African Fat Tail Gecko Caresheet

  

African Fat-tailed Gecko Care sheet

Common Name: African Fat-tail Gecko

Latin name: caudicinctus Hemitheconyx

            Most of the African Fat-tailed Geckos in captivity came from stock collected in Togo and Ghana in West African Fat-tailed gecko is found in West Africa, from Senegal to Cameroon. They are dry and arid habitats, although they spend most of their time on the spot, hiding a dark moist. They inhabit dry areas of the desert shrub-land and savannahs, prefer sandy areas which burrows for shelter. They spend daytime underground, where conditions are cold and moist, emerging at night when conditions are suitable for hunting.

            When frightened by a predator, their first reaction is to seek shelter. However, when cornered or can not find enough shelters, they have a different defense. It will shake its tail all difficult to draw attention to it. If a predator grabbed his tail Gecko will come down and perform. If the tail is dropped, he remains on the ground to shake, effectively conveying the threat to the Gecko tail off until a safe hiding place. When the tail wiggle failed distract predators and collectors were arrested, he would shout, loud high-pitched and angry bite. This is a last attempt to save his life. The tail will grow back, but will not be as elegant as the original.

            Fat-tailed gecko will grow to 6 "to 10" are. Female 6 "to 8", and men are 8 "to 10". They will live 15 to 20 years. Normal color is brown and tan lines. Abdomen is usually light pink or off white. Fat-tailed gecko terrestrial, at night, and have vertical pupils. Fat-tailed lack adhesive lamellae on their feet and have the eyelids move. Tail fat tail geckos are backed up, so the more fat, the healthier your gecko. Do not ever take your gecko by the tail. Like many lizards, their tails will drop out as a defense mechanism if handled roughly. The tail will grow back fairly quickly, although not the same as elegant as the original.

If you have 2 males they will fight and injure each other, but some women can be together. Males can be housed with several females, but make sure your cage is large enough for the number of geckos you have to meet.

Geckos will choose one place is usually from the tank to conduct their business in, making it easy to clean, so check the angle they use. Try and place the lid or dish in the place or even some sand (sand recommended calcium to prevent impaction as much as possible) to clean up easier. All debris should be regularly removed to a healthy environment for your pet to keep. Substrate should either be cleaned (webbing, etc.) or replaced (moss, bark, sand) are relatively common. Every two weeks is a safe time, more often, tho better. Fat-tailed geckos are very easy to treat and is very shy and good-humored. They are not very susceptible to health problems.

ENCLOSURE /  HOUSING

Fat-tailed geckos require a thermal gradient by placing a heat pad under one end of the cage. This should allow the gecko from higher temperatures (about 90F) to be chosen at the end of hot and cold temperature (about 75F) at the end of the cold. The tank must be established, 80 ° F-90 ° F in the daytime and 75 ° F 85 ° F at night. Provide suitable hiding areas at both warm and cold regions, so the gecko can feel safe at any temperature. Temperatures below 75F should be avoided. No special lighting needed for the animals at night, but day / night lighting patterns can help the health of geckos. "I do not recommend hot rocks, because they are too hot and burn your geckos.

Fat-tailed geckos lack of adhesive strips and can not climb glass, but the screen is a good idea to crickets from escaping and to keep other pets out. I am sure that at least 1 to 2 for each gecko hides in the tank. A guide 1-3 geckos in a 15-gallon tank (24 "Wx12" Dx12 "H) is a good guide. I think you cramps gecko in a tank-sized gecko can stunt growth and cause stress.

Fat-tailed gecko also require a slightly higher humidity. Several hide damp and wet the substrate to do it. Dehydration and the disposal of other problems arise. Reptile cage carpets, peat moss, slate, and paper towels can all be used for the substrate (bed) in the tank for the geckos. Clean or replace common substrate. If a cork-leather interior, stone slabs, driftwood, artificial cave structures, and artificial plants also can be used as decorations for your tank. Be careful that your home will not collapse and crush your gecko, and the decor includes a number of decks and shelters for your gecko. If no shelter is enough, your gecko become stressed and nervous and can not eat. Adults and teenagers should not be stored together, due to bullying and small geckos are not getting enough to eat.

A moist chamber of some kind with sphagnum moss or coconut fiber is also important. It can be as simple as a container with a hole 1 "H x 1.5" W cut down on the side or top for your gecko crawling. This creates a moist environment to help with shedding and females to lay eggs in. I consider a must for any wet area gecko. If some of the women in your tank, you might want rooms, moist to avoid fighting in the spawn.

About cleaning your tank. Do not use cleaners are dangerous only Herp safe cleaning and everything a good rinse after to ensure no residue is left. Clean dirty thing very often and regularly sterilize everything in the tank to prevent bacteria build up. Substrates such as moss and forest litter should be completely changed on a regular basis. These creatures depend on you to keep their environment clean and healthy for them, so please do not ignore your little friend!

SUBSTRATE

Loose substrates that could be ingested by your Fat-tail Gecko such as sand, bark, fish tank pebbles, or walnut shells are not recommended, as they can be extremely harmful to their digestive system and may even cause death if they are swallowed. Be aware that it is a known fact that some Fat-tail Geckos, (especially babies) have died from intestinal impaction resulting from consuming too much sand while "striking" at crickets. Fat-tail Geckos are not good candidates for calcium-sand. Substrates such as reptile carpet, slate, or unglazed ceramic tiles can make more naturalistic enclosures, but nearly all breeders will agree that paper towels or newspaper are the best choice.

SHEDDING

Reptiles shed their skin on regular basis, and Fat-tail Geckos should molt about every 2-4 weeks. Unlike some other reptiles, Fat-tail Geckos will eat the skin after it comes off, so don't be alarmed if you don't see any shed skin in their enclosure! It is extremely important that ALL the skin comes off, especially from the eyelids and toes, as geckos can lose their digits to infection if the skin does not completely shed. If shedding is a problem for your gecko, it may be necessary to keep the substrate around their cave moist by misting it with water, placing a damp paper towel inside, or adding a separate, moist hide in their enclosure. For severe cases of stuck shed, soaking your Fat-tail Gecko's feet in ½ inches of warm water and then using a swab, very gently remove any residual skin from their toes or eyelids in a rolling motion. Loose skin can be removed manually.

FOOD / FEEDING

Geckos need calcium supplements. All feed should be shaken until coated calcium supplement for feeding and a small picture of calcium is recommended in the tank for your gecko to lick, especially when they breed. Two supplements should be used: one that only calcium/D3 and the other is a reptile multivitamin. You can feed your gecko calcium beautiful insects like crickets.

Gut-loading your gecko food is recommended. What you feed your gecko food on target to be fed to your gecko, so the more minerals to eat, the more geckos you swallow. It is always a good idea to feed the insects a high quality food, so that "gut-load them and their nutritional value. Carrots are what I use all my guts gecko food trays. I cut carrots in half, crickets seem to eat a little easier later. There are a variety of feeds you can use for all your feeders geckos.

Fresh water must be stored in a tank at all times and changed daily to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi to stop. Keep the water dish at the end of your tank cool. A water conditioner is recommended to eliminate chlorine from the water.

A good measure of the size of cricket or never ate mealworms your gecko insects larger than the length of the tip of the gecko on her nose. If too large to be fed crickets, teenagers may have digestive problems and regurgitated food. A few stray crickets can not be bad, but a large number of crickets can stress your gecko, and is reduced to an amount that can be accepted (as snacks between breastfeeding). Feed young boy and geckos per day. Adolescents and adults feed every second day.

HANDLING

At first, it is best to slowly offer your hand, kept low with your palm up, before picking up your Fat-tail Gecko. Avoid reaching down from over their head to grab them because they may become startled thinking you are a predator coming down to attack them. Always handle your Fat-tail Gecko with care, and never grab it by the tail. Like all lizards, when they are attacked or threatened they can "drop" their tails. When a lizard loses its tail, it becomes vulnerable to disease and infection until it grows a new one. Fat-tail Geckos will eventually grow new tails, but the regenerated ones are never quite as nice as the original. Since they are desert dwellers, they store water, fat, and nutrients in their tail (just like camels store water in their humps) so it is important they don’t lose their tails.

MORPH

Normal (Banded):  Body pattern with dark brown and light brown or pale brown fat tires background. Young banded in black and dark brown on a yellowish brown.

Stripe:    It consists of a line from the tip of the nose extending to the tip of the tail. Sometimes dotted line on the tail. Amorphous Stripe can be found in almost all of the other morphs such as Normal, Rimba, and distorted Amelanistic

Jungle:  This pattern is where the band on the body and tail of any damaged, an interesting pattern on the body of the standard straight band create. Also available in striped versions.

Amelanistic:  It is very nice! Colors can range from the Peach / Orange / Tangerine / red with white or gray as the color of a secondary profession. Also available in striped versions.

Notwithstanding:  Gecko has no banding, but purely on a dark body color. Also available in striped versions.

Less Pattern:  This gecko has a pattern, but have a pure dark brown to pale peach colored body. Also available in striped versions.

"White Out":  Another very neat pattern produced by jmgreptile.com Also available in striped versions.

"White Sock ":  This is a very interesting color mutations, where the gecko has a pure white legs! Varies from one to four feet, the price rose by more than a foot of white socks. It is produced by vmsherp.com

Leopard Gecko caresheet

Welcome to Reptile's Caresheet. I like to share many kind of Reptile which you can make them such a cute pet, nice pet, even an Awesome pet. I'll start with my Lovely pet Leopard Gecko to introduce  how to take a good care of them. Well....

Leopard Gecko Care
Leopard Geckos in the wild originate from Pakistan, Afghanistan and northwestern India. They are nocturnal which means they should be active mostly at night but during the day our geckos tend to be inquisitive and take a wander around their homes to see what's going on. They belong to the family Eublepharidae, which includes all geckos that have movable eyelids. Their scientific name is Eublepharis macularius, which translates to 'true eyelid spotted', personally I prefer Leopard Gecko.

Leopard Geckos are one of the most hardy of the gecko species available, combining this with the fact that their husbandry is quite simple and even the novice reptile enthusiast can have great success in keeping and breeding this interesting species of gecko makes this reptile an ideal choice for beginers and experts alike. We will try to give you the benefit of our acquired experience in the following pages of our care sheet.

Housing
First things first, you should never house multiple male Leopard Geckos together. They are territorial and may fight each other. You shouldn't house a female and a male together either, unless you want babies. However, you can house multiple females together, but you must watch them carefully because there can be situations where one may be a leader. Some signs of "bullying" would be marks on one of the geckos, one getting more food than the other, or one of the geckos getting a good bit larger than the other.

Life Span
Leopard geckos are long-lived compared to some reptiles. On average you can expect your gecko to live six to 10 years, but many males live 10 to 20 years.

Shedding
Shedding is a natural process that occurs about every 2 weeks. Your gecko will get very pale, almost a white color the night before he sheds. A moist hide is essential for thorough shed. Refer to the essential section to see how to make your own moist hide. Geckos should finish the shedding process within 2 days. A lot of times, especially as babies, Leopard Geckos don't always complete their shed. The hard areas to get shed off are the toes and head (sometimes around their eyelids). I let my geckos attempt to get the shed of for about 4 days before I help them. You should soak your gecko in 1 1/2 inches of lukewarm water for 15 minutes (even though he/she won't like it). Then take a q-tip and slowly rub off the "stuck shed". Your gecko will become nice and bright after shedding.

Caging
A 10- to 20-gallon aquarium houses one or two leopard geckos from hatchling to adult size. Larger tanks tend to cause the geckos to stray away from their proper heat and hide box. Although visibility is reduced, many people use plastic storage boxes as housing. Any cage you choose should be at least 1 foot tall. Be sure to have a secure screen top on your gecko cage that will support a light fixture, provide good ventilation and keep out bothersome cats.
A hide box filled with moist moss or vermiculite is needed, so your leopard gecko can shed its skin properly. This secure setting also is needed for egg laying if you plan on breeding geckos.

Lighting and Temperature
The best way to heat your leopard gecko is by using an undertank heating pad or tape. These are available at any pet store or online. Heating one end of the cage is best. This allows for a temperature variation that your lizard needs. Heat rocks tend to become too hot for leopard geckos and should be avoided due to the risk of burns.

For viewing, a simple low-wattage light can be placed overhead on the screen-cage top and left on 12 hours a day.
Because leopard geckos are active at night (notice their vertical pupils), they do not need to bask under a special UVB light.
Albino leopard geckos are light-sensitive for the first few months of their lives, but they do fine as a pet.
The ideal temperature in the hide box is 86 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. The ambient air temperature of the room they are housed in should be above 73 degrees.

Substrate
Newspaper, pea gravel, artificial turf, flat stones or no floor covering are OK. A young or debilitated leopard gecko might consume sand or fine-particle products on the cage floor, and this could lead to intestinal impaction.
Leopard geckos actually have a "bathroom" in one corner of their cages, and that area can be spot-cleaned without disrupting the entire system.
Do not expose your gecko to commercial plant soils or sands that may contain fertilizer or pesticides.

Food
Live insects are a must for your gecko; they do not eat plants or veggies. The best items to use are mealworms or crickets, but you can treat your pet to waxworms or superworms once a week if you wish. We have used regular mealworms. Avoid feeding leopard geckos pinky mice.

All insects must be first given a nutritious powdered diet for at least 12 hours before being fed to your leopard gecko. This process is called “gut loading,” and it is very important to the health of your pet. Chick or hog mash is available at all feed stores, and several good commercial diets are available for this purpose, as well. Simply place the insects in a tub of gut-load diet with a piece of potato to serve as a source of water.

Dusting your insects is one way to deliver important vitamins and minerals to your leopard gecko. Insects and the dusting powder can be placed in a plastic bag or deep tin can, and shook gently to coat the insects’ bodies. When adding the dusted insects to the cage, be sure not to let the powder get into a gecko’s eyes.

Another way to give the extra powdered supplements to your gecko is to keep a small jar lid filled with vitamin-mineral powder at all times. The gecko knows how much its body needs, and it will lick up the powder accordingly.

Keepers can offer two appropriately sized insects for every inch of a leopard gecko’s total length. A meal every other day is fine. Therefore, a 4-inch-long gecko would receive eight mealworms three to four times a week


Water
A shallow water dish with fresh water must be available at all times. It should also be stable, so it cannot be spilled. Cage substrate should be kept dry, so be careful about spillage. Make sure that young and adult leopard geckos can climb easily out of the dish you use. Vitamin drops should not be added to the water.
Handling and Temperament

In general, do not handle leopard geckos on a regular basis until they settle in and are more than 6 inches in total length. Once your gecko is large enough, it is best to sit on the floor, and let your gecko crawl through loose fingers and hand-over-hand for 10 to 15 minutes per day until they are accustomed to your touch. This taming process takes only five to seven days. Never grab or hold the gecko’s tail, or it might be dropped. Often the tail regenerates in less than 40 days.

Cleaning
This section is short, but very important. You should clean the cage every week. If you are using tile as your substrate, you can clean it with a wet paper towel. If you use paper towels as substrate, just replace them. And finally, with reptile carpet, you should always have two of them for each tank. So you just remove one and put it in the washing machine to get cleaned, while the other one goes in the tank for a week. About once a month you should take everything out of your tank and do a thorough wash and cleaning of the glass and everything. This will help keep away harmful bacteria.

Morphs 
One very neat thing about geckos is that fact that they have morphs. You may have noticed when looking around at pictures, that all of them are different looking. The different morphs are created genetically during breeding. The “normal” Leopard Geckos are yellow with a lot of black spots on his/her body, head, and tail. I am going to list many of the popular morphs and give a short description.

APTOR - Albino, Patternless, Tremper, ORange colored.
Banana Blizzard - Yellow body, white head, white tail, and blue eye shadow.
Bell Albino - A ranging amount of small brown spots on the body, some can have lavender colorings, and pinkish eyes.
Blazing Blizzard - Usually pure white body, head, and tail with a red eye.
Blizzard - A range of white, shades of gray, or even yellow colorings on their body, head, and tail. Shades of gray can change depending on mood.
Bold Stripe - An usually yellowish color with two black lines running along the outside of their ventral surface.
Diablo Blanco - A white body and solid red eyes (mix between blizzard and RAPTOR)..
Enigma - As a hatchling, their spots are usually blotches. As an adult they tend to grow more spots, and they sometimes turn into speckles.
High Yellow - Less spotting on a bright yellow body.
Hybino - A mix between a Super Hypo and an Albino, creates a pure yellow body without spots, and albino-colored eyes.
Mack Snow - A gecko with a white and black spots, body coloring sometimes yellow.
Mack Snow Patternless - A mix between a Mack Snow and a Murphy Paternless, completely white with no markings.
Murphy Patternless - A body consisting of colors ranging from yellow to purple, "baby spots" disappearing around the age of 10 months.
Normal - The only "natural" morph consisting the look of a wild Leopard Gecko. A yellow color with black spots, spot size and number varies.
RAPTOR - Ruby eyed, Albino, Patternless, Tremper, ORange colored.
Rainwater Albino - (A.K.A. Las Vegas Albino) Smaller, darker, and lighter than the other albinos.
Reverse Stripe - Unlike the Bold Stripe, this gecko only has one stripe running directly down the center line of him/her.
SHT - Super Hypo Tangerine, tangerine color (orangish) with no body spots.
SHTCT - Super Hypo Tangerine Carrot Tail, tangerine color (orangish) with no body spots and an orange tail.
SHTCTB - Super Hypo Tangerine Carrot Tail Baldy, tangerine color (orangish) with no body spots or head spots and an orange tail.
Stripe - A lighter stripe runs down the center of the back, and two darker, larger stripes running along the sides. The tail has no pattern, just random coloring.
Super Hypo - A gecko with less than 10 spots on his/her body is considered a Super Hypo.
Super Snow - Hatchlings tend to look like blizzards, but around one to two months old, they get a very high contrast between black and white coloring. Usually a solid black eye.
Super Snow Enigma - White bodies, solid black eyes, and tiny, black speckles.
Tangerine - An orange colored gecko.
Tremper Albino - Light color eyes and tend to have light colored brown markings on them. The first and most common kind of albinos.