African fat-tailed geckos are popular pet lizards that require minimal care. However, like many lizards, they do have specific dietary needs.
They’re strictly insectivores, meaning they rely solely on live insects for nutrition. Crickets and mealworms are two common choices.
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Feeding
Fat tailed geckos are opportunistic feeders and will eat a variety of foods including crickets, mealworms, wax worms and fruits. Feed them every other day; additionally it’s essential to dust their food with calcium powder so they get all the essential nutrients.
Fat tail geckos are a popular pet choice among many due to their ease of care and ability to entertain you while they hunt or interact. Before purchasing one though, be sure to understand its needs; untrained owners often lead to death in these creatures.
Fat-tailed gecko diet should consist of live insects like crickets (create a cricket farm), mealworms and waxworms. To ensure they get all of the essential nutrients they need for health and happiness, dust their food with calcium powder or use vitamin supplements in combination with cricket farming to provide extra calcium content.
Habitat
Fat tailed geckos are native to West Africa, inhabiting savannahs and river edges in dry grasslands. These nocturnal creatures tend to stay close to water’s edge; they’ll often rest on rocks by riversides.
They primarily feed on insects such as crickets, mealworms, cockroaches and silkworms. To provide their feeder insects with calcium and keep them dusting regularly in captivity, gut loading their feeder insects with calcium will provide essential vitamins.
Adults can eat up to nine crickets per feeding, while babies consume five until they reach six weeks old. During these early months, babies may also eat smaller crickets or cockroaches for extra nutrition tailored specifically for them as growing bodies.
They should always have access to a water bowl and should be misted daily to maintain humidity in their enclosure. You can keep them in an environment made up of paper towels, fine orchid bark or sand-based soil mix for best results.
Lighting
African fat-tailed geckos are crepuscular creatures and require 10-12 hours of daylight exposure daily. A low-output UVB light source (around 5% over a small area) is enough to provide them with this illumination, or they can be exposed directly to natural sunlight.
Fat tail geckos don’t need a special basking spot to regulate body temperature; any reptile-safe heat lamp or heating mat will do just fine.
However, they require a heat gradient: the warm end of their enclosure should range from 75 degrees F to 89 degrees F during daytime and the cool end around 73 degrees F at night. You can provide this by using either an incandescent bulb or providing ceramic heaters.
Females should receive ample nutrition before breeding, particularly during the winter months. Pinkie mice and regular crickets gut-loaded and dusted with calcium as well as wax worms can be used to fatten them up.
Water
African fat-tailed geckos are primarily insectivores and should be fed crickets, mealworms, cockroaches and silkworms as their main food items. Pinkie mice may also be given as a treat but should only be fed occasionally as an added incentive.
Hatchlings and juveniles should be fed daily, while adults should be fed every other day. Feeding them a variety of insects will provide essential nutrients for growth and healthy weight maintenance.
Adults and gravid females should consume a mixture of crickets, mealworms, silkworms and waxworms for gut loading purposes. Gut loading can also be done using either hog mash or chick mash; calcium powder may also be added to their food to ensure they get all necessary vitamins.
Water is an integral part of a fat-tailed gecko’s diet and should always be kept clean and fresh. A shallow dish should always be available, with fresh water changed daily to ensure your pet remains hydrated.
