Housing | Heating/Lighting | Food | Breeding 

Differences

Firstly, Leopard Geckos have a spotted pattern. As babies, they start out with bands (see above). The baby fat tails look very similar but if you look at their tails, the fat tail's is slightly larger/rounder. The tails are fatter than leopards as adults also. Temperament wise, the leopards are more energetic. They also are hardier, but can be a little jumpy when you hold them. The fat tails stay calmer when being held. The other main difference is location. Fat tails are from Africa; hence many are called African Fat Tail Geckos, while Leopard Geckos are primarily from the Pakistani area. Leopard and fat tails are fairly small compared to most reptiles, maxing out at about 8" or so, with fat tails being slightly smaller.

Housing

For one or two geckos, a ten gallon would be fine for its entire life. A good rule would be 2 geckos for each ten gallons. When buying geckos, always make sure you have no more than one male in each cage. Also keep males with no less than two females or he will pester the female too much. The cage is best furnished with some type of Calcium sand. For one, this is digestible, and geckos lick the ground when they move, so it gives them the calcium they need. Some type of cave should be provided for each gecko, either a half log or a rock cave or even a small Tupper wear container. The leopard geckos like the more desert look while the fat tails live in hilly terrain, but the leopard gecko cage will be fine for it. In the cage, it's good to have a retreat that is filled with moist peat moss of vermiculite. This helps in shedding. Usually some type of climbing stick or rock is appreciated. For water, a shallow bowl is nice. It is rare to see a gecko go to drink. Since they are desert creatures, they need relatively little water. (THIS IS NO EXCUSE TO NOT GIVE THEM WATER!) They will usually lick it every once in a while when they pass it. [Top]

Heating/Lighting

Geckos are nocturnal, so they don't need any type of special light. They do need heat which can be accomplished with a heat pad or heat lamp. (For heat lamps, it is best to use a nocturnal red or black light.) The temperature should be around 90 in a hot basking spot, and around 80 throughout the rest of the cage. There should be some area in the cage with a temperature closer to room temperature where they can retreat if too hot. A heat pad is good to keep the 80 degree temperature and a heat lamp with a rock or stick underneath it provides a good basking spot. Just make sure your gecko can't touch the light and that it doesn't ever reach more than 100 directly underneath the light. [Top]

Food

The best diet is always crickets (see cricket and mealworm care), but mealworms can be given as occasional treats. Mealworms can be a daily diet, but since they are more fatty than crickets, it is best to try to provide crickets as often as possible. Pinky mice should only be given to females after they lay eggs to get their calcium level back up. Crickets should be dusted every time you feed, and mealworms should eb placed in a bowl with calci-dust. Since I have a few geckos, I'm not sure how much one will eat, but if I had to guess, I'd say 1-2 dozen a week or about 10 larger mealworms 2 times/week. The best way to figure it out is to put one or 2 dozen in the cage and wait till they’re all gone. Generally, a baby or juvenile should eat small to medium sized crickets (2 or 3 week) and an adult will eat 5 week old crickets (large). [Top]

Breeding

The easy thing is getting the geckos to breed. Basically, just put a male with two or more females and you'll have gravid females in no time. But to successfully incubate and raise the eggs, there are a few things you need: An egg laying box, and an incubator.

An egg-laying box serves many purposes. One is that the eggs are less likely to be trampled on or to dry out, the female(s) almost always lay the eggs in there, and it also helps the geckos shed by higher humidity. To create it, take a small plastic container, (I prefer the Glad Tupper wears) and fill it with one to two inches of damp vermiculite (6 parts Vermiculite to 4 parts water.) Cut a small hole above the Vermiculite, and place it in the cage. Check it daily for eggs.

The other thing you need is an incubator. You can either buy one, like the ever-popular Hovabator (which costs around $50) or you can do my approach and make one. (Go here for directions on how to make your own incubator.) Eggs can be incubated at a wide range of temperatures. The temperature also determines the sex. Around 79 F, the eggs are mostly female. At 85 F, there will be an almost equal ratio of male to female, and around 92 F, almost all will be male. The eggs will usually hatch within 6-12 weeks, with the higher temperatures hatching sooner. The babies will slit the egg open and sit in the egg for about 24 hours, using up the yolk and learning to breath. [Top]