African Fat Tail Gecko Care

General Information:

The Fat-tailed gecko, is very similar in shape and size to the Leopard Gecko, but it is adapted to a far different life-style. It is a relatively docile and slow-moving animal, more shy and with different behavior patterns toward humans than the leopard gecko.

The Fat Tail Geckos we keep today are very different from their descendants in the wild and have different housing and substrate needs because they were born and raised in captivity. We use and highly recommend each of the items in the sections below. All Fat Tail Geckos have basic needs such as fresh water, appropriately sized food, heat, and shelter. With these basic items, your new gecko will thrive as he makes the adjustment to his new home.

Housing:

Glass enclosures work best for viewing, although many breeders house these geckos in Rubbermaid tubs or large sweater boxes. A 10-gallon enclosure is the minimum size for an adult. You may house several females in one enclosure together, just make sure you watch them carefully to prevent bullying over food or territory. When introducing new geckos to an existing habitat, you should introduce the two or more females outside of their proposed enclosure in a 'safe' area and let them get used to each other before introducing them to their new home. This will help you monitor them for bullying.

You should never house male fat-tailed geckos geckos together as they are highly territorial and can injure, and possibly kill each other. We suggest housing males separately from females to avoid excessive breeding and stress. Another good rule of thumb when housing fat tail geckos together is to make sure there is no more than a 10 gram difference in their size.

Rocks, fake plants, and logs for basking and hiding are preferred enclosure furniture. Make sure ample cave space is available, both on the warm side and cool side of the enclosure. Substrate choices can include paper towels, newspaper, bed-a-beast (coconut fiber), and peat moss. Fat-tails like to burrow in slightly moist substrate to rehydrate, so we use combination of coconut fiber and peat moss in our fat tail geckos moist hides.

Substrate:

We highly recommend using paper towel as substrate for your fat-tailed geckos. It is clean, sanitary and inexpensive to use. As as alternative, you may also use non-printed newspaper, bed-a-beast (coconut fiber), peat moss or reptile carpet. Fat-tails should have an accessible warm hide with slightly moist substrate. We use combination of coconut fiber, peat moss and cypress mulch for our females during laying season, and for our males year around. Under no circumstance should you use sand as a substrate for your fat-tailed geckos as it may cause impaction and possibly lead to death.

Heat - Fat Tail Geckos eat and digest their food best when belly heat is used. They must have a 'hot spot' in their enclosures so they can thermoregulate their body temperatures throughout the day. We recommend purchasing a reptile heating pad($10) for the bottom of the warm side of your tank and a rheostat ($15) to help control the temperature and maintain a constant 84-90 degrees on the hot spot. You want to use a thermometer or temperature gun to measure your temperatures at the bottom of the tank where the geckos belly touches the substrate. Ambient heat/belly heat of above 94 degrees is too warm for your fat tail gecko! Be sure to maintain the other end of the tank at room temperature (70-74°).

Shelter - Fat Tail Geckos are nocturnal and must be provided with a dark, moist hide at all times. This can be filled with moist paper towel, sphagnum moss or vermiculite. Ideally, there should also be another hide on the opposite side of the enclosure.

Supplements/Water - We use Rep-Cal supplements for all of our reptiles. It is very important that your gecko is provided with access to fine powered calcium at all times, as well as fresh water. You can accomplish this by providing a separate dish filled with calcium, or by dusting the food items with calcium regularly. We also highly recommend providing your animals with a regular vitamin supplement, you can dust your feeders with this once a week in order to provide your animals with the proper amount of nutrients.

Feeding:

We feed mealworms, superworms, dubias, and crickets at our facility. You can purchase feeders from your local pet store or online directly from the feeder suppliers if you need large qualities. Be careful not to feed your gecko anything larger than 3/4 the size of their head to prevent choking. Providing a variety of foods is highly recommended. It is also very important that the food you supply is ‘gut loaded’ to provide the proper nutrients for your gecko. You can use any commercial gut load, or provide the feeders with a mix of 10 grain cereal, leafy greens, and/or carrots.

Handling and Quarantine:

We recommend quarantining your new gecko for a minimum of 30 days. When beginning to handle your Fat Tail Gecko, we recommend that you offer your hand slowly with your palm up, before picking up your gecko. Never pick up your gecko by its tail, as this may cause the tail to “drop”, or detach and it may become vulnerable to disease and infection.

©2010 Brittney Gougeon - Do Not Duplicate Without Permission