African fat-tailed geckos are solitary, territorial creatures that look closely a like leopard geckos. They prefer to stay out at night, hiding in dark corners or basking.
Your exotic veterinarian can provide you with information regarding multi-vitamin options for these creatures, which include crickets, mealworms and roaches. As these insects often consume insects such as crickets, mealworms and roaches, it is important to monitor them for calcium deficiency; thus, consider talking to your exotic veterinarian about taking a multivitamin supplementation program.
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Feeding
African fat-tailed geckos tend to be insectivores, feeding on insects such as crickets, mealworms and cockroaches. These provide essential nutrition for these predatory species of gecko.
Insects provide essential calcium and other vitamins for your gecko, so it’s recommended that you supplement their food with these extra nutrients before feeding them to ensure they receive the most benefit from their diet.
Gut loading live food will provide your gecko with more protein and essential nutrients than if they were only fed insects. You can do this by purchasing special gut loading foods online or from an exotic pet store.
African fat tailed geckos require regular and balanced nutrition when kept in captivity. As insectivores, they should be offered various insect varieties like crickets, locusts, cockroaches, calci-worms and mealworms that have been ‘gut loaded’ with extra calcium and vitamin D3 before feeding to your gecko.
Breeding
African fat-tailed geckos can be successfully bred in captivity if cared for properly. To ensure successful breeding, the adults must be healthy and mature before breeding, and you’ll need an incubator for the eggs as well as multiple setups at the right temperature for hatchlings.
Geckos tend to be insectivores, meaning they eat insects such as crickets, mealworms, waxworms and other easily obtained prey items. Offering your gecko a varied livefood diet will ensure they receive all of the essential vitamins and minerals they require for optimal growth and development.
Breeding occurs when males use their tails to attract females by making clicking sounds. The mating process begins in November and lasts until March.
Incubation temperatures are an integral component of breeding – if they remain too low, female offspring will predominate. Conversely, higher temperatures produce nearly equal numbers of male and female offspring.
They are nocturnal animals, so their enclosure must be dark during the day. You will need to monitor the temperature of your gecko’s tank closely; aim for a temperature range between 90-95 degrees Fahrenheit and 80 degrees.
Health
African fat-tailed geckos are peaceful, easy-to-care for, and relatively healthy lizards that can live up to 25 years in captivity. They typically inhabit savannahs, rocky hillsides and river edges in their native habitat.
They are nocturnal creatures that conserve energy by sleeping, basking or hunting for insects. Generally, they will feed on crickets and mealworms, but you can add other larval insects to their diet for a balanced diet.
It is essential to supplement all insect prey offered to your gecko with a high-quality vitamin supplement, such as ZooMed ReptiVite with D3. This vitamin supplement will ensure they get enough calcium and other essential vitamins.
Geckos benefit from having access to fresh water throughout the day, which should be cleaned out daily. They may drink drops of water that accumulate on their substrate, but this should only be done occasionally as it can lead to stress.
Care
African fat-tailed geckos make great pets for those with limited space or experience keeping reptiles. They require minimal food, lightbulb changes, and other upkeep expenses.
These nocturnal reptiles prefer a tank with an uneven temperature gradient, with one end of the enclosure slightly warmer than the other. Basking lights and under-tank heaters can help achieve this by keeping one end at around 88-92 degrees Fahrenheit and the other between 65-80 degrees.
Geckos benefit from a diet of crickets and other larvae. Gut loading these insects with calcium powder or other vitamin supplements may also be beneficial.
Fat-tailed geckos are primarily insectivores and should be provided with insects that can be easily digested. Additionally, they should receive some extra supplemental nutrients like calcium every few weeks.
