Fat-Tailed Gecko

Care sheet

Here is the general care of a fat-tailed gecko.

Fat-Tailed Geckos, Hemitheconyx caudicinctus, are usually around 8 inches long and are from western Africa, they are sometimes called the African Fat-Tail. Fat-tails prefer a more humid climate and cage than leopard geckos.

First if you are going to get a Fat-tailed gecko, choose a local breeder or try to find one at local pet shops. At many pet shops you will see them priced from $25 to $150. The gecko(s) you choose should be active and alert, and have a plump tail and fat body.

To house a gecko, you need a tank. They can be kept in trios of one male and two females in a twenty-gallon tank. Do not put two males together because they will fight. The tank should always have a water dish available. I would put in sticks and hiding shelters for them. A substrate I use is fir bark and calci-sand/bone-aid. You can use moss and vermiculite too only if they are about 5 inches long. The tank also needs to be sprayed twice a day.

They also like the temp a bit warmer than leopards. The tank should be at 85 to 92 degrees F in the day and 75 to 80 degrees in the night. You do not need a light above the tank because these geckos are nocturnal, although if you choose to use a light, they will occasionally bask under it. A heating pad under the tank is good idea to keep the temp up.

My geckos eat 7 to 20 crickets every other day. You should get some vitamin supplement, which can be found at most pet stores. Put the crickets in a bag and some of the supplement and lightly coat them. Geckos will eat many other bugs, too. You can feed them mealworms, flies, and more. Fat-tails have much the same diet and Leopard geckos. They can be fed many different food sources. First of all, a staple diet is recommended. Crickets are the best. 7 to 20 of these bugs every other day is good enough. In addition, mealworms would be offered every month for about 2 days. They can eat these until they are full. Flies, grasshoppers, and wax worms are additional food sources. Also, mealworms should be fed around 3 times a month, but not as a complete diet because all they really are is fat for the geckos. Pinky mice (baby mice) are also a good food to be given to adult geckos occasionally, although I would not recommend it, I think geckos shouldn’t eat meat.

Dusting the crickets every other feeding time is a good idea. This gives the geckos vitamins and minerals essential for a happy, healthy lizard. Gut loading is also a possibility, which is when you buy special cricket food for the crickets, so the crickets will be healthier, which benefits the geckos. The dusting powder and gut-load is found in a local pet store or on the Internet. To dust crickets, place a few teaspoons of the supplement into a plastic zip lock bag with the days meal of crickets and shake gently until the crickets are completely covered with dust. Then feed to the geckos

Here are some live food suppliers in which you can buy the bugs over the Internet.

Mating between Fat-Tails occurs during November. There may be a mating chase, followed by rough wrestling between the male and female. You might be able to see the eggs in the female in as little as 3 weeks. Females lay a clutch of two eggs every 3 weeks for about 4 to 6 months afterward. When they breed put a plastic container in the cage with vermiculite and an opening on the side large enough for the female to get in.

When she lays her eggs, take them out of the container and put them in a deli cup in an incubator. When doing this, be careful not to rotate the eggs. In the deli cup should be about 2 to 3 inches of damp vermiculite. (A mixture of 6 parts vermiculite and 4 parts water should work. Do this by weight.) Set the eggs in the vermiculite, about halfway covered.

The temperature in the incubator can vary. If you want mostly females, about 80 to 83 degrees F. If you want mostly males, 85 to 88 degrees F. And a little of both, 84 degrees.

If all this is done right, the eggs should hatch in about two months. The hatchlings will not eat until their first shed (five days). After that, they eat about three to five tiny crickets a day. The crickets should be less than a centimeter long.

Hope this helps.

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