A BASIC SHOPPING LIST TO GET STARTED WITH!
• Vivarium or tank (minimum of 24”x24”x24” for one adult)
• substrate
• Heat mat
• Thermostat and two thermometers
• Calcium powder
• Calcium/vitamin powder
• Live food
• Gutload for live food
• Hides/caves
• Humid hide
• Water dish
• Calcium dish
Leopard geckos are a great beginner’s reptile as they are very cute and docile, they are very easy to handle, and are reasonably easy to keep. They are also available in several different brightly colored morphs .
if you are planning on getting a leopard gecko you need to take into account that they may live to around 15 years old but some may live even longer please bear this in mind when thinking about taking on 1 of these as a pet.

SETUP AND HEATING
Leopard geckos are very territorial. A minimum of 24”x24”x24” is recommended for housing a single adult. You shouldn't ever house two males together as they will fight, causing horrible injuries and sometimes death. Also i would not recommend having a male and a female live together as a permanent thing,the male will just keep trying to breed with the female and will stress her out.
You can keep pairs or trios of females though. Minimum tank size for a pair of females would be 30" long, or 36" long for a trio.
Leopard geckos are ectothermic and need an external heat source in order to regulate their body temperature and digest food. A heat mat is one of the best methods of heat for these geckos as they are nocturnal and do not tend to bask under lamps; instead they absorb heat through their abdomen which helps digestion. The required temperature for a leopard gecko is between 31 and 32 degrees Celsius (88 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit) on the ground of the warm side of the enclosure. to help keep the temperatures stable it is recommended to have a thermostat on the mat. it is important to have a warm end and cool end of the enclosure. The heat mat should only cover a third to one half of the enclosure floor, the other half should be left unheated, but be no less than around 22 or 23 degrees Celsius (71 to 73 degrees Fahrenheit). A small thermometer could be used to monitor each end of the viv to keep a constant eye on the temperatures as this is one of the most important things to get right.
There is a lot of talk regarding substrate,my personal opinion is either go for slate tiles or plastic tiles or repticarpet. I would not recommend sand as the when the leo strikes at his food there is a chance he may ingest some sand and this may lead to impactation ,other will say it is perfectly fine to use sand,this is just my personal choice others may not agree.the only reason I'm put of sand is When ingested the sand causes a blockage in the digestive tract that can lead to lethargy, weight loss, vomiting and eventual death. also with sand it has levels of calcium in it so in my opinion the leos may be more inclined to eat it,(again just my views on it). other substrates i have heard could be a potential problem are wood chips/shavings, powdered walnut, gravel again never used any b ut in my opinion may cause impactation.
what i use for my set ups are paper towel for young leos,then when they move onto a bigger viv i use either plastic floor tiles or slate in the bottom of the viv.The paper towel is good for babies as they tend to go to the toilet a lot and is very easy to clean and replace and cheap.then i move onto slate again very easy to clean and also looks very good in the tanks.

DIET
Leopard geckos require a staple diet of live invertebrates such as black or brown crickets, locusts, mealworms, roaches and silkworms. Waxworms may be offered as an occasional treat or to gravid females but wax worms should be feed as a treat if you feed them to many they will get to used to them and will eventually give up eating any other food you offer them.It is also extremely important to ‘gutload’ (i.e. feed) the live food for at least 24 hours before they are consumed to ensure that the insects are healthy, fat and of the highest nutritional value possible. Commercial gutloading products are available, but a high quality fish flake,i also add the odd piece of vegetable (potato,carrot)just for some moisture. Waxworms don’t need to be fed as the grubs you buy are in the advanced stages of development and do not require food at this stage.
Due to the high calcium requirement of geckos, additional supplementation of the food is needed to make sure they are healthy and do not develop bone disorders. Food must be dusted with a calcium/vitamin powdered supplement intended for carnivorous reptiles once every week (such as Nutrobal or T-Rex 2:0) and at all other feedings the food should be dusted with a pure calcium powder (such as ‘Calypso’ calcium) or crushed cuttlefish bone. A small dish of pure calcium powder or crushed cuttlefish bone can be placed in the tank at all times if you wish so that the gecko can help itself. With proper supplementation of the live food this is not a necessity. A small, shallow dish of water should be available at all times. Place this dish on the cool side of the enclosure so that it doesn't evaporate too quickly and cause humidity to rise.

HUMIDITY
Due to the nocturnal nature of leopard geckos, they need to be provided with hiding places to sleep in during the day. Cork bark, slate arrangements, Tupperware containers with a cut out entrance hole and commercially produced reptile caves are all excellent hiding places. Whilst leopard geckos require low humidity in general (ambient room humidity is usually just fine… anything that’s roughly 60% or lower), they will need to be provided with a small localized area of humidity in order to facilitate the skin shedding process. Use empty live food tubs, Tupperware containers or margarine tubs with a cut out entrance hole filled with a damp substrate (paper towel, vermiculite, moss or coconut fibre are effective. When using coconut fibre the entrance to the humid hide should be cut in the top or lid of the container or the gecko will take great pleasure in digging it all out and spreading it all over the enclosure! I learnt this the messy way.

HANDLING
You should avoid handling and disturbing your new gecko for at least a week after bringing it home. It will need time to settle in and adjust to its new environment. Do not attempt handling or feeding the gecko during the first week, just make sure you change the water in the water dish every couple of days.
Bear in mind that most leopard geckos require an amount of time spent on them to get them used to you before they feel comfortable with you picking them up, especially if you get a juvenile. Young geckos are more fragile and skittish.
To do this you can slowly place your hand in the tank with your palm flat on the floor for about 5 minutes every day without trying to grab or touch the gecko. After a while (maybe as long as a few weeks) your gecko will start to become curious and may walk around your hand, flicking its tongue at you to find out what you’re all about. Eventually the gecko should become confident enough to walk onto your hand of its own accord. Around this time you can start to slowly move your hand about to allow it to explore you, then you can try to gently scoop it up taking particular care not to grab at the tail. Geckos are able to ‘drop’ their tails when threatened, which is traumatic as the tail is where the fat reserves are (a healthy leopard gecko should have a nice fat tail) and it leaves an open wound that is vulnerable to infection. The tail will slowly be grown back, but it is never as beautiful as the original since the bones running through the center are gone and the structure is now made up of a cartilaginous material. Therefore the tail is often turnip-shaped and can sometimes branch off to form a fork. Don’t let this put you off though! The risk of tail dropping is small provided that you handle the animal gently. If this does happen though, you should make sure the enclosure is extra-clean and use paper kitchen towels as a substrate so that no loose bits get stuck to the wound. Also make sure that all live food is eaten immediately. If you leave bugs running about in the tank they might nibble at the wound, which is obviously not something anyone would want to happen, least of all the gecko itself! I personally only handle my leopard gecko when it is necessary as I don’t believe that she enjoys physical contact with humans. She tolerates it at best and quite enjoys the change of scenery, but she doesn't actively enjoy human contact or ‘cuddles’.
Summary: Leopard geckos are a great beginner's reptile! They are cute, easy, brightly colored and docile.