The age of a leopard gecko can be determined from the rings in their tail. A line is added to the end of the tail every time they shed, and it takes about three years for a complete ring to form. Other factors that affect growth are hormones, diet and environment. The maximum lifespan for an adult leopard gecko is around 20-25 years with proper care.
If you need to know the age of your leopard gecko, you should first ask the person who sold it to you especially if they’re breeders. Otherwise, the methods described below will come in hand for this purpose.
How old is my leopard gecko?
It’s not easy to tell the age of a leopard gecko because they don’t grow like humans. Their growth and development can be measured in inches per year or millimeters per month.
One way to measure their age is the number of rings on their tail, which will tell you how long it’s been since they molted. You would need to know how many new tail rings there are each time your pet sheds its skin for this method to work correctly.
To determine if your lizard is at maximum size, take measurements from head-to-tail and get an average measurement. If that measurement changes by more than 15% over the course of a year, then make arrangements with your veterinarian about whether or not it needs help shedding that old skin (or, even worse, if your lizard is nearing the end of its life).
How to tell the age of a leopard gecko
Knowing how to tell how old a leopard gecko is aids in the provision of the right diet and other care aspects. While it isn’t obvious to tell how old a leopard gecko is, there are some aspects you can use to help determine that. These include the following:
Length
The length of your leopard gecko can help you determine its age. Leopard geckos grow at a rate of approximately an inch every month, so measure your leopard gecko’s length and count the months to see how old it is in comparison.
You will want to round up if it is between two different lengths. For example, if it’s three inches long then they would be about four months old because they may have grown since you last measured them but haven’t yet reached that full four-inch mark.
Since leopard geckos drop their tails every now and again, the length of your gecko isn’t measured from the nose to the tail. Instead, it’s measured from the tip of their nose to the base of the tail where it connects with the body.
The age of the leopard gecko and its age is as shown in the leopard gecko growth chart below:
| Age of the gecko | Length of males (inches) | Length of females (inches) |
| Birth | 3 | 3 |
| 1 month | 4 | 4 |
| 3 months | 5 | 5 |
| 6 months | 6 | 5-6 |
| 9 months | 7 | 6 |
| 12 months 8 | 8 | 7 |
| 18 months | 10-12 | 8-10 |
The average size in females is 24 inches long at about eight months old; males are 22 inches tall on average when they reach adulthood.
Weight
Another factor to base on when it comes to determining the age of a leopard gecko is its weight. Like all other animals, leopard geckos grow throughout their lifetime and as they age, they also grow in weight. The difference between a juvenile leopard gecko and an adult is that, on average, juveniles weigh about 15 grams while adults can be around 30 grams or more.
A typical leopard gecko age chart based on their weight is as follows:
| Age | Weight for males (grams) | Weight for females (grams) |
| Birth | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| 1 month | 10-20 | 10-20 |
| 3 months | 20-30 | 20-30 |
| 6 months | 30-40 | 30-40 |
| 9 months | 40-50 | 35-45 |
| 12 months | 55-65 | 40-50 |
| 18 months | 60-80 | 50-70 |
You can’t entirely base on the weight of your gecko to determine its age since weight varies in these lizards. For instance, females will weigh more just before laying eggs and be underweight after that. Leopard gecko shedding skin is also accompanied by a loss in weight. Feeding also affects the weight of the gecko.
Color
The color of your leopard gecko is one of the easiest ways to identify its age. The color will change as it gets older, so knowing what colors you have now can help determine how old your leopard gecko might be.
A hatchling will start out a light-yellow color with black spots all over their body and tail. As they get older, there will be more white color mixed in on the belly area until eventually all that remains are some brown or dark grey markings around their eyes or mouth while everything else turns bright orange.
An adolescent leopard geckos’ colour may vary slightly from an adult’s depending on whether you’re feeding them enough calcium. Generally speaking, they’ll still look different than either a hatchling or an adult because certain parts of their body will remain pale or darker than the rest.
An adult leopard gecko’s color is usually a mix of orange, yellow and brown with some white markings around its eyes. Occasionally, an old leopard gecko can have dark gray spots on its skin that may extend from head to tail – but they’ll still be primarily orange in color everywhere else.
Bands on the teeth
When you look at your pet’s head with its mouth open for a few minutes, you’ll be able to see bands on his or her teeth that show how old he/she is. These bands help identify each different stage of maturity which include: baby (0-12 months), adolescent (18-24 months) and adult (over 24 months). They aren’t, however, an exact science.
How long does a leopard gecko live?
If you’re wondering how old leopard geckos get, then there’s good news for you the maximum age for leopard geckos is 20 to 30 years. In captivity, their lifespan usually ranges between 15 and 25 years.
It can take up to three or four molts before these lizards reach adulthood. They may also go through periods where they stop growing altogether due to poor health or stress. It takes about three-fourths of a year for leopard geckos to mature from juveniles into adults, and this is when it has completed its last molt.
In captivity their lifespan usually ranges between 15 and 25 years while that of wild individuals can range anywhere from five to 30 years depending on several factors including food availability, population density, predators, parasites and diseases.
The size at which they are born is dependent on the age of the eggs from which they hatch and how long after fertilization that event was. Eggs incubated in an environment with higher humidity will produce geckos that grow larger than those who have been incubated under lower levels of moisture.
This doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that all smaller leopard gecko babies are going to be small as adults; it just means they might not reach their full potential for total length because egg size can also affect growth rate during development when compared to other factors like food availability, predator density etc.
Factors that determine the growth of leopard geckos
Leopard geckos don’t grow at the same rate. It largely depends on the environment they’re in and their genetics. This means that a leopard gecko from one person may grow faster than another, even if it is a younger or older relative to other leopard geckos.
Some determine factors for the growth of your leopard gecko include the following:
Size of the enclosure
A leopard gecko needs a large enough enclosure to move around comfortably. This includes a habitat with ample space and an appropriate substrate for your leopard geckos’ needs (most likely sand).
If you have more than one leopard gecko in the same cage, it’s important that they are of comparable sizes. Otherwise, the larger animal will bully or attack the smaller one.
For this reason, you should avoid mixing different types of reptiles together unless they’re all within roughly the same age range and size groupings. Scorpions, monitor lizards, and other arboreal species can be aggressive when young as well so think twice before housing them together.
A leopard gecko needs at least 20 gallons of space on its own for the best growth rate. Otherwise, it’ll feel crowded and stressed.
READ ALSO: Leopard Gecko Tank Mates – What Reptiles Can Live with Them?
Humidity levels
Another aspect that determines the age is the humidity levels in the leopard gecko’s habitat. Leopard geckos are crepuscular animals, meaning they sleep during the day and hunt at night. When they’re awake, these creatures spend most of their time underground or in water.
If your lizard lives on land, then it needs to access a wet area such as a moist hide box.
Hiding areas
The provision of hiding areas is important for pets that may feel threatened by human interaction, such as petting or being held. The most common way to provide this is with an appropriately sized box or cage furniture made out of materials like cork bark and branches.
These mimic the natural habitat of these animals when they are found in the wild. These items also serve their own purpose as shelter from predators and other harsh environmental conditions.
Leopard geckos do not need protection from temperature extremes because they live primarily outdoors in warmer climates. Many house owners tend to provide hiding areas for leopard geckos regardless of their climate, and this is a good idea when they live in an area which experiences extreme temperatures.
Leopard geckos are nocturnal animals which spend most of the day sleeping, so providing them with a hide box or brick appropriate to their size will allow them to feel safe while sleeping during periods of increased activity by humans such as daytime hours.
Pet owners should always make sure that there are places where these reptiles can get out from underfoot naturally without being trapped in corners or behind furniture pieces because it may cause stress if they cannot escape easily enough.
Parasites
Parasites tend to stress your leopard gecko, which can result in stunted growth. If your leopard geckos have not been checked for parasites, and are showing signs of any illness, you should do so as soon as possible.
When checking the health of a leopard gecko, it is important to check both the droppings and their skin because some parasites (such as mites) will reside on the outside while others (such as worm eggs) may be found inside them.
When something like this is detected early enough, there are medications that can help alleviate these pests from your pet’s system with little trouble. The earlier you find out about these problems, the easier time overcoming them becomes.
Diseases
Diseases also affect the growth of leopard geckos. For example, if a leopard gecko contracts an intestinal parasite such as coccidia, then the gecko will not absorb all the nutrients from its food and will be malnourished. This could lead to stunted growth for that particular animal.
The way diseases affect age is through their damage on body tissue or organs which affects how quickly they grow in size or height. Diseases can also cause death so it’s important to know signs of illness in order to take care of your pets properly.
Habitat conditions
The habitat conditions are the most determining factor in how fast leopard gecko grow. Leopard geckos thrive when they are on a diet of live prey, which will provide them with enough nutrients to facilitate their growth.
A healthy habitat is also important for optimal growth because it provides the right environmental conditions and temperature ranges needed by these reptiles so that they can be successful at hunting food, reproducing, etc.
The environment itself plays an important role in the lifespan of any animal species as well as its rate of growth or success during reproduction times. As such, a leopard gecko’s age may vary depending on whether he/she is kept in captivity (which could lead to stunted size) or if she was raised outside her natural environment and then introduced to it.
Maintaining a habitat that is in accordance with the leopard gecko’s natural environment will help them grow and live healthy lives, making their age easier to determine as well.
Temperatures
It’s important to monitor the temperature of your leopard gecko’s vivarium. The ambient temperature of the room determines how quickly a leopard gecko grows. A temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit is optimal for rapid growth while temperatures below 60 degrees can cause stunted or delayed growth in juveniles and subadults. Temperatures over 80 degrees will result in slowed activity, lethargy, discoloration, and even death if left unchanged.
Substrate
Your gecko needs a substrate to live on. Without it, they cannot get the proper humidity or warmth needed for their environment, and will eventually die. A substrate can be anything from the sand all the way up to Zoo Med Eco Earth with added enrichment such as cork bark chippings, pieces of coconut coir fiber or even small rocks like lava rock or pea gravel.
Substrates that are too coarse may cause irritation around your gecko’s toes and make them more prone to infection.
Coarser substrates also lead to higher chances of impaction (having a hard object lodged in an animal’s digestive tract) because you have less chance of noticing something stuck inside the gecko than if there were leaf litter underfoot where bit of food could get stuck.
The substrate you choose should also be large enough for your gecko to burrow and find comfort in it, but not so deep that they’ll hurt themselves if they fall too far into the bedding while climbing around or hunting food.
Diet
Your gecko’s diet is another thing you should consider when determining his age. In the first year of a leopard gecko’s life, it can grow up to four inches tall and be about as wide. Generally, at this point, your lizard will have had its tail amputated due to the risk of injury from other animals or humans.
As he becomes an adult, between one-to-three years old, they’ll only grow another inch in height but continue growing wider until around six months later when they become sexually mature and stop eating altogether for two weeks while shedding their skin before mating with females who are reaching maturity themselves.
Now that you know how to tell how old your leopard gecko is, focus on providing the best conditions for them in terms of their health and living conditions.
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