The Fish Room
African Fat-Tailed Gecko Care
CHOOSING YOUR AFRICAN FAT-TAILED GECKO
African fat-tailed geckos are not yet as widely available as the more common leopard geckos but are now widely available online through breeders who specialize in their captive breeding.
You may also be able to find them at your local reptile expos.
Wild caught geckos may be available, but we strongly recommend purchasing captive bred animals.
Color and pattern morphs have become more widely available over the past five years and now you can select from many different beautiful colors.
COMMON HEALTH PROBLEMS
African fat-tailed geckos can suffer from all the same potential health issues as other reptiles in captivity. This includes respiratory infections, mouth rot, and even bacterial infections. In most cases, those diseases are a sign that conditions aren't quite right in the enclosure.
HOUSING
Wooden vivariums are ideal for African Fat-Tailed Geckos as they are great insulators to maintain the warm environment that the Gecko needs.
Their enclosure should have glass sliding doors and large air vents to maintain a flow of air. Since this reptile won’t grow as much as others, they can live in one enclosure their whole lives. The recommended tank size for hatchlings and adults is 10 gallons.
Their terrarium should have at least one humid hide for each Gecko, which will need to be placed on the hot side of the tank. It also needs decorations such as cork rounds, logs, grape wood, and bamboo hollows.
If you are planning on keeping more pairs of adults together, you should select a 20 gallon-tank or rack system.
The temperature of their enclosure should be monitored closely, and should have a hot side of 90-95°F and a cool side of 80°F. This will allow your pet to thermoregulate by moving between the two sides.
Basking lights and under the tank heaters will achieve the high temperatures required.
These lizards need humidity levels to be between 50-70%. Having the right type of substrate, a water bowl and misting the tank daily will ensure you keep their tank humid. Some owners also keep plants in the enclosure to add moisture.
Humid hiding places can be made by placing sphagnum moss underneath a bamboo hollow to ensure it remains damp.
LIGHTING
It is vital that African Fat-Tailed Geckos are exposed to 10-12 hours of light each day. As they do not bask throughout the daytime, they do not need a strong UVB light source (around 5% over a small area).
Either a T8 or a T5 lamp will work for these geckos and should be mounted to the back of the ceiling, closest to the warmer end, generating a good UV gradient.
African Fat-Tailed Geckos often spend time in the dark, therefore parts of the enclosure should be covered to provides some darkness.
Basking lights should be available during the day to establish a spot of about 90-95 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool side of the tank should drop to the high 70s. These cold-blooded reptiles require a heat gradient in their tank so they can easily moderate their body temperature based on their surroundings.
FEEDING
African Fat-Tailed Geckos are carnivorous and are not known to consume any plant materials in their natural habitat.
Their diet consists mainly of insects and other invertebrates they encounter during the night-time in the savannahs, including different types of worms, crickets, and beetles. In captivity, they may only want to eat live prey, but other than that their diet is simple to fulfill.
When kept in captivity, African Fat-Tailed Geckos should be fed crickets and other types of larval insects like mealworms. They will also require additional supplements such as vitamin D3 to help them adapt to a new environment.
Owners can provide these nutrients by either ‘dusting’ the insects with calcium or other vitamin power, or by ‘gut loading’ their feeder insects.
Hatchling, juvenile and adult Geckos only need to eat insects. They can go days without eating because of the extra fat that’s stored in their tails.
African Fat-Tailed Geckos prefer crickets and mealworms. Occasionally they may be offered waxworms, silkworms, hornworms, and pinky mice.
Hatchlings under 4 months should only eat ½ sized crickets and should be fed 5 crickets
Adults should be fed 9 crickets or worms. Their crickets can be a little bigger (2/3 sized)
Uneaten prey should be removed within a few hours if your Gecko doesn’t eat them.
There should always be a shallow water dish with clean water in their tank, they may not directly drink from it, however it will help retain moisture.