# Lizards > General Geckos >  Leo vs. Fat tail?

## californiakingsnake

Whats your favorite and why?

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## DooLittle

Don't know about fat tails.  Leos have the cutest little faces!

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## californiakingsnake

i agree. And now I maybe completely wrong on this, but it seems like leos have more "paint jobs" but i have really researched fat tails that much.

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## DooLittle

One of my babies.

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## californiakingsnake

nice. what kind of leo is it?

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## DooLittle

Tremper Albino

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## californiakingsnake

nice, do you breed?

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## DooLittle

I suppose you could say we dabble in breeding.  We are fairly new to leos, but we did have a few eggs this year.  Don't know that we will do anymore though.  But the babies are cute little buggers. 

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## californiakingsnake

yeah they are

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DooLittle (06-22-2012)

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## EverEvolvingExotics

I'm a huge fan of fat tails.  You posted above that leopard geckos have more "paint jobs" but I believe fat tails have much more potential than leopard geckos in the long term.  In just the last few years numerous exciting morphs have popped up.  The morphs are very exciting and I'm incredibly happy to be a part of the adventure.  

The market prices on fat tails will not drastically drop like what happened with leopard geckos and cornsnakes because they are slightly harder to breed and they have less eggs.  Simple supply and demand.  

Personality wise, fat tails beat out leos in every way IMO.  Overall leopards are more active, I current have a leo that is calm but that isn't the norm at least in my experience (I had a small colony in the past and have interacted with many different leos).  Fatties are overall an incredibly docile reptile.  They have very precise movements, very fun to watch.  I've heard some can be aggressive especially when breeding but I have yet to experience that side of them.  A few of mine have hissed at me when I open their tubs but after I take them out they become puppy dog tame.  They have big ol' doe eyes and just an overall sweet and kind gecko.  

They are a great gecko with a ton of potential.  I guarantee you will see an explosion of new flavors and amazing combos within the next couple years.  How could you say no to these faces?

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## EverEvolvingExotics

If you care to see here is a couple pictures of my kind little female leo, Mogwai.  She is very docile for a leopard gecko but still nowhere near the level of fatties.  Personally I'd go and handle a few in person to see what YOU prefer.

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## KTyne

I prefer Leos but I haven't had experience with Fatties so I'm kind of bias.  :Razz:  What I hear about Fat-tails personalities though I think they would be the go-to Gecko. My Leo Gaia is a fiesty little Diva! She has no problem wagging her tail at you to tell you to back off and she gets really "predatory" at feeding time. She's also jumpy if you make too sudden a move or if there is a loud noise.
I'm hoping to get a baby Fat-tail soon so I will update my opinion then.  :Very Happy:

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## ChrisS

I prefer leos over fat tails just because most morphs are cheaper, other than that they are even in my book. No 2 animals are the same so I have a hard time saying one is more "user friendly" than the other. I tried to upload a pic using tapatalk but it's being annoying and not letting me load an image so here is a photo bucket link. This is a girl I used to own. 

http://s146.photobucket.com/albums/r...er_media_share

I dont keep geckos anymore because of my true * HATE*  for crickets but I am acquiring some dubias in the very near future maybe geckos will be in my future as well.

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## EverEvolvingExotics

> No 2 animals are the same so I have a hard time saying one is more "user friendly" than the other.  I dont keep geckos anymore because of my true * HATE*  for crickets but I am acquiring some dubias in the very near future maybe geckos will be in my future as well.


How are you saying they are the same?  One is from Africa the other is from the Middle East and dry areas of Asia.  That's like saying crested geckos and day geckos are the same because they can both live in Exo-Terra enclosures and can eat meal replacement diets.  They are vastly different from one another.  A lot of people mix them up from seeing pictures of them, once you look at a few you will notice big differences.  Leopard geckos have more a bull dog head fatties have a round face with big doe eyes.  Fatties are just chunkier all around, leos are lean; fatties have much smaller feet as well.  Leopard geckos are much more active requiring slightly larger enclosures; fat tails are almost always hiding in the same spot in their tubs.  They are very similar to ball pythons (they come from the same region) hiding all the time in small burrows.  Even the base morphs are completely different.  I'm not a fan of albino leopards but amel fat tails are stunning, there are many affordable morphs to work with in the fat tail world to produce awesome combos or more base morphs, amels, carmels, granites, whiteouts, caramels, zeros, white socks, and various hets. Their personalities are like day and night between the two.  Handle multiple animals from each species and you will notice these differences in no time.

I also hate crickets and gave up on geckos many years ago until I discovered how easy roaches were to breed.  Dubia and lateralis are amazing feeders with little care.  I'd highly recommend feeding these prey items over crickets.  Since roaches are mostly herbivores you don't have to worry about them munching on your geckos if you let your prey free roam in their setups like you would with crickets.

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## liv

> How are you saying they are the same?  One is from Africa the other is from the Middle East and dry areas of Asia.  That's like saying crested geckos and day geckos are the same because they can both live in Exo-Terra enclosures and can eat meal replacement diets.  They are vastly different from one another.  A lot of people mix them up from seeing pictures of them, once you look at a few you will notice big differences.  Leopard geckos have more a bull dog head fatties have a round face with big doe eyes.  Fatties are just chunkier all around, leos are lean; fatties have much smaller feet as well.  Leopard geckos are much more active requiring slightly larger enclosures; fat tails are almost always hiding in the same spot in their tubs.  They are very similar to ball pythons (they come from the same region) hiding all the time in small burrows.  Even the base morphs are completely different.  I'm not a fan of albino leopards but amel fat tails are stunning, there are many affordable morphs to work with in the fat tail world to produce awesome combos or more base morphs, amels, carmels, granites, whiteouts, caramels, zeros, white socks, and various hets. Their personalities are like day and night between the two.  Handle multiple animals from each species and you will notice these differences in no time.
> 
> I also hate crickets and gave up on geckos many years ago until I discovered how easy roaches were to breed.  Dubia and lateralis are amazing feeders with little care.  I'd highly recommend feeding these prey items over crickets.  Since roaches are mostly herbivores you don't have to worry about them munching on your geckos if you let your prey free roam in their setups like you would with crickets.


I think he was saying that they _aren't_ the same, as no two geckos are alike  :Wink:

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_EverEvolvingExotics_ (06-23-2012)

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## EverEvolvingExotics

Haha, I read it multiple times before I posted.  I thought he was saying No 2 as in (number 2 reason).  I don't know, it's early for me.  Whelp, there's now a novel on the differences between fat tails and leos for everyone to read.

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## ChrisS

> Haha, I read it multiple times before I posted.  I thought he was saying No 2 as in (number 2 reason).  I don't know, it's early for me.  Whelp, there's now a novel on the differences between fat tails and leos for everyone to read.


Lol not number two but no two.

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## californiakingsnake

ok guys i got my first leo today. Its a male patternless albino. ill try to post a picture when i learn how too.

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## EverEvolvingExotics

Congrats, to post pictures upload them to a photo sharing site like photobucket and copy/paste the IMG code directly into your thread.  It's very convientent and easy to do.

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## californiakingsnake

My first leo!!!

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