Lavender leopard geckos are a morph of the Leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius), a famous pet reptile native to parts of Asia and the Middle East. This eye-catching leopard gecko morph has been evolving since initial varieties of the Lavender Stripe were bred in 2003 by mating a Red Stripe with a Lavender.
The outcome was a lizard with a bright yellow backdrop and lavender stripes flowing along either side of the pet. Because of its low maintenance needs, this gecko is perfect for first-time keepers. They are constantly on the go and have outgoing personalities.
Read on for more info about the stunning lavender leopard gecko if you consider adding it to your household.
Appearance & Morphs
Lavender leopard geckos have slender bodies with short legs and long tails. In addition, they have large, round eyes that are well-suited for their nocturnal activities.
Lavender leopard geckos can come in various colors and patterns, including shades of lavender, purple, and pink.
These geckos are known for their attractive coloration and generally docile temperament, making them a popular choice among reptile enthusiasts.
These leos have a light violet body color but often have spots and stripes in various colors. However, the lavender hues are distributed unevenly across the predominantly yellow body.
Unfortunately, the lavender hues keep diminishing as the animal ages, so you mustn’t get too attached to the looks.
While there’s no detailed information about lavender leopard gecko varieties and morphs, you’ll likely find a few, such as:
- Lavender Red Stripe Bell Leopard Gecko by Geckodiction
- Lavender Bold Stripe Leopard Gecko by Pisces Geckos
- Tangerine Lavender Het Tremper Poss Giant Leopard Gecko by KBK reptiles
- TSM Bold Blood Lavender Leopard Gecko by Ricky Morphs Geckos
Size
Adult lavender leopard geckos typically reach around 8-10 inches (20-25 cm), with males slightly larger than females. They are relatively small compared to other pet reptile species, making them a good choice for owners with limited space.
However, you must provide a spacious enclosure for the gecko to move around and explore, with plenty of hiding spots and a substrate for burrowing.
Lifespan
Being leopard gecko morphs means that lavender leopard geckos are also hardy. With proper care, lavender leopard geckos can live for up to 20 years.
Therefore, you need to provide these geckos with the appropriate enclosure, heating, lighting, diet, and other care considerations to stay healthy and live longer.
General Care and Husbandry
As a pet owner, you must provide geckos with basic needs and treat them with kindness and respect. By providing a suitable enclosure, diet, tank conditions, and other essentials, you can help ensure that the gecko stays healthy and happy.
Proper care is also essential for preventing illness and other health complications, which can be costly and time-consuming to treat.
When you want to keep multiple geckos in a cage, you need to consider their gender. For example, keep only one male leopard gecko per tank. These creatures are highly territorial and can start fights, leading to severe injuries and death.
Female geckos can live together as long as there’s enough space and they’re the same size. Conversely, you can keep a male with several females.
While female leos get along well, they can become sassy once in a while. Therefore, you must watch them closely, especially during feeding time.
If one of your geckos suddenly stops eating or starts to hide more often, you should separate them immediately.
Shedding
Like all reptiles, lavender leopard geckos shed their skin as they grow. This process is known as ecdysis. During shedding, the gecko’s skin will appear dull and may start to peel or flake off.
Therefore, providing a humid environment and a hiding spot during this time is essential to helping the gecko shed its skin properly.
The frequency of shedding will depend on the age of your leo. Hatchlings and baby geckos below three months will shed once every week.
Juveniles usually shed their skin once every 2-4 weeks. For mature adult Lavender leopard dragons, shedding occurs once after every 4-8 weeks.
During the shedding process, keeping an eye on the gecko and removing any stuck sheds is vital. If you leo has difficulties shedding, gently use a damp towel, sponge, or cotton wool to moisten the affected area.
However, if you want to avoid any shedding problems and maintain your gecko’s health, you’ll have to provide the correct condition and care.
First, ensure that the tank humidity and temperature are optimal. Additionally, ensure your Lavender leopard gecko’s terrarium has humid hides with a humidity level of 70-80%.
Hibernation/Brumation
Leopard geckos, including Lavender leopard geckos, enter a state of torpor known as brumation (reduced metabolism and activity) in response to colder temperatures and shorter days.
While this is a natural process, Lavender leos don’t need to be subjected to hibernation (also known as brumation) to stay healthy.
During this period, the gecko may become less active and eat less or stop eating altogether. For this reason, hibernation can be stressful for some leopard geckos.
While brumation will only occur when the winter conditions become unbearable, it’s not typical to see it happen in captive-bred leopard geckos.
If your Lavender leopard gecko undergoes brumation, you must provide a suitable environment and care to prevent the risk of illness or injury.
Ensure that leos are well fed before they go into hibernation, and don’t disturb them in between the process.
However, doing due diligence and consulting your local reptile vet will ensure you are poised to provide the best care for your pet.
Housing and Terrarium Conditions
Providing your Lavender leopard gecko with a terrarium of the right size is one of the essential things you need to do.
Since these lizards are used to expansive space in the wild, you need to provide them with a terrarium of the right size so they can live comfortably and happily.
An adult Lavender leopard gecko can live comfortably in a 20-gallon tank. And since the leopard gecko needs enough space to move around and exercise, the tank should extend horizontally.
If you want to put several Lavender leos in the same cage, you’ll need a 30 or 40-gallon tank.
More importantly, you need to provide the right conditions inside the tank. Ensure that temperature and humidity are optimal.
Conversely, you should add enrichments such as hides, branches, and rocks to ensure that your scaly friends don’t get bored. Additionally, you’ll have to provide the geckos with clean water daily.
More importantly, a Lavender leopard gecko tank needs regular cleaning to guarantee optimal comfort and health. The terrarium should be spot-cleaned daily, shallow-cleaned weekly, and thoroughly cleaned once a month.
Dusting and disinfecting the Lavender leopard gecko tank during the thorough cleaning will help eliminate pathogens and parasites.
When you buy a new leopard gecko, let it stay in quarantine for some time. The leo should be in quarantine for 60 days to ensure it’s healthy and disease-free.
Many amateurs learn the hard way not to introduce new leopard geckos to their old geckos too quickly.
The problem arises when they discover when it’s too late that the new geckos have introduced parasites or diseases, leading to astronomical veterinary bills or the complete loss of their gecko population.
Heating
Since reptiles rely on an external heat source to control their internal temperature, the tank should include a range of temperatures for the animals to choose from. For example, the terrarium should have a warmer basking spot and another chiller zone where animals can run when it’s too hot.
The enclosure’s warmer side should be between 85-95 degrees Fahrenheit, while the cooler side should be between 74-80 degrees Fahrenheit. Night time temperature should be above 70 degrees Fahrenheit but not above 74 degrees Fahrenheit.
Additionally, it is crucial to use a heat source, such as a heat mat, heat lamp or ceramic heat emitter, to maintain the proper temperature.
However, you’ll also need digital thermometers and a thermostat to measure the temperature inside the cage and set the recommended temperature range for day and night.
Humidity
Lavender leopard geckos do not require high humidity levels, as they are native to arid environments. However, you should generally keep the humidity level inside the enclosure between 30-40%. Maintaining proper humidity levels is crucial as it ascertains the health and well-being of the gecko.
If the humidity drops below the recommended level, it can cause problems such as dry skin, respiratory issues, and difficulty shedding. On the other hand, excess moisture can lead to respiratory problems, skin infections, and other health issues.
Leopard gecko owners should invest in a hygrometer to measure the moisture inside the leo’s tank. While the ideal humidity level is between 30 and 40%, you’ll need to provide a humidity of 70-80% when Lavender leopard geckos are shedding.
Since raising the moisture levels in the entire terrarium can cause problems, you should add humid hides and ensure that they have a humidity of 70-80%.
You can ensure that the humid hides have the correct moisture content by adding a water-retaining substrate such as coconut fiber or sphagnum moss.
A lavender leopard gecko’s tank should have at least three hides—one in the warm zone, another in the cooler spot, and another in between the two areas.
Lighting
Leopard geckos require no special or unique lighting conditions. This is because they are crepuscular, meaning they are most active during the twilight hours in the morning and when the sun sets. Therefore, your geckos will be out and about in the mornings, searching for food.
However, they will rest during daylight, emerging from their slumbers only in the late evening. Lavender leopard geckos don’t lie in the sun all day long to absorb heat like bearded dragons and iguanas. Instead, they dig deep holes or hide in crevices and hide from the sun.
Most of the time, leos come into contact with light when the sun rises or sets. Therefore, when setting up a Lavender leopard gecko’s cage, don’t use powerful basking lights, as they can disturb the sleeping pattern of leopard geckos.
However, they still need UVB for vitamin D3 synthesis and calcium absorption. So, you’ll need to put lights inside the cage and switch them on for 14 hours in summer and 12 hours in winter. Failure to have light in the leopard gecko’s cage will affect the lizard’s perception of day and night.
You should use a UVB light recommended for nocturnal reptiles and follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for placement.
Diet
All leopard geckos are insectivores, including the rare and beautiful lavender leopard geckos. This means that these creatures only eat insects and nothing else.
Therefore, you must feed your Lavender gecko with diverse insects to ensure it receives all the necessary nutrients.
Your leopard gecko would benefit from eating live insects like mealworms, crickets, dubia roaches, superworms, silkworms, hornworms, butterworms, and phoenix worms. However, crickets and dubia roaches are the only staples for these lizards.
Other insects should be fed to leopard geckos as treats since they contain a high amount of fat. Giving these insects to your leopard gecko as a staple will lead to unprecedented weight gain.
Young leopard geckos consume a higher caloric diet daily to fuel their rapid development throughout their first year. Leopard geckos, both adult (1 year+) and sub-adult (8-12 months+), typically feed once every two to three days.
Therefore, if you want to satisfy your leopard geckos with food, you should let them eat as much as they can manage in 15 minutes.
Remember to dust the insects your leopard gecko will eat with a calcium and vitamin supplement. This will ascertain that your leopard gecko gets the calcium and vitamin it needs for optimal growth and development.
Water
Although they’re used to living in hot deserts, lavender leopard geckos always need clean, fresh water. Water is essential for many of their bodily functions, such as digestion, metabolism, and keeping the body at the right temperature.
To provide water for your leopard gecko, you can use a shallow water dish that is large enough for your gecko to access quickly. You must clean and refill the water dish regularly to ensure that your leopard gecko always has access to clean, fresh water.
In addition to providing a water dish, misting your leopard gecko’s enclosure a few times a week is prudent. This will help increase the humidity in the terrarium, which can benefit your leopard gecko’s skin and respiratory health.
Common Health Issues in Lavender Leopard Geckos
Lavender leopard geckos are not frail and don’t get sick, especially if the necessary living conditions and needs are met. However, like any other animal, they’re prone to various health complications, such as:
- Metabolic bone disease: This is a condition that occurs when a leopard gecko does not get enough calcium in its diet or does not have access to UVB light, which is necessary for the proper metabolism of calcium.
Symptoms of metabolic bone disease include swelling and deformities of the bones, lethargy, and anorexia. The condition is prevalent in these lizards since they sleep most of their daytime.
- Armpit Bubbles: When leos gain extra weight, they start excess fats, vitamins, and proteins in the body. When these components are stored under the arms, they form what is known as armpit bubbles.
Although bubbles are entirely safe, they usually alter the Lavender leopard gecko’s look and make them look less endearing to pet owners. Luckily, the bubbles typically disappear once the gecko regains its original weight.
- Respiratory infections: Lavender leopard geckos can develop respiratory infections due to stress, poor husbandry, loss of substrate, or exposure to high humidity and cold temperatures. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, nasal discharge, and difficulties in breathing.
Lavender Leopard Geckos Behavior & Temperament
Like other leopard gecko morphs and varieties, Lavender geckos are usually calm and docile animals that are easy to interact with and cater to. They are less aggressive to people and can make good pets for people of all ages.
Leopard geckos are generally solitary animals and do not typically need to live with other geckos. However, suppose you do decide to keep more than one gecko together. In that case, you must provide each gecko with its own space to avoid potential aggression or territorial behavior.
Leopard geckos are crepuscular and are most active in the morning and evening twilight hours. During the day, they hide in cool, dark enclosure areas.
Inherently, leopard geckos are not very vocal, but they may make a soft chirping or hissing sound if they feel threatened or stressed. They may also flick their tongues or wave their tails as a sign of aggression.
Overall, Lavender leopard geckos are calm, easy to care for, and less aggressive. They are also low-maintenance and thus are an excellent pet choice for individuals who are green in owning reptile pets.
Handling Lavender Leopard Geckos
Although leos are calm and docile, they don’t like the human touch when they meet for the first time. However, how soon you can start holding your gecko depends on its personality and your patience.
You must let your new Lavender leopard gecko get used to the new surroundings and your presence before you try to touch it. The rule of thumb is to let the lizard stay for at least three weeks before you make the first contact. During this period, your job should be to feed it and clean its enclosure.
Follow these tips to handle your Lavender leopard gecko successfully:
- Wait until the leopard gecko stops fleeing. You should always ensure that your gecko is comfortable in its space before holding it. Don’t touch your leopard gecko if it sees you and runs.
- Start befriending your leopard gecko using food. Once your leo notices that you’re the one who always brings them food, they’ll start trusting you and no longer see you as a threat. Please take advantage of this by feeding them with your hands.
- Place your hand inside the cage: Once you notice that the leo has gotten comfortable around you, put your hand on the cage’s floor and see if it will climb. If it nibs your hand or escapes, you’ll need to give it more time.
- Get the Lavender leopard gecko outside the cage. Once the gecko feels confident to climb on your hand, you can take it outside the cage for petting.
- Hold the gecko safely. To instill comfort and make leo trust you, you need to hold it carefully and safely. Let the leopard gecko climb one hand and support it using the other hand.
- Make the bonding moment short. Although leos won’t mind being held, the truth is that they don’t like it. Therefore, if they agree to be handled, the sessions should last between 10 and 15 minutes.
- Always let the gecko explore. After the handling and bonding session, let the gecko explore the yard. However, you must ensure that no pets are hovering around and seal all potential escape roots.
Lavender Leopard Geckos Pricing
Because Lavender leopard geckos are a rare morph with attractive and enticing colors, they’ll cost much more than typical leopard geckos. A Lavender leopard gecko will cost you around $150-$500.
Pros and Cons of Keeping Lavender Leopard geckos
Pros
- Easy to cater to and maintain
- Attractive and friendly
- Highly resistant to diseases
- Longterm companionship of up to 20 years
- Great pet for first-time pet owners
Cons
- Expensive than the typical leopard gecko
- The lavender color fades away as they grow old
- They need specialized care
- They are highly prone to stress and anxiety.
Conclusion
As the guideline explains, Lavender leopard geckos are one of the best leopard gecko morphs t you can keep in your household for companionship. These geckos have become popular among pet owners because of their pale, purple-gray coloration.
However, if you’re planning on bringing a Lavender leopard gecko home, you provide it with a suitable habitat that meets its needs. This includes a suitable enclosure with the appropriate substrate, heating, lighting, and proper diet and supplements.
Conversely, you need to understand other things, such as behavior and how to handle your gecko for a more fruitful companionship.