One of the first questions a new keeper might ask is just how long a leopard gecko lifespan is. Are you buying a pet that will live for just a few short years? Or will your leopard gecko be around even longer than you will?
Wild Leopard Gecko Lifespan
Wild leopard geckos are found in South Asia, from Afghanistan and Pakistan into India and Nepal. They favor arid and semi-arid regions where rainfall is scarce and daytime temperatures are hot.
So long as they avoid predators and extreme heat, wild leopard geckos are longer lived than most lizards their size. They will live 10 to 20 years.
How Long Do Leopard Geckos Live as a Pet?
Pet leopard geckos live anywhere from 15 to 20 years. A few rare specimens will live up to 25 years.
A pet leopard gecko will live longer than a wild lizard thanks to the comfort and care of interior living. Wild lizards have to deal with predators, parasites, extreme weather, hunger, and diseases.
Lizards living in captivity deal with few to none of these issues. It also helps that leopard geckos are such undemanding lizards, to begin with.
Ron Tremper is the founder of leopardgecko. He is one of the most experienced leopard gecko breeders in the world. Ron has named several color morphs, including Tremper albino leopard geckos.
He reportedly had a leopard gecko born in 1981 live to be 30 years old. Think of a pet leopard gecko as a long-term commitment.
How Old is My Leopard Gecko?
The best way to tell how old your leopard gecko is is to measure its length and weight. Different morphs have different starting and ending sizes. So consider the following information applicable to standard sized leopard geckos.
Leopard geckos grow at a medium rate of speed. When they come out of the egg, a baby leopard gecko is around 3 inches long. The lizard will add an inch to its length over its first month of life. Adding a second inch by age 3 months.
By 6 months in age your leopard gecko should be 6 inches long. Putting on another inch every 3 months until it reaches 1 year in age. At this point, growth slows down. It will take another 4 to 6 months for the lizard to grow 2 to 3 inches, reaching its final adult size by age 18 months.
A few unusual leopard geckos may continue to grow past this point. But the majority are finished by age 18 months. Beyond 18 months, it is impossible to say exactly how old a leopard gecko is.
But I wouldn’t worry too much about how old your leopard gecko is. Even if you buy a lizard that is several years old, it will live for another decade or longer.
Proper Gecko Care for a Long Lifespan
Looking to ensure your leopard gecko lives to be 15 to 20 years old? Or maybe even 30 years old? You’ll need to address each one of these care requirements to maximize your leopard gecko lifespan.
Space Needs
Leopard gecko space needs are modest. A single 20 gallon long is enough room for one leopard gecko – or even a pair of females. Even if your lizard is not too active you should not go any smaller than 20 gallons.
The environment still needs to provide space for the leopard gecko to thermoregulate. If there is no area for the lizard to cool down, it may overheat even at moderate temperatures.
Feeding Requirements
The best way to boost lizard life expectancy is to give it the right food. Leopard geckos are insectivores; sourcing feeder insects is easy enough. But their nutritional content is low when coming straight from the pet store.
All reptile keepers should have vitamin dusting powder on hand. A quick dust adds several essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium, to the insects. If you have time, I also recommend gut loading insects.
Health Issues
Leopard geckos are not prone to health issues when kept warm and well fed. Nutritional deficiencies are the most common. Metabolic bone disease and hypovitaminosis are both easy to avoid if you follow the tips outlined above.
They sometimes have shedding issues if kept too dry. Leopard geckos are desert dwellers but still need low levels of humidity (30-40%). If your gecko is shedding, it will spend more time in its hide, where the humidity should be higher. Mist it if conditions appear to be too dry.
Shed skin sometimes gets stuck on the tail or toes. If this shed skin does not fall off, your leopard gecko may end up losing a toe or tail. Missing tails will be regenerated but not missing toes.
Impaction is rare but does occur in leopard geckos. When grabbing a feeder insect, your gecko may get a big mouthful of sand to swallow. If the lizard eats enough indigestible sand, the grains may get caught in the intestines. Without veterinary care, sand impactions are fatal.
The easiest way to prevent this is to use calcium carbonate sand as a substrate. Calcium sand is 100% digestible, ensuring no impactions ever occur.
How Long Do Geckos Live?
Geckos are long lived pets. The smallest geckos, such as day geckos and Mediterranean house geckos will live up to 10 years. And as our handy comparison chart demonstrates, popular pet gecko lizards will live 1 to 2 decades, on average.
| Gecko Species | Leopard Gecko | Tokay Gecko | Crested Gecko | Fat Tailed Gecko | Leachie Gecko |
| Lifespan | 15 to 20 years | 10 years | 15 to 20 years | 15 to 20 years | 15 to 25 years |
| Size | 8 to 10 inches | 10 to 12 inches | 7 to 9 inches | 7 to 9 inches | 10 to 17 inches |
| Ease of Care | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy | Moderate |
How Long Do Pet Lizards Live For?
How long lizards live does vary depending on the species. But not as much as you might think. The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the largest lizard in the world. Yet the oldest one is only as old as the oldest leopard gecko.
Larger lizards do take longer to mature than smaller ones. And on average, they will live longer. But proper care and a good diet means that pet lizards of any type are likely to live for decades.
Reptiles With Short Lifespans
Reptiles in general have medium to long lifespans. Snakes will live to be 15 to 30 years, which is short for a reptile. Turtles and crocodilians will live 40 to 100 years. But there is a lizard with a short lifespan: the chameleon family.
Chameleons grow fast and die young. Males will live to be up to 8 years in age. While females die at just 5 years old. Their reproductive strategy is “quantity over quality.”
A gecko lizard will live three times as long but just lays two eggs at a time. Chameleons live for less time but lay dozens of eggs per breeding period.
Conclusion
Leopard gecko lifespan is one of the longest of any pet lizard. Geckos in general are long lived pets. Coupled with how easy they are to care for, you will have few issues maximizing the years of enjoyment they offer.
FAQs
The average lifespan for leopard geckos is 15-20 years. But Ron Tremper, world-famous leopard gecko breeder, reports that his oldest was 30 years old when it died.
Leopard geckos are not social lizards. They live most of their life alone, coming together only to mate or to drive rivals out of their territory. Leopard gecko females may be kept together but it does not enhance their quality of life since they’d otherwise be alone. Leopard gecko males will fight if kept together.
