Hey guys, most of you will disagree with me, but based on my sources leopard gecko are actually from a tropical environment, and I wanted to hear who else knew the truth. Back when leopard geckos where first shipped into captivity (a very long time ago but not sure how long ago myself) people did not have information on what habitat they came from but as you all know leopard geckos without morphs are sandish yellow with black spots, so anyones best guess would be that they are from an arid environment. But sorda recently some Herpers went to India or Pakistan, they went to lush forests and found what they identified as the exact species of leopard gecko, we keep in captivity today.
*edit, if you disagree please do so politely, I have a tendency to yell at people I amp up with. I will do my best because I know how controversial this is.
Without knowing the exact locations and more info, I don’t know if there’s a way to determine if the gecko you pictured is Eublepharis macularius or one of the other species of gecko in the area.
A small part of the range may be different, but a large swath of their range is scrublands.
It’s like saying coyotes are suburban dwellers just because they adapted to a different environment and people find them in their cul de sacs.
That’s interesting to think about, but I do agree with @armiyana that it’s difficult to identify the exact species of gecko shown. Could I see your sources? I’m curious now
Still, wouldn’t there be a lot more insects available in a tropical environment? Why did leopard geckos develop their energy-storing tails then?
You can find California Kingsnakes in high altitude forests, high desert, low desert, coastal areas, open plains, and lowland scrub. Doesn’t mean they are biologically specific any of those areas.
iNaturalist is a useful tool. Check it out if you haven’t. They’re a generalist gecko. They occupy a variety of habitats. I wouldn’t go so far as to say any of it is jungle but they are found in areas where vegetation is quite lush.
How would you determine what locales are in your multi generation captive bred domesticated leo? Does the specific locale really matter to a domesticated species?
Oh sorry, I see what’s confusing, the gecko I pictured is my just my own pet leopard gecko, and the range not specific is just me forgetting what country they searched in. Also this was just some other guys who went on this trip and found them. And after I made this post I looked into it a bit more and I can’t seem to find exactly why they would need to store energy in there tail but my guess would be that 1. they are so closely related to African fat-tail geckos and 2. they do very in range into some slightly arid environments. Also my main source would be Animals at home podcast on Youtube but they probably have the full episode on Audible. And last I can definitely see that there are probably a few other species of leopard gecko in the ones we have in the hobby today but it probably mostly one species but I could be wrong.
Umm. I’m not sure that speculating, guessing, or YouTubing import history, habitat or phylogenetic relationships is useful, since there is quite a bit of published peer reviewed information available.
Just a couple legitimate sources of info are:
Agarwal, et al. ‘The evolutionary history of an accidental model organism, the leopard gecko Eublepharis macularius’. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 168 (2022)
Seufer, Kaverkin, and Kirschner. ‘The Eyelash Geckos’. (2005)
Whatever you can find by Muhammad Sharif Khan, including ‘Natural history and biology of hobbyist choice leopard gecko Eublepharis macularius’. His ‘The Amphibians and Reptiles of Pakistan’ is broad but still informative, as well.
There are a lot of links at the Reptile Database entry for macularius, also.
HI, I understand your concern, a lot of people don’t trust youtube at all. Although I trust both people who were on this podcast and its not the only place I got this information also after looking into it more I found there was a part they had not mentioned but on the other guys channel he explained it more, from what I understand leopard geckos are tropical and semi-arid and live in a range between the two habitats. But in arid arias they prefer to hide in most burrows and dried out rivers that might collect moister when they can.
This isn’t new info at all.
One of the main facts is that leopard geckos will need a moist hide in times of shedding.
Every animal needs water to survive. Leopard geckos as a generally arid species have evolved to survive rough and dry times by storing fat (which also helps store water) in their tails. They don’t have the rough scales that some arid diurnal lizards do that help collect water and direct it towards their face.
Burrows and crevices naturally are more prone to damp and moist conditions. So more nocturnal or crepuscular do tend to like a nice damp place to hide away from temps that may be a little too much.
It isn’t about ‘trust’, it is about how knowledge gets made. Watching a couple videos and then claiming this is “the truth” doesn’t do anything but spread misinformation. To say that it isn’t known what habitat macularius is from, and that it is anyone’s best guess based on how they look, is patently false. What you’re saying isn’t controversial, it is simply claims made without taking into account virtually any of the information that’s easily accessible.
there is other places where you can find the information I only said that I found the information there I looked into it elsewhere and other people know the information to, and have gotten it elsewhere.
also this is what I meant by CONTROVERSIAL it means that some people disagree and (in this case fewer) some people agree, plus I did not put this up here as info that I want you to believe, I put it up here because I wanted to see who else believed, so forgive my wording.
A couple of people claimed to find leopard geckos in forest near the decades long researched and collected specimens in an arid environment. This just is an expansion of range and not scientific fact for this species.
Can leopard geckos survive in more humid environments? Yes.
Does that mean they’re not arid scrubland dwellers adapted to a drier environment? No.
Unless studied and vetted by other researchers and biologists this isn’t ‘the truth’. Which makes calling it such misinformation. That’s what’s making it controversial.
You can’t just turn this around to leopard geckos actually being environmentally similar in care to african fat tail geckos… People have tried to keep them in a similar environment and one species or the other always tends to suffer stress from attempting to adapt to the environment of the other
ya, after looking into it more I found that they are both semi-arid and tropical. and for the second time the title was worded badly. Also you would understand were I’m coming from if you did the same research.
*edit also everyone please read the rest of the comments if you are going to say something because I keep having to repeat things.
everyone just look at inaturalist like @ballornothing said there is proof of leopard geckos in at least semi-tropical habitats.
And I am not saying you need to keep your leopard geckos tropical I’m saying they do live in tropical AND arid environments, so if anything we need to give them OPTIONS,
like they said on the podcast
-bigger enclosures
-with a hot dry and more UV side
-and a cooler humid area with less UV and maby add some tunnels side
-and you know what that’s exactly what I’m going to do
All you are repeating is basically new ways of saying you are using non-scientific sources to back the claims you heard.
Again. Show us the peer reviewed research and scientific study of this and people will be more likely to listen.
Saying that you heard it on a podcast is not a scientifically significant source.
-bigger enclosures are not always better. It depends on the animal
-leopard geckos do not require UV so varying the amount does not matter either. It’s just a nice bonus to give them any
-everyone already knows that Leo’s need a humid hide and a temperature variation in the enclosure
I literally gave you guys the name of the podcast.
and if you were not listening here is it and more
and check out inaturalist,
also other people mention it.
and please watch the videos, you can search leopard geckos on there channels, and keep in mind animals at home podcast has two leopard gecko vids or more but watch the newest one cuz the other one is more of a conversation with arkadia.
Also not everything in the world is scientifically classified because not everyone is a scientist.
I don’t understand why you keep bringing up these same sources though.
If they are not backed by reputable sources, then it is not something people here will be spreading willy nilly. A reputable source would be through a study, not hearsay on the Internet from influencers.
Remember a couple of years ago everyone was saying ivermectin was a miracle drug because of hearsay and a flawed study that was rejected by peers. It took multiple studys to fix that damage and prove a near if not lethal dose would have been required.
I keep bringing up these sources because there is not much study put into it, I know its a risk with something that I can’t find to much information, but with the info given its enough to convince especially since I know that a lot of the stuff we do these days will be outdated someday. please watch the videos and you might understand.
I’m not ruining my algorithm on YouTube because of influencers you seem to believe. It does not sway my opinion on leopard geckos in the slightest given the decades of collection data and info already published.
None of the husbandry points that you made above are new info. Just they happened to be found nearby in a slightly different area.
Oh I’m not saying much against how we keep them now because they are found in semi-arid areas I’m just saying that they are also semi-tropical I’m not saying people have to go all moist enclosures heavily thick vegetation I’m saying we need to give them options and yes DEFFONITLY we should test, research, and study it much more!!!
