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Basic Care of Leopard and Fat Tailed Geckos
(Eublepharis macularius, Hemitheconyx caudicinctus) By Alex Hue
Intro:
Since Leopard and Fat tailed geckos are very similar in their housing requirements, feeding requirements, and characteristics, I will not get into a lengthy caresheet for the individual species, but to rather combine the 2 species into 1 informative caresheet. Leopard geckos and Fat tailed Geckos are the hardiest of the gecko species. Both belonging to the Eublepharidae (eyelid geckos) sub family of Gekkonidae. Both species are terrestrial geckos that do not climb but rather have claws on there feet to enable them to dig and move about on the ground. Both species of geckos are more or less restricted to desert and dry savanna habitats.
Housing:
Both species of geckos can be kept singly or as colonies of 1 male to multiple females. It is very important not to house more than 1 male in any enclosure as the males tend to be very aggressive when in the presence of another male and will eventually fight to the death or cause serious injuries to opposing males. A good cage can be glass aquariums ranging from a 10 gallon tank for 1 pair to a 20 gallon tank for 1 male and multiple females. Another good home for both species is a plastic shoebox or sweaterbox. Whether you choose to use glass aquariums or plastic boxes, always be sure to provide adequate ventilation by using screen tops for glass aquariums or by drilling holes into the sides of the plastic boxes.
Substrate:
Many types of substrate can be used for these species, but always use substrates that will not harm or cause death to your geckos. Some substrates such as aquarium gravel or playsand, are not recommended for use because they will not pass through the stomach or intestinal tract of your gecko, therefore causing death by impaction. Some good types of substrate are papertowels, newspapers, repti bark, calci sand, and cage carpeting. Whatever you choose to use as substrate, just make sure that is 100% toxic free, digestible, or large enough so that your gecko cannot swallow it.
Cage furnishings:
It is important to always provide hideboxes for these species. A good hidebox would be a small container such as a rubbermaid sandwich box or even the tubs that butter and margarine come in. The purpose of this box is to provide a humid hiding place where your geckos can go to rest and shed. Within this box, you should place 1-2 inches of sphagnum moss or sphagnum peat moss and mist it sparingly with water so moisture and humidity can build up in it. Your geckos will go to into this box through an opening cut out by you either on the top or side of the box when they need to rest, hide, or shed. Regular misting of the inside of this box must be done twice a week or so to keep it moist so that droplets of water will start to accumulate on the inside sides of this box. Your geckos will lick the droplets to obtain their water needs, but it is still also necessary to provide a shallow water dish within the enclosure for them to drink out of. Plants and branches are not a necessity since they do not climb, but you may put these furnishings into the enclosure only for decoration purposes.
Diet:
Both species are very hardy and not picky when it comes to food. A good staple diet of crickets and mealworms will suffice, but they must be dusted with vitamins and calcium supplements. Always make sure that you provide good fresh fruits and vegetables such as oranges, apples, broccoli, alfalfa sprouts, and mustard greens for your insects so they can eat it and obtain the necessary vitamins and minerals that will be very beneficial to your geckos. Always remember that what you feed your insects will eventually end up in your geckos. Crickets should be the big part of their diet while mealworms should be fed sparingly or only as a treat. Vitamin and calcium dusting of feeder insects should be done at every feeding. Some products recommended by this author are REP-CAl and Herptivite. These supplements will provide the necessary minerals and trace elements required by your geckos but that are not provided by the insects. Another good thing to do is to place a shallow dish of these minerals and trace elements along with some cuttlebone scrapings into the enclosure so your geckos can lick them anytime they wish. Juvenile and hatchling geckos will require pinhead or 1/8 sized crickets fed to them everyday while older and adult geckos should have 3/4 to full sized crickets offered every other day. The general rule of thumb is not to feed your geckos any insects that are larger than their heads.
Heat and lighting:
Since these 2 species of geckos are both nocturnal (active at night), any type of uvb or uva lighting is not necessary. Usually the lighting within the room in which they are placed is enough, just as long as they can tell whether it is day or night. But there have been cases of these species found basking under a fluorescent light. If you decide to use lighting, make sure you use a weak light of only 25 watts or a fluorescent light. Using bulbs with a high wattage output might cause heat stress to your geckos if they decide to bask under it. The lighting should be on for 12 hours per day to replicate a natural day cycle. Make sure that you turn on and off the lights at the same time everyday. Leaving the lights on for long periods of time will stress your geckos. Remember that they are nocturnal animals and are the most active at night. Temperature requirements for both species are between the ranges of 75-85 for daytime with a drop of 10 degrees at night. Good ways to provide the necessary heat is to use a undertank heating pad. If you choose to use a undertank heating pad, make sure you have at least 2 inches of substrate over the area where you tape the heating pad. It is also a good idea to place a thermometer on the substrate where the heating pad is so you can determine whether or not the temperatures might be too hot or too cold. If it's too hot, place more substrate over that area and test again. Once the required temperature is reached, you can remove the thermometer and tape it to the back inside of enclosure right over the area where the heating pad is placed. Make sure that you check the temperatures within the enclosure regularly to determine if daily fluctuations in temperature are kept within the required parameters.
All information above is for the purpose of informing new Leopard and fat tailed gecko owners on the BASIC care and requirements of these animals. All information above has been obtained through the personal experiences of the author. Any comments or suggestions shall be directed to the author.
Author - Alex Hue - mailto:Hue8288@aol.com
See also: Suggested Diet - Leopard Gecko
