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Atlas / Library / Eublepharidae / African Fat-tailed Gecko
BeginnerCrepuscular · waiting for duskIUCN LC
Eublepharidae

African Fat-tailed Gecko

Hemitheconyx caudicinctusตุ๊กแกหางอ้วนแอฟริกา

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. reptifiles.com

Photograph: Lucky Okpanachi Atabo · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. African Fat-tailed Gecko is crepuscular, so what it is doing changes with the light. The sheet states a night temperature, and the rail follows it.

Terrestrial · warm · humidFrom the sheet: warm end 32°C, humidity 70–80%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/hemitheconyx-caudicinctus

‹ All husbandry guides
warm end32 °C
cool end24–27 °C
Humidity70–80 %
Enclosure90×45×45
Diet2 days

The numbers

Thermal gradient

152025303540 °C
24–27°Cool side
32°Warm side
22–25°Night

Day: a real gradient, 32°C warm against 24–27°C cool, so the animal chooses. Night: 22–25°C.

Why

Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet stateswarm ~32 °C (90 °F) / cool 24-27 °C (75-80 °F) / night 22-25 °C (72-77 °F)

Humidity

70–80%Target RH

The sheet statesWet season 70-80% / dry season ~50%

UVB

Not needed for this species

Stated in the sheet, not inferred.

The sheet statesnot strictly required (nocturnal) if a high-D3 calcium supplement is given, but recommended for best health outcomes

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m20–25 cm
1520100400 cm
20–25 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Family / Order
Eublepharidae / Squamata
Adult size
20–25 cm
Lifespan (captivity)
15–20 yrs
Activity
Crepuscular / nocturnal; terrestrial
Temperament
Very docile, calm (calmer than leopard gecko)

Morphs

8 morphs, with how each one is inherited.

Amelanistic (Albino)RecessiveSuper form:
Caramel / GhostRecessiveSuper form:
OreoRecessiveSuper form:
Stripe / AberrantLine-bredSuper form:
TangerineLine-bredSuper form:
White-outCo-dominantSuper form:
Zero / PatternlessRecessiveSuper form:
ZuluLine-bredLocality-basedSuper form:

How common this animal is

197,408Live individuals in declared US trade filings

NOT a measure of how many are kept. These filings count animals shipped for any purpose, including the food trade and laboratory supply, and they are United States records only. The three largest volumes in the source belong to a food frog, a bait species and the standard laboratory amphibian.

US Fish and Wildlife Service LEMIS declared wildlife import and export records, as compiled in the received dataset

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

substrate32 °Cwater70–80 % RH90 cm45 cm
warm sidewatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
90 × 45 × 45 cmWidth × depth × height
41dm² of floor
Hides: not in our dataUVB: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet states90 × 45 × 45 cm

Humid hide
Humid hide 85–100% on cool side — essential
Cool side
24–27 °C (75–80 °F)
Night
22–25 °C (72–77 °F)
Humidity
Wet season 70–80% / dry season ~50%
Min. size
90 × 45 × 45 cm
Substrate
Coco / soil (holds some moisture)
Water
Small dish

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

Juvenile
every 1 d
Adult
every 1.8–2.3 d
16Meals in 28 days · adult

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window. This sheet states a figure for each age, so each age has its row.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56. A young animal's row is drawn only where the sheet gives one: working it out by dividing the adult interval would be inventing a ration.

The sheet statesInsects (crickets, dubia, BSF larvae) · 3–4×/week

Staple
Insects (crickets, dubia, BSF larvae)
Prey size
≤ space between the eyes
Juveniles
Daily
Adults
3–4×/week
Calcium
Dust most feeds; D3/multivit weekly

Behaviour and handling

HandlingVery tolerant and calm
TailDrops if grabbed (regrows differently)
CohabitationSolo; never 2 males
DefenseRarely bites
ChildrenGreat, supervised

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
0.8–1 yrSexual maturity
15–20 yrLifespan in care
50–70 dIncubation
2 eggs, several clutchesClutch
15 yrMinimum commitment
~14 yrReproductive window

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Sexual maturity
~9–12 months
Sexing
♂ preanal pores + hemipenal bulges
Clutch
2 eggs, several clutches
Incubation
~50–70 days; temperature sets sex

Common health problems

Metabolic bone disease
Signsweak/bent limbs
Preventcalcium + D3 (+ low UVB)
Impaction
Signsloose substrate
Preventfirm/appropriate substrate
Dysecdysis
Signsstuck shed
Preventhumid hide is essential

When to see a vet

This is not veterinary advice. If red flags appear (open-mouth breathing, months of weight loss, 'stargazing', persistent regurgitation) consult a qualified exotic (herp) veterinarian. Quarantine new arrivals 30–90 days.

Good to know

  • Stores fat in its tail like a leopard gecko: but needs more humidity.
  • A humid hide is non-negotiable for healthy sheds.
  • Calmer, more laid-back disposition than the leopard gecko.
  • Stores fat in its tail like a leopard gecko — but needs more humidity.

Common questions

Like a leopard gecko?

Similar, but more humidity-loving and even calmer.

Do they need a humid hide?

Yes: essential.

Handleable?

Yes: one of the calmest geckos.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 90 × 45 × 45 cmbecause enclosure90 × 45 × 45 cm
A heat sourcebecause tempwarm ~32 °C (90 °F) / cool 24-27 °C (75-80 °F) / night 22-25 °C (72-77 °F)
A thermostat to regulate itbecause tempwarm ~32 °C (90 °F) / cool 24-27 °C (75-80 °F) / night 22-25 °C (72-77 °F)
A thermometerbecause tempwarm ~32 °C (90 °F) / cool 24-27 °C (75-80 °F) / night 22-25 °C (72-77 °F)
A way to check the night figurebecause tempwarm ~32 °C (90 °F) / cool 24-27 °C (75-80 °F) / night 22-25 °C (72-77 °F)
A hygrometerbecause humidityWet season 70–80% / dry season ~50%
No UVB: the sheet states none is neededbecause uvbnot strictly required (nocturnal) if a high-D3 calcium supplement is given, but recommended for best health outcomes

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

  • Terrarium 90×45×45
  • Heat mat + thermostat
  • Low UVB
  • 3 hides incl. humid
  • Coco substrate
  • Calcium + D3
  • Feeders + hygro/thermo

Sources

Others in this group

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.