"The Leopard Gecko"

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Year: 2000
ISBN: 1-58245-165-6 Description: Hardcover: 128 pages. The text is enhanced with many color photographs.
Author: Lyle Puente (some chapters by or in consultation with Audrey Pavia)

"The Leopard Gecko" bu Lyle Puente is part of the "Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet" series. The author is President of the Global Gecko Association. The Leopard Gecko is a well organized and attractive book, with many wonderful gecko photos (leopard geckos and other species as well). As a general interest book for the beginner, it is a decent book about geckos with an emphasis on leopard geckos. However, I was disappointed in how little information in the book is devoted solely to leopard geckos and the book is short on some pretty important and relevant care information.

Organization

"The Leopard Gecko" is nicely laid out, organized into 3 larger sections. The first section is quite general and discusses leopard geckos in relation to other geckos and other common pet store lizards. It also covers some of the common colors, patterns and phases of leopard geckos and common gecko behaviors. Part two covers general care, part three covers breeding, and part four lists some resources (the chapter here is called "Sources" but is really about resources to help the gecko owner, includind a plug for the Global Gecko Association, other herpetology associations, books and magazines).

The book is a curious mix of quite helpful tips while at the same time rushing through some necessary basic information. For instance, the section on housing has some tips on using rocks in the enclosure in such a way that they cannot collapse and crush your gecko, building tunnels and shelves, and uses of live plants. However, the basics of setting up a terrarium are not well laid out and has to be pieced together from other bits of the text. It would have been nice to see more of a natural progression in the housing section, from choosing a tank, adding substrate and furnishings, heat, light and humidity, then go on the more advanced topics such as rocks and tunnels. The first method of housing discussed is racks more suited to breeders. The importance of humidity is discussed without specifics on levels to aim for and how to attain those levels. Fairly rudimentary coverage of light and heat is given, although specific temperature ranges are mentioned.

Substrates other than sand are not really discussed (save the mention of paper towelling in the section on sweater boxes for housing). The use of sand as a substrate is somewhat controversial, due to the risk of obstruction of the digestive system from ingestion of sand. The author maintains that if fed enough calcium the leopard gecko will not ingest sand. I do not know if this is an absolute truth however, and many other gecko owners advise against using sand due to the risk of impaction. I think more discussion of the topic would be warranted.

I also found the section on feeding was informative but lacking in basics. A list of items was given, without much mention of the advantages and disadvantages of each, then the rest of the chapter pretty much concentrated on crickets. Gut-loading was mentioned as a side bar, where I think more emphasis should be made in the main text on feeding. However, helpful tips were given about feeding and there is a nice discussion on vitamin supplements and dusting the prey. Beginners would benefit from more information on exactly what to feed, how much and how often.

The section on breeding was fairly well done, including a good discussion on different incubators and methods.

"The Leopard Gecko" is a nicely written book and contains sound information. It contains some interesting information about leopard geckos and geckos in general. As well, some of the care information is quite unique and helpful and is written in an easy to understand manner. However, I am not sure this would a good choice as a your only book about Leopard Geckos, especially for a novice owner. I was disappointed that there was not more emphasis on information solely about leopard geckos. Also while much of the general information is aimed a beginner gecko owner, the care information skips over some very basic information that a beginner would need. There is also very little detailed information to benefit and advanced keeper. I think it is a worthwhile addition to the leopard gecko owner's libary, but would not consider it a complete reference on its own.