hibernate. Wintering is needed to stimulate reproduction (activity in the male). Therefore, if you are not breeding these lizards, then do not strive to ensure that they certainly hibernate.
It must be remembered that only a healthy, well-fed animal tolerates wintering without any problems. At home, it is quite very smooth to lower the temperature, reducing the heating time. The daylight hours should be reduced to 8 hours. These changes in the life of the gecko should last at least two months. At the peak of wintering, the average temperature should be +18 ... +22 ° C.
Accordingly, the gecko's nutrition should gradually decrease. The rest period is about two months. Then a gradual exit from this state is carried out in the reverse order. Do not forget about vitamins and minerals.
In natural conditions, in the middle of winter, eublefars begin the mating season, which decreases by the end of May. At home, you can maintain the same mode, but this is not necessary.
Breeding
Eublefar spotted reaches puberty by 12 months. They begin to multiply immediately after hibernation. And the eggs are laid 3 weeks after mating. As a rule, in one clutch there are 1-2 eggs. There can be up to 10 clutches per year.
The incubation period depends on the air temperature in the terrarium. Cubs appear in 40-65 days, provided that the temperature is regulated. The sex of the cubs also largely depends on her. Females hatch at a temperature of less than 26 ° C, and males appear at a temperature exceeding 31.5 ° C. In nature, the cubs appear no earlier than 100 days later. They weigh 2-3 grams, the length of newborn eublefars is 80-85 mm. They have a brownish color with light stripes. By eight months, they become colored the same way as adults.