my new fat tail

[Jtotten1992]

View attachment 36251

 

[T-ReXx]

Is that sand? If so, you need to change that. Sand kills fat tails.

 

[fuzzylogix]

nice looking striped fattie, but i completely agree with the sand. fatties also need a little more humidity than leos. i would suggest papertowels or butcher paper for substrate

 

[Jtotten1992]

well , i read that calcium sand (which is what that is) is perfectly fine and is used by a bunch of breeders and they don't have problems

 

[fuzzylogix]

ok, its your gecko, but i don't know of any breeders personally using any form of sand for leos or fat tails. calcium sand to me is actually worse than other forms because it promotes them ingesting it due to the calcium content. we're just trying to help.

 

[joeyjoe9876]

I have never heard of a fat tail on sand before. In all the care sheets I've read nothing was brought up about using sand or calcium sand as a substrate. I would either use paper towels or coconut fiber(eco earth)

 

[gixxer3420]

Nice looking fat tail but I agree with Ted about the sand. I dont know of any breeders that are using sand as substrate for their fat tails. If you want to use substrate instead of paper towels then I would suggest eco earth.

 

[T-ReXx]

I would love to know some name of people who are actually consistently breeding and raising fat tailed geckos(who are not desert animals, anyways) on calcisand.

 

[Jtotten1992]

my book of Leopard and fat tailed geckos that i bought said that its fine

 

[T-ReXx]

What is the title of this book? Who is the author? What year was it published? That's completely incorrect. Fat tailed geckos will dehydrate, impact and die when kept on a sand substrate.

 

[Jtotten1992]

Title : leopard geckos : a complete guide to eublepharine geckos
Author : Gerold Merker & Cindy Merker with Julie Bergman & Tom Mazorling
Year Published : 2006

 

[Imperial Geckos]

my book of Leopard and fat tailed geckos that i bought said that its fine

I got my first fatty when i use to keep a vast collection of herps back like 7-8 years ago. I kept it on sand, and it died due to impaction, yes a necropsy was performed.

Now all i work with is fat tails, and not one is on sand. They dont even come from the desert. I keep all my geckos on paper towel or newspaper.

If you want a naturalistic look to the tank, keep your fat tail on 100% organic cypress mulch, eco-earth (coconut fiber), or even a 50/50 mix of peat moss and vermiculite. Fat Tails need a higher humidity requirement than leopard geckos do...remember, they come from 2 different parts of the world.

Your book can say w/e it wants. But i know first hand...Sand is a huge NO when it comes to African Fat Tailed Geckos.

Good Look, it is a nice looking fatty!

 

[Imperial Geckos]

Title : leopard geckos : a complete guide to eublepharine geckos
Author : Gerold Merker & Cindy Merker with Julie Bergman & Tom Mazorling
Year Published : 2006

Leopard Geckos (Eublepharis macularius)
Fat Tail Geckos (Hemitheconyx caudicinctus)

Two different species...

 

[Imperial Geckos]

sorry for the multiple post.. i noticed a mistake and i can not edit my last posts.. yes they are in the same family Gekkonidae and subfamily Eublepharinae.....but the fat tail geckos have adapted to a different life style... please do a little more research...

 

[T-ReXx]

Title : leopard geckos : a complete guide to eublepharine geckos
Author : Gerold Merker & Cindy Merker with Julie Bergman & Tom Mazorling
Year Published : 2006

That book is completely out of date. It's been almost 5 years since it was printed, and hobbyists learn a lot about husbandry in a year, let alone 5. No serious, educated hobbyist is going to tell you sand is an acceptable substrate for african fat tailed geckos. As a vet tech, I've seen several animals killed by sand impactions(both leopard and fat tailed geckos). Fat tailed geckos require a humid environment, and sand simply does not allow that sort of setup to work.

 

[T-ReXx]

In fact, I checked my shelf, and I actually happen to have that exact book. I will quote directly from it now:

"The author has had success keeping H. caudicinctus on 1-2 inches of spaghnum peat moss topped with a layer of medium grade orchid bark. Medium grade is too large to fit in the gecko's mouth. Any substrate the animal could possibly ingest must be monitored by the owner (gecko stops eating, defecates, sand, etc). However, the combination of sphagnum peat moss and orchid bark helps to provide the moisture african fat-tails need to be comfortable in a captive environment.

 

[Jtotten1992]

Leopard Geckos (Eublepharis macularius)
Fat Tail Geckos (Hemitheconyx caudicinctus)

Two different species...

it has a section on care of Fat Tails

 

[Jtotten1992]

In fact, I checked my shelf, and I actually happen to have that exact book. I will quote directly from it now:

"The author has had success keeping H. caudicinctus on 1-2 inches of spaghnum peat moss topped with a layer of medium grade orchid bark. Medium grade is too large to fit in the gecko's mouth. Any substrate the animal could possibly ingest must be monitored by the owner (gecko stops eating, defecates, sand, etc). However, the combination of sphagnum peat moss and orchid bark helps to provide the moisture african fat-tails need to be comfortable in a captive environment.

in that same paragraph , before your quote , it says and i quote " Many Successful breeders use different types of substrate , for example, Newspaper, Paper Towels, Calci-Sand, Play Sand, Cage Carpet , or Orchid Bark and Spaghnum Peat Moss together "

 

[Imperial Geckos]

it has a section on care of Fat Tails

Did it say it was okay to keep it on sand? :main_huh:

Because according to Ted which has the same book quoted directly from the fat tail section and it said.......

In fact, I checked my shelf, and I actually happen to have that exact book. I will quote directly from it now:

"The author has had success keeping H. caudicinctus on 1-2 inches of spaghnum peat moss topped with a layer of medium grade orchid bark. Medium grade is too large to fit in the gecko's mouth. Any substrate the animal could possibly ingest must be monitored by the owner (gecko stops eating, defecates, sand, etc). However, the combination of sphagnum peat moss and orchid bark helps to provide the moisture african fat-tails need to be comfortable in a captive environment.

hmm dont think it said sand anywhere there... but diffrent member from the forum already told you what correct/safe substrates you can use for your fat tail... wheter you decide to use the information we provide is up to you...however, i HIGHLY advise you, to do some more more research...

Here is a great care sheet written by Jeff Galewood over at JMG Reptiles:
http://jmgreptile.com/cimages/fattail.pdf

And here is a care sheet I wrote so you can see how i do things a bit diffrently:
http://imperialgeckos.com/care.html

There are many other out there... but i believe the ones i provided are 2 good ones.

Good Luck :main_thumbsup:

 

[Imperial Geckos]

in that same paragraph , before your quote , it says and i quote " Many Successful breeders use different types of substrate , for example, Newspaper, Paper Towels, Calci-Sand, Play Sand, Cage Carpet , or Orchid Bark and Spaghnum Peat Moss together "

but that is a false statement...