Cost of Keeping a Leopard Gecko - Checklist

Make sure you can afford to own a gecko

Before you go out and adopt a leopard gecko as a pet, you need to decide whether you can afford to keep the lucky little reptile. Whilst the cost of keeping a leopard gecko is modest compared with most other pets (a fraction of the cost of owning a dog, say), you still need to make a financial outlay and commit yourself to this over the life of the lizard, which can be as long as twenty years (although five to ten years is more usual). Unusually, most of what it costs to keep a lizard is up front. Once you have bought the container, heating equipment and basic furniture (food and water bowls, hides) the monthly cost of keeping a leopard gecko is fairly small - around fifteen pounds (twenty dollars) a month, not including pet insurance.

Initial Outlay: Essentials

Leopard gecko from reputable supplier - £40
Vivarium (container) - 60cm x 40cm x 40cm - £40
Warm hide - £10
Moist hide - £10
Cool hide - £5
15W heat mat (for base of vivarium) - £15
Support for heat mat - £10
Thermostat for heat mat - £20
Two digital thermometers - £10
Water bowl - £5
Food bowl - £5
Vivarium substrate - £5
Calcium powder - £5
Vitamin supplement - £5
Food (worms and insects) - £5
Bottled water - £1
Reptile-friendly disinfectant - £5
Faunarium (temporary container) - £14

Total estimated cost: £210

Initial Outlay: Optional Extras

40W Ceramic emitter heater - £15
Standard low energy lightbulb for day - £2
Ceramic bulb holder x 2 - £10
Thermostat for heater - £20
LED lights (set of 3) - £20
Tweezers to handle food - £2
Plastic foliage for decoration - £15
Rocks and branches for decoration - £15
Container for crickets - £10
Food for crickets/worms - £5

Total estimated cost: £114

On-going monthly cost

Food for gecko - £4
Water for gecko - £1
Food for crickets/worms - £1
Calcium powder - £2
Vitamin supplement - £2
Electricity for heaters - £2
Reptile-friendly disinfectant - £3
Pets insurance - £5

Total estimated cost: £20

Overall cost - summary

So, to keep a leopard gecko, you should budget for around 20 pounds (thirty dollars) a month, having spent an initial amount of between 200 and 300 pounds (three to five hundred dollars).

You should also allow for having to replace items whenever they get damaged or show signs of wear. If you buy a wooden vivarium, it may need to be replaced every two to three years, depending on the make.

Good quality heat mats and ceramic emitter heaters can last two to three years (infra-red heat bulbs, by contrast, only last a few months at most and need to be replaced several times a year, adding around thirty pounds to the annual cost).

Pets insurance may be hard to come by and if you cannot get it in your area, be prepared to hand over several hundred pounds to a vet if your gecko falls ill.

I'd also strongly recommend buying some comprehensive books on how to keep leopard geckos, written by specialist authors - these are far more reliable than the rubbish you read on the internet. You should be able to buy a good reference book for 15 pounds.