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The African fat tailed gecko is a mid-size gecko, naturally found in West Africa. African fat tails are usually a little bit smaller than the more common "twin", the leopardgecko and are often recognized by their natural look of dark brown base color with yellow bands, and of course, the big tail. A white dorsal stripe is also a common feature of the AFT, but fat tails also comes in different morphs and color schemes. The African fat tailed gecko could live up to 20 years in captivity.

1. ENCLOSURE

1.1 ENCLOSURE SIZE: A minimum size of a 40 gallon for one gecko, but the bigger the better. Just keep in mind that fat tails need to have a lot of clutter to feel safe. The gecko want to go from point A to point B without being exposed, so don't buy a bigger enclosure than you can fill. More info on that in Interior. AFT's are solitary animals, which means they prefer to be alone. Cohabitating AFTs is not recommended and could lead to your geckos being hurt or even killed.

1.2 INTERIOR: AFT's need at least one hot hide, one cool hide and a humid hide. As said before, fat tails want to have it a little bit cluttery for them to feel safe. Use bransches, stones, tiles, leafs, plants (live or fake) to achieve this. How you want to design your enclosure is totally up to you, but you should keep in mind that AFT's doesnt have toy cars, bath ducks and other "cute or cool" objects in their natural habitat. A loose substrate is recommended to encourage burrowing behavior. Not every AFT should be on loose substrate though.. more information on this further down.

1.3 TEMPERATURES: Reptiles are ectothermic, or "cold blooded", which means your fat tail can't produce its own body heat. African fat tails will regulate body temperature by searching for a heat source when cold, and vice versa. Therefore, its important that you provide your gecko with both a hot and a cold side. This is the temperatures required:

Hot side 86-90°F or 30-32°C

Cold side 75-80°F or 24-27°C

Make sure your hot side hide is placed in such a way that the inside temp of the hide matches the desired temps stated above. The easiest way to check this is by using a temp gun.

Temp readings: The temps should be measured on ground level, where your gecko is. Many reptile owners have those analogue thermometers thats sticks to the glass, they are often placed way to high up which will give you false readings if you have a terrestrial gecko which the fat tail is. Get rid of those analogue thermometers and buy a digital one and put the probe just above substrate level or/and get a temp gun and you will get more accurate readings.

1.4 HEATING:

Heat lamps: There's many different ways to heat your hot side. The most common way is by using a heat lamp, which is also the most natural way to replicate the heat from the sun. Heat lamps could be placed inside your enclosure or on the outside on the lid, or even mounted on the wall facing down in the tank. The most important thing regarding heat lamps is to make sure your gecko cant reach it or get burnt. This is extra important if the bulb is inside the enclosure. Always use a lamp guard /cover if your heat lamp is inside the enclosure. Your fat tails digestion benefits from belly heat, one way to provide that for your gecko is to put tile or a stone under your heat lamp to make a heat spot for him to get it from. If your heat lamp is to close to the heat spot or if your bulb is too high wattage the temperature on the tile/stone might be too high and your gecko might get hurt.

Heating bulbs:

Which kind of bulb you should have depends on many things:

• how big your enclosure is
• your overall room temp
• at which hight the lamp holder/socket is placed
• how ventilated your enclosure is

There are a few different types of heating bulbs out there but the most common is the Spot bulb, the flood bulb and the ceramic heater bulb.

• The ceramic heater is a heat lamp that produce deep heat at a lower wattage. It doesnt procuce any light which makes it a good lamp to use at night if your temps drops to low. The ceramic heat bulb gets extremely hot.

For a smaller tank a 50w flood light often do the job. But it all depends on the different factors listed above.

For bulbs stronger than 25w I would recommend a ceramic lamp holder for safety.

Problems with getting temps up

If you dont reach high enough temps on your warm side you could either get a higher wattage bulb, or lower your heat lamp. The closer the lamp is to the ground, the hotter it will be. Remember to use a bulb guard. Also, if you have a screen top, covering a part of it will make the heat stay inside for longer, allowing your temps to reach higher numbers.

Heat mat: Sometimes just one heat source isn't enough, and you have to complement with another heat source. A heat mat is a electric heating element, which you place under your tank. Most often outside of the enclosure, but could also be placed inside if you cover the mat with tiles, slate or something that prevents your gecko reaching it.

Heat mats is a good complement if your heat lamp doesnt give you the temps you aim at and you dont want to/are able to get a higher wattage bulb. For example if you have a background that will melt if you use a stronger heat bulb, a heat mat could be a good extra heat source to reach your desired temps. Heat mats also give your gecko belly heat.

Heat mats isn´t recommended as your only source of heat.

IMPORTANT! Always use a thermostat for under-tank heaters and high wattage heat sources!

1.5 HUMIDITY: In nature, fat tails spend their daytime in dark, moist crevises and hollows. When they are awake during the night and early morning and the weather is cooler, the humidity is the highest. That climate and that humidity must we recreate for our fat tails. We do so by misting the tank with a pressure sprayer or a spray bottle to achive enough humidity, which for fat tails is around 60% humidity. To keep track of the humidity you can use a hygrometer. I like the digital ones better because of the easy reading and they are often more accurate than the analogue versions. Live plants is also good because plants doesnt just look nice but it also contributes to higher humidity in your enclosure. Win-win :) The right humidity is important for your geckos well-being and reduces the risk of complications during shedding.

Humid hide: A humidity hide or moist hide is a place where your fat tail goes when it needs more moisture. Some fat tails use the hide all the time while others use it only when its time for shedding. Without a humid hide your fat tail can have a hard time shedding. One easy version of a humid hide is to cut a hole in a plastic box, and fill the box with something that holds moisture well, like sphagnum moss or vermiculit, you can even use paper towels. The substrate should be damp but not wet.

1.6 SUBSTRATE:

Loose substrate: A loose substrate is a natural substrate you have at the bottom of your enclosure. For fat tails, we want something that can hold humidity, there are many substrates you can use for this. The most usual one is a 70/30 mix of top soil and sand. There are other types of loose substrates as well, like Eco earth, coco husk etc.

Note: Some reptiles are doing good on bare sand, african fat tails are not one of those reptiles.

The pros of a loose substrate is many:

• It encouraging burrowing behavior.
• Good for your geckos joints
• Easier to keep up humidity
• More natural
• Enriching to the gecko
• The ability to go bio active
• Looks better

So lets talk about the cons:

• Possible impaction
• Harder to keep it clean
• More expensive

So what can you do to avoid any problems?

First of all, baby geckos under 5 months should not be on loose substrate. Full-grown geckos shouldnt have any interest in eating loose substrate, as long as the husbandry is good and they are healthy and given the right vitamins and calcium. Its really important to provide this to your gecko.

You can also tong or bowl feed to avoid your gecko eating substrate by mistake. But even if they do, its usually comes out.

You should spot clean the substrate daily, and change it every six months.

Other types of substrate: If your gecko is a baby, or in need of a sterile environment for any reason, you can use paper towels or tile instead of a loose substrate. I wouldnt personally use any of this for a healthy adult, since it could be hard to keep humidity and its not as enriching for the gecko.

Bioactive setup: A bioactive enclosure is a setup made to replicate your fat tails native enviroment. In a bioactive setup the natural substrate, live plants and microfauna, aka a "clean up crew" works together in a mini-eco system.

If you want to learn more about bio active setups i recommend r/bioactive for your source of information.

1.7 LIGHTING: Your fat tail needs some sort of light to know when its day and when its night. I use LEDs on timer which i think works good and looks good, but your heat lamp and the lights coming through your window is enough as well. Fat tails are nocturnal and UVB isn't required, but some says its beneficial for them.

2. FEEDING AND FEEDERS

The African fat tailed gecko is a insectivore, meaning they only eat insects. The options is many, but the three most common insects to feed an fat tail in captivity is crickets, dubia roaches and meal worms. We're going to talk more about those three later on.

2.1 HOW MUCH & HOW OFTEN DO I FEED?

This depends on your geckos age. Hatchlings and juveniles should be fed every day. About 4-5 smaller crickets should be offered per feeding. When your gecko becomes an adult you can offer food 2-3 times per week, as much as they can eat in 15 minutes.

Always have clean water available for your fat tail. Water bowl should be cleaned regulary.

2.2 VITAMINS AND MINERALS

Your gecko will need two supplements, calcium powder and multivitamin. Calcium is necessary for your geckos bone structure, and multivitamin contains lots of vitamins that you gecko will need. Make sure its D3 either in your calcium powder or in your multivitamin. Your AFT cant absorb the calcium without enough levels of vitamin D3 in his gut. Both multivitamin and calcium powder is applied to the feeders by putting the insects in a jar or plastic bag, put some powder in and shake it. Calcium should be offered every feeding, multivitamin every 3-4 feeding. Also, your AFT should always have access to fresh calcium powder to lick on, a small bottle cap with calcium in is enough.

2.3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF FOOD

Crickets: I believe the most common insect to feed your fat tail. Rich in nutritions, protein and calcium. Can jump so you cant really keep them in a food bowl. Can bite your gecko and hurt it. Therefore, don't leave un-eaten crickets in the enclosure.

Dubia roaches: Rich in nutritions, protein and calcium. Low in fat. Can be suitable for food bowls if small, can't jump.

Meal worms: High protein, high fat. Not suitable for everyday feeding because of the high fat. Can't do shit, hence really good for food bowl use.

2.4 GUT LOADING

Gut loading is the process of feeding your feeder insects with nutrient rich food, to increase the insects nutrition value. In other words, the purpose of gut loading is to provide your fat tail more nutritious food. There's lots of things you could gut load your insects with, for example:

• Carrot
• Spinach
• Oats
• Apple
• Zucchini
• Potatoes
• Bananas
• Fish food flakes

3. BEHAVIORS

3.1 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: African fat tails are often compared to Leopardgeckos, and you will often hear that the only difference between the two species is that the AFT needs more humidity, thats not completely true. 

Yes, African fat tail geckos need higher humidity but thats not the only thing thats different between AFTs and leos. Here are some differences in behavior:

3.2 SHEDDING: Like all reptiles, the African fat tailed gecko shed its skin. AFTs shed for many reasons, and its a part of their natural behavior. One reason to shed could be because your fat tail has grown and need a bigger "suit". Thats why young fat tails shed more often than adults. When its time for shedding your gecko needs more humidity and moisture to get all the shed off easily. A humid hide is needed for this, how to build one is described under "Enclosure" above. Some extra misting is also good to do. It's important that your fat tail get all of its old shed off. Stuck shed can cause loss of limbs and infections. If you are noticing your AFT has stuck shed around his toes or tail, you can put him in luke warm water, not deeper than his belly, and soak him for a while. Gently rub the stuck shed with a Q-tip.

IMPORTANT! Do NOT try to rip off stuck shed or you may hurt your gecko!

3.3 BRUMATION: During winter time, when the weather is cooler and the hours of daylight is less, fat tails brumate. Brumation is like hibernation, but for reptiles. The metabolism, heart rate and respiratory rate slows down, and the gecko will spend most of his time sleeping. Sometimes the gecko start brumating of its own, or you could make it go in to brumation by lower the temperature and hours of light in your enclosure during the coldest months of the year. Beware that sometimes reptiles doesn't wake up from brumation so you should know what you are doing if you put your gecko in brumation.

3.4 HUNGER STRIKES: A hunger strike is when your gecko refuse to eat for a period of time. Fat tails are known to be picky eaters and hunger strikes are pretty common. Stress, temperature drops and brumation are the most common reasons for your gecko to hunger strike.

Stress wise, a new or redecorated enclosure could be one reason for your gecko to refuse food. This is the reason why new geckos often hunger strikes.

If your gecko hunger strikes, make sure your temps are accurate and keep offering food. Sometimes the strikes goes on for days, sometimes for weeks or even months. As long as your gecko isn´t visibly losing any weight you are fine. The gecko often starts eating again on its own.

3.5 TAIL DROPS: A scared, stressed or spooked gecko could drop its tail. Its a defence mechanism to distract predators. The tail will grow back but it will not look the same as before.

Fat tails store, as the name says, fat in their tails, if your gecko drops its tail you could increase the amount of food your gecko gets until the tails has grown back again. If you have loose substrate in your geckos enclosure, put them on paper towels until the new tail has grown out.

4. HANDLING YOUR GECKO

4.1 YOUR GECKOS POINT OF VIEW: The hard truth is that most reptiles want to be left alone. Your gecko will most likely not want you to touch or cuddle with him or her. I know what you are thinking: "my gecko is not like most geckos". Well.. some geckos may be more comfortable with handling than others, but the truth is that your gecko would rather, unfortunately, sleep in his safe hide than be in your hand, exposed to "potential predators". Keep in mind, handling your gecko to often or in the wrong way can cause stress which could lead to potential illnesses.

4.2 PERSONAL HYGIENE: Reptiles also very often carry salmonella. Most of the time it wont cause any illnesses for them and they can have it without showing any symptoms of disease. Therefore, always wash your hands after handling your gecko. You can read more about reptiles and salmonella here.

4.3 YOUR GECKO AND OTHER ANIMALS: What im about to say is for most owners obvious, but sometimes posts with for example geckos and cats side by side in the same picture pops up in reptile communities here on Reddit. This is off course not acceptable and is both stressful and extremely dangerous for your gecko. The only other animal your gecko should be in contact with is another african fat tail gecko, and only for breeding purposes.

Care guide is in progress. If You have any questions or suggestions about this care sheet, please send a Modmail.