African Fat Tail Gecko

[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.