African Fat Tail Gecko

[tigerlily]

Just wondering if anyone here has any experience with the AFT? I read the caresheet and it seems pretty simple, just gotta maintain humidity. My local pet store has one that they want to get rid of. I am very seriously considering taking it so I know it's not gonna get flushed down the toilet or something. They've had it for two years and it's still alive but small. They're not the best reptile people. Can anyone give me any personal experience and/or advice on their care?

[Jeanne]

I have a breeding pair. Thier care if very straight forward, though, keeping thier humidity up in the cage as a whole is not such a big deal as long as you provide a humid hide, kept humid/moist all the time. In my experience, they seem to be more docile than leos, however, I think I am biased toward AFT's and I may have just has a bad experience with leos. Of my pair, the male was a little hissy when he was younger and we first got him, but I attributed it to the fact that he was stressed because within a week or so, he settled in just fine. My female is also a pet store rescue, she too is a bit small for her guessed age, but a very hardy animal just the same. So far she has produced a few clutches, of those, I have only been successful in hatching 2 total. I think because of of fluctuating temps in the incubator I was using. I am waiting for her to lay eggs again, because I am wanting to try my new incubator...

Let me know if there are any other specific questions, I would be happy to help you.

Also, I do not handle my AFT's much, and when I do, for only a few minutes at a time, I think they get a bit stressed more than other geckos I have been around. Here they are more of a "look at" pet than anything. But very enjoyable regardless.

[tigerlily]

What do you use for bedding? I already have aspen and was wondering if I could use that.... If not no big deal, just have it on hand. Cool! Humid hides I can do!! What temp do you keep them at and do you do a nightly drop? Dusted crickets and meal worms for food right? How long do they live?

[Jeanne]

What do you use for bedding? I already have aspen and was wondering if I could use that.... If not no big deal, just have it on hand.

Aspen is fine to use with them from what other ppl I know say, however, I personally would not feel safe with it because like leos, they are cricket munching devils, and there is a risk of ingestion. But with that said.. there really is a risk with ANY bedding. I use premium playsand (the same I use for my mali uro and bearded dragons). Alot of ppl will argue against it, but I have had no ill effects with it as of yet, and I have had my female for over 2 yeras now. And prior to this, I kept leos on it for years with no ill effects because of my bedding choice. Really, it is a matter of personal preference. Although, I notice my AFT's like the sand better than other beddings I tried, they seem to like to dig into it. I have never had any issues with them burying themselves either. NOTE: please do not use calci sand or really any of those sand type stuff you buy in pet stores. Those are the worst.

What temp do you keep them at and do you do a nightly drop?

I keep my geckos warm with a heat pad set less than half way under thier rubber maid. They are kept at 80 degrees during the day... at night they get a slight temp drop as low as 77 degrees. However, it is not neccessary to have a night temp drop.

Dusted crickets and meal worms for food right?

I feed mine crix dusted daily. Crix are thier main staple. Mine also get meal worms that have shed thier hard shells, but more as a treat when I do have them, because I personally worry about the chitin amounts (yes, crix also have chitin from thier exoskeleton) and impaction caused by these worms due to the hard exo skeleton, maybe I am a bit anal about thier care, but as of yet, I have not ever had a death due to my husbandry techniques.. I know ppl that feed them meal worms that have not shed.. there again, personal choice. Occassionally, and I really mean occassionally, I give them wax worms, wax worms are more a treat also, because they are very fattening and really have little to no nutricional value. Also, supposedly, you can feed them the same type of worms you use for fishing (night crawlers), but I have never done so because I worry about the safety because I do not know how the night crawlers were cared for. Alot of night crawler breeders tend to use a soap mixture to extract thier worms out of thier bedding, so I choose not to use them for that reason. It cant be good to ingest soap. Also- I hear they will eat small amounts of greens from time to time.. but have yet to see just ONE AFT eat greens, muchless any gecko that I have had the pleasure to experience. Maybe it is a learned thing? Hmmm, not sure on that one, because I know my AFT's are attracted to thier meals because of the movement.

How long do they live?

Everything I have read says 15+ years in captivity with proper care. But there again, written material on them does vary a bit. My first AFT lived to almost 9, in my care. And she was taken care of impecably. However, she was a wild caught, and I cannot tell you where she came from exactly because my Mom gave her to me, just that she was a wild caught cause the guy my Mom got her from told her that the gecko was an import. She was my first gecko, and Mom made a trade from her retail collectable business for this animal.

Hope all this helps, and if you have any other questions, I am here to try and help you.

[Python-77]

AFT geks are awsome little guys very hearty I may add, a friend of mine did a very short notice TDY (AirForce term) for 3 months and totaly forgot to make arrangements for his Fattail it went with out food or water for over a month before I got a call to "please,please" go get it. I was a little underweight but bounced back fast.

Like jeane said I will also not recomend aspen for anything other than snakes, for the simple fear of impaction. I use a sand/clay/topsoil mix and it works out great for me.

[tigerlily]

Thanks guys you're awesome! I like the idea of using playsand...that's cool and inexpensive. Need to have my basics covered before I make any decisions. When feeding crix is it ok to buy like a dozen and toss em in? Or is it more important to dole them out slowly?

[Jeanne]

Tigerlily, make sure if you use playsand, it is PREMIUM type (I buy mine at Lowes, it is $2.88 a bag if I remember right, comes in 50lb. bags)... the reason I say this is because other types are not sifted to get rid of all the larger pebbles and stuff. The premium type is very much like very fine sand off a beach. It is whats used for most childrens sand boxes, and is best for making sand castles. LOL Also, cleaning out the sand is nice and easy, most pet stores carry this scoop, looks like a kitty litter scoop, but it has fine holes for sand, they are in the reptile section usually. And, geckos tend to pick one place in thier cage to use as thier bathroom area, so you wont be scooping out the whole cage daily, but I do scoop out the whole cage every couple of days. It is a good idea to take the gecko out of thier cage for major scooping because of the "dust" particles from the sand that are released into the air in thier cage while you scoop. I cant remember what the medical term is for the sickness, but they can get sick from inhaling dust particles on a regular basis.

Feeding: I feed every day, about 2 dozen (keep in mind, I am feeding 2 geckos). 1 dozen should do you just fine. General feeding rule is whatever amount they eat in about 10 minutes, I usually throw the crix in and if they are not all eaten, which is rare, I take them out to get rid of the risk of crix cannibalising my geckos.