African Fat-Tailed Gecko Care
Setup
Housing
-A single fat-tailed gecko can be house in a 10 gallon aquarium (minimum). Babies can be housed in a smaller plastic tub. Two or more geckos should be kept in 15-30 gallon aquarium.
-An aquarium must have a screen lid on the top to prevent other pets from harming your fat-tailed gecko. (Lid locks may be used)
Heating & Lighting
-Place heat pad on one side of the aquarium, most heat pads should be placed on the underside of the aquarium. Do not turn it on yet; do it when your finished with the aquarium.
The best heat source for leopard geckos is the heat pad (it should be big enough to cover 1/3 of the aquarium) Temperatures on the side of the heating source at day time should be 80-85F. The opposite side should be around 75F. At night time, the whole tank can be around 75F. Place a thermometer on either side of the aquarium, this helps you keep the temps right.
Fat-tailed geckos does not need any UV lighting because they are nocturnal.
Substrate
-Reptile carpet, paper towels, and newspaper can be used as substrate. I prefer not to use any loose substrate, including sand and calcium sand.
Hiding Spots
-African fat-tails will need at least one hiding spot in its home (two or three is better) They will rest in it, and hide in it when they feel threatened. Without a hiding spot, they feel exposed and vulnerable, which can lead to great stress. There are many types of hiding spots available at pet stores, but you can always make one out of cardboard boxes, paper towel rolls, and napkin boxes. Some people like to have a humid hide in their geckos' home, it will help them shed better. Just place some moist paper towels in one of the hides on the cooler side.
Humidity
-African fat-tailed gecko will require a little more humidity than leopard geckos. You may spray the tank down a few times a week with a spray bottle or a mister and/or provide them with a moist hide filled with damp paper towels.
Decorations
-This is not necessary, but decorations can make your geckos home more nice and comfortable . You can get smooth stones, bark, and branches from your backyard, just make sure you clean it very well before using it. Plants can be used, too. Personally, I think artificial plants work better than real plants. If you use real plants you must make sure that it is not harmful to your gecko, you also have to water it, and give it UV lighting.
Food and Water
Types of Food
-Live Crickets, mealworms, waxworms, and superworms are the most common food source for pet fat-tails. Waxworms are very fattening, so you shouldn't feed them to your gecko very frequently.
How to Feed
-Crickets should be "gut loaded" 24 hrs before you feed them to your gecko. Basically, you have to feed them high quality foods like carrots, orange, apples, and special cricket food, bought at pet stores.
You can give your gecko mealworms by putting 5-8 of them in a shallow dish. But you can't do the same with crickets, or anything that can get out of the dish. You can use tongs to feed insects to your gecko. Leopard geckos need vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. You must buy a vitamin powder and a calcium powder. To give these powders to your gecko, you can provide it a small dish of calcium. You also have to "dust" the crickets before you feed them to your leo. To do so, dump some powders into a small bag and put some crickets in it. Close the opening and SHAKE!! Shake the bag until the crickets are covered with powder. Your gecko must eat the crickets within 15 minutes or the powder will fall off. For adults, dust the crickets with vitamin twice a week and calcium three times a week. For juveniles and gravid females, you should dust the insects more often. I don't mix the powder, I do it separately. I feed my juveniles everyday with 3 insects, the adults eat every other day to 4 times a week, with 5-8 insects.
Water
-Fat-tailed geckos will need fresh water everyday. You can use bottled water or tap water with one or two drops of dechlorinator.
Cleaning
1. Take your gecko out of her tank, put her in a small container.
2. Unplug all the heat sources, take off the heat lamp. Some heat pads have to be stuck to the bottom so don't take those off.
3. Take the water dish and wash it with water, dry it and put in fresh water.
4. Take all furnishings out and wash them well with a diluted bleach solution, and rinse it very well with water. Dry all furnishings. Don't wash anything that is made out of wood; they can be hard to dry...just give them a good shake outside.
5. Dump out old substrate. Reptile carpets can be used again. Just wash it with water and dry it.
(I usually keep two reptile carpets for one tank. You can replace the old one with a new one while the old one is getting washed)
6. When there is nothing in the aquarium, wash it using soap or a diluted bleach solution, scrub it well, and then rinse the aquarium with lots of water.
7. Dry the aquarium with paper towels.
8. Add in all the materials when the aquarium is dry, including the new substrate.
9. Put your fat-tailed gecko back in her home.
10. Turn on the heat source and close the lid.
Handling
-Handle your gecko with care since it is very small and fragile; do not pull on its tail as it could break off. Fat-tails may be comfortable with handling and you may handle it a few times a week.
All info are self-written.
Housing
-A single fat-tailed gecko can be house in a 10 gallon aquarium (minimum). Babies can be housed in a smaller plastic tub. Two or more geckos should be kept in 15-30 gallon aquarium.
-An aquarium must have a screen lid on the top to prevent other pets from harming your fat-tailed gecko. (Lid locks may be used)
Heating & Lighting
-Place heat pad on one side of the aquarium, most heat pads should be placed on the underside of the aquarium. Do not turn it on yet; do it when your finished with the aquarium.
The best heat source for leopard geckos is the heat pad (it should be big enough to cover 1/3 of the aquarium) Temperatures on the side of the heating source at day time should be 80-85F. The opposite side should be around 75F. At night time, the whole tank can be around 75F. Place a thermometer on either side of the aquarium, this helps you keep the temps right.
Fat-tailed geckos does not need any UV lighting because they are nocturnal.
Substrate
-Reptile carpet, paper towels, and newspaper can be used as substrate. I prefer not to use any loose substrate, including sand and calcium sand.
Hiding Spots
-African fat-tails will need at least one hiding spot in its home (two or three is better) They will rest in it, and hide in it when they feel threatened. Without a hiding spot, they feel exposed and vulnerable, which can lead to great stress. There are many types of hiding spots available at pet stores, but you can always make one out of cardboard boxes, paper towel rolls, and napkin boxes. Some people like to have a humid hide in their geckos' home, it will help them shed better. Just place some moist paper towels in one of the hides on the cooler side.
Humidity
-African fat-tailed gecko will require a little more humidity than leopard geckos. You may spray the tank down a few times a week with a spray bottle or a mister and/or provide them with a moist hide filled with damp paper towels.
Decorations
-This is not necessary, but decorations can make your geckos home more nice and comfortable . You can get smooth stones, bark, and branches from your backyard, just make sure you clean it very well before using it. Plants can be used, too. Personally, I think artificial plants work better than real plants. If you use real plants you must make sure that it is not harmful to your gecko, you also have to water it, and give it UV lighting.
Food and Water
Types of Food
-Live Crickets, mealworms, waxworms, and superworms are the most common food source for pet fat-tails. Waxworms are very fattening, so you shouldn't feed them to your gecko very frequently.
How to Feed
-Crickets should be "gut loaded" 24 hrs before you feed them to your gecko. Basically, you have to feed them high quality foods like carrots, orange, apples, and special cricket food, bought at pet stores.
You can give your gecko mealworms by putting 5-8 of them in a shallow dish. But you can't do the same with crickets, or anything that can get out of the dish. You can use tongs to feed insects to your gecko. Leopard geckos need vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. You must buy a vitamin powder and a calcium powder. To give these powders to your gecko, you can provide it a small dish of calcium. You also have to "dust" the crickets before you feed them to your leo. To do so, dump some powders into a small bag and put some crickets in it. Close the opening and SHAKE!! Shake the bag until the crickets are covered with powder. Your gecko must eat the crickets within 15 minutes or the powder will fall off. For adults, dust the crickets with vitamin twice a week and calcium three times a week. For juveniles and gravid females, you should dust the insects more often. I don't mix the powder, I do it separately. I feed my juveniles everyday with 3 insects, the adults eat every other day to 4 times a week, with 5-8 insects.
Water
-Fat-tailed geckos will need fresh water everyday. You can use bottled water or tap water with one or two drops of dechlorinator.
Cleaning
1. Take your gecko out of her tank, put her in a small container.
2. Unplug all the heat sources, take off the heat lamp. Some heat pads have to be stuck to the bottom so don't take those off.
3. Take the water dish and wash it with water, dry it and put in fresh water.
4. Take all furnishings out and wash them well with a diluted bleach solution, and rinse it very well with water. Dry all furnishings. Don't wash anything that is made out of wood; they can be hard to dry...just give them a good shake outside.
5. Dump out old substrate. Reptile carpets can be used again. Just wash it with water and dry it.
(I usually keep two reptile carpets for one tank. You can replace the old one with a new one while the old one is getting washed)
6. When there is nothing in the aquarium, wash it using soap or a diluted bleach solution, scrub it well, and then rinse the aquarium with lots of water.
7. Dry the aquarium with paper towels.
8. Add in all the materials when the aquarium is dry, including the new substrate.
9. Put your fat-tailed gecko back in her home.
10. Turn on the heat source and close the lid.
Handling
-Handle your gecko with care since it is very small and fragile; do not pull on its tail as it could break off. Fat-tails may be comfortable with handling and you may handle it a few times a week.
All info are self-written.