African Fat-Tailed Geckos (AFTs) are captivating, ground-dwelling lizards native to the semi-arid regions of West Africa. Known for their docile nature and manageable size (7-10 inches), they make rewarding pets with a lifespan of 15-20+ years. Replicating their natural environment in captivity is crucial for their well-being. This guide will walk you through setting up an ideal 20-gallon long enclosure for your AFT.
Quick Facts About African Fat-Tailed Geckos:
- Size: 7-10 inches
- Activity: Crepuscular (active at dawn/dusk)
- Lifespan: 15-20+ years
- Diet: Insectivorous
- Humidity: Moderate
- Habitat: Terrestrial
- Basking Temp: 90°F
- UVB: Recommended
- Availability: Common
- Natural Habitat: Semi-Arid Grassland, Dry/Wet Savanna
They are also capable of dropping and regrowing their tails if threatened by a predator. Unlike most other geckos, AFT's have eyelids and lack the "sticky feet" required to climb smooth, vertical surfaces.
Enclosure Size and Requirements
African fat-tailed geckos need at least a 36″x18″x16″ enclosure, preferably larger. A common available terrarium size is a 40 gallon long. This is the bare minimum, calculated according to the reptile’s average length and activity patterns. However, if you can provide an enclosure with more floor space, do it! Housing your gecko in a larger enclosure will encourage it to be more active and demonstrate more natural behaviors. We recommend front-opening enclosures for easier access and security.
Important Note: Reptiles aren’t like dogs and cats that can simply roam around your house. They are very sensitive to their environment, and need their own enclosure set up according to their specific needs.
Read also: African Cichlid Stocking Tips
How to set up an African Fat Tail Gecko BioActive Enclosure with The Dude
Cohabitation: No, we do not recommend cohabitation for pet African fat-tailed geckos.
Substrate: Recreating Their Natural Habitat
Loose, naturalistic substrate is the best kind of substrate for housing African fat-tailed geckos. Substrate should be 3-6″ deep to facilitate natural burrowing behavior. The best way to recreate an AFT's natural habitat of packed sandy loam is with a DIY mix of roughly 70% untreated topsoil + 30% play sand. Topsoil must not contain any fertilizers, manure, or perlite/vermiculite - read the ingredients! Mix well, soak until muddy, then pack it firmly at the bottom of the enclosure. Make sure it is 100% dry before introducing the gecko to the setup. You can also use a pre-packaged substrate, though this is more costly than DIY. Depending on the brand, you may still need to add some topsoil (if too dusty) or sand (if too dense/moist) to reach desired consistency.
Here are some recommended commercial substrates appropriate for African fat-tailed geckos:
- землесмесь фирмы «Теремок»
- Exo Terra Stone Desert
- The Bio Dude Terra Sahara
Bioactive Substrate
Another option is a bioactive setup. Bioactive enclosure setups are designed to mimic a reptile’s natural environment and stimulate natural behaviors. All above substrates can easily support bioactivity with the addition of leaf litter and a “cleanup crew” of isopods and springtails that clean up uneaten food and fecal remains, making bioactive substrates incredibly low maintenance.
Addressing Impaction Concerns
Many sources recommend against using any kind of loose substrate, out of fear of causing intestinal blockage via accidental ingestion. But that is a myth! The leading causes of impaction are improper temperatures, dehydration, and high parasite loads, not loose substrate. AFT's require a certain range of basking heat in order to properly digest their food and pass any bits of substrate they may have ingested. If you are still worried about impaction, however, using a “solid” substrate such as paper towels or slate tile is okay, although it is less enriching, less comfortable, and less natural than an appropriate loose substrate.
Read also: Setting up an ADF Tank
Unsafe Substrates
These substrates are particularly dangerous to African fat-tailed geckos because they pose major health risks. Avoid the following substrates at all costs and stick to the list in the previous section.
- Reptile carpet - harbors bacteria, can injure & rip out teeth/claws
- Shelf liner - produces dangerous VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
- Linoleum - produces dangerous VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
- Calcium sand - severe impaction risk due to presence of calcium carbonate
- 100% play sand - doesn't hold humidity or support burrows
- Wood shavings, chips, or bark - causes impaction & discomfort
- Coconut fiber - dusty when dry, humid when wet, higher risk of respiratory issues
- Ground walnut shell - dusty, dangerously sharp, & risk of severe impaction
Quarantine Substrate
When you first bring your new African fat-tailed gecko home, you will need to quarantine for at least 1 month. This means keeping the enclosure as sterile as possible and closely monitoring the gecko's health. Paper towels or Komodo Repti-Pads are the best substrate for quarantine, as they can be frequently replaced and make it easier to observe feces and other potential health issues. Paper towels or pads should be fully replaced at least once a week and any soiled areas must be replaced daily. Once your gecko has shown a clean bill of health, you can introduce your long-term substrate to the enclosure.
If you already have other reptiles in your home, you should extend the quarantine period to 3 months, keep the enclosure in a separate room if possible, and make sure not to share any tools or decor between your new gecko and other pets, unless fully sanitized between each use.
Environmental Enrichment: Keeping Your Gecko Stimulated
Reptiles are much more intelligent than we humans tend to give them credit for, and that means they need things to entertain them. Otherwise they exist in a state of perpetual boredom, which makes them dull, inactive, and overall less interesting as pets. When reptiles have objects to interact with in their enclosure, they become less stressed and more engaged with their environment. This practice is called environmental enrichment.
It’s important to choose enrichment items (a.k.a. enclosure décor) that are appropriate to your pet’s natural behaviors. Here are some other objects that serve a vital function in a African fat-tailed gecko terrarium:
Read also: Stocking a 55-Gallon Cichlid Tank
- Hides: An African fat-tailed gecko needs at least three hides: a warm dry hide below the heat source, a cool dry hide on the opposite side, and a humid hide in between, slightly closer to the warm side to avoid a cold, wet environment. The humid hide should be filled with coconut fiber or sphagnum moss and kept at 70-80% humidity at all times, using a hand mister. Do not limit yourself to three hides, however. If possible, add more. People like having options, and leopard geckos do, too. All 3 of the required hides should be dark, snug, & fully enclosed with a single entrance.
- Rocks/Slate: One of the best ways to provide a naturalistic basking area and attractive appearance is with rocks. African fat-tailed geckos like climbing, and in fact, stacking pieces of slate with 1-2” spacers in-between simulates the cracks that they utilize in their natural environment. You can even build a warm hide with slate or flat rocks to double as a basking spot on top and a cozy cave underneath! If you collect rocks from outside, give them a good scrub and soak in a disinfectant compatible with porous surfaces, such as Clean Break or F10SC. NEVER bake rocks, as they may explode!
- Climbing Objects: Branches, logs, and cork bark are excellent for varying the terrain and giving your AFT things to climb on/in. If you collect wood from outside, give it a good scrub and soak in a disinfectant compatible with porous surfaces, such as Clean Break or F10SC &/or bake in the oven at 250°F for about an hour.
- Plants: Plants are a great way to add more coverage and enhance the appearance of a naturalistic enclosure! Make sure to wash artificial plants before using. Any live plants should be nontoxic and suited to a dry environment. If you have live plants, consider installing a 6500K fluorescent or LED daylight lamp to help them grow and flourish.
- Calcium Dish: Geckos should have access to a small dish or bottle cap of calcium without D3 that they can lick, allowing them to self-regulate their calcium intake between feedings, if needed.
- Backdrop: If you’re using an all-glass enclosure, adding a naturalistic backdrop can be much more attractive. Blocking 3 sides of the enclosure also helps the gecko feel more secure in its environment.
Maintaining a Clean Enclosure
To control the growth of pathogens and keep your African fat-tailed gecko’s enclosure hygienic and odor-free, it’s important to clean it regularly.
Non-Bioactive Enclosures:
- Spot-cleaning should be performed daily. This is the routine removal of uneaten food, feces, urates, and contaminated substrate.
- Soiled surfaces, food dishes, and water dishes should be scrubbed with reptile-safe disinfectant and rinsed at least weekly.
- Substrate should be completely removed and replaced every 4-6 months, depending on how diligent you are about spot-cleaning. This is also a good time to completely disinfect the enclosure with an animal-safe disinfectant like F10SC or chlorhexidine.
Bioactive Enclosures:
If you have a bioactive enclosure, “cleaning” will be more like periodic maintenance: watering the plants, adding biodegradables, and feeding the CUC as needed. Substrate does not need to be replaced. Some spot-cleaning will still be required for urates and soiled surfaces.
Lighting, Heating, and UVB
A heat lamp (required) and a UVB lamp (strongly recommended) are essential for your AFT's health.
UVB is important for healthy metabolism, specifically vitamin D synthesis and calcium metabolism, improving skin health, and strengthening the immune system. UVB can be replaced with an oral vitamin D3 supplement for African fat-tailed geckos, but this method is less effective and more difficult to regulate, so we strongly recommend using a proper UV lamp instead.
UVA is beneficial to eyesight and is sensed by their pineal gland to regulate a circadian rhythm. UVA is emitted by both UV lamps and halogen bulbs.
Infrared radiation (i.e. heat) is important for reptiles' thermoregulation. As ectotherms, they rely on the heat of the sun to warm their bodies and stimulate their metabolism, digest their food, and stay alert and active. The shorter the wavelength, the deeper it can penetrate their muscle tissue. In captivity, we can provide this with specific heat bulbs that emit the most beneficial infrared wavelengths (IR-A and IR-B).
All light and heat should be kept on a regular schedule using outlet timers or done manually. This allows for a predictable day/night cycle which the gecko can follow, allowing for natural hormonal rhythms and good mental health. We recommend the following schedule for African fat-tailed geckos, based on their natural environment:
UVB Lighting
African fat-tailed geckos benefit greatly from a UVB lamp in the enclosure. While they are technically capable of surviving without UVB if they receive sufficient supplementary vitamin D3 in their diet, simply surviving is not thriving, so we strongly recommend providing appropriate UVB. D3 supplement dosing is very imprecise and not efficiently absorbed by the body. Experts don't know exactly how much vitamin D3 fat-tailed geckos need, but we do know how much UVB they need for to self-regulate their own internal D3 production, so providing a UV lamp is far more natural and beneficial to promote optimum health.
UVB Output
Most African fat-tailed geckos do best with a 5-7% UVB output T5 lamp. Albinos and other less-pigmented morphs (amel, caramel, ghost) are more sensitive to UVB and may benefit from a lower output lamp, like a 2-3% output T5 or 5-7% output T8. 5-7% T5 bulbs are still safe for UVB-sensitive morphs, as long as plenty of shady coverage is provided throughout the enclosure.
We recommend Arcadia or Zoo Med linear fluorescent bulbs, as these brands produce the best and most reliable UVB lamps on the market. The lamp should be roughly ⅓ - ½ the width of the enclosure and placed on the same side as the heat lamp. So if your enclosure is 36”, your bulb should be 12-18” long. For a 4’ enclosure, a 22” bulb is best. Avoid “compact” and coil UVB bulbs, as these cannot properly distribute a UV gradient across the enclosure.
Best UVB Lamps
- For most AFT's: Arcadia T5 HO 6%, Zoo Med ReptiSun T5 HO 5.0
- For albino/patternless AFT's (Optional): Arcadia T5 HO 2.4%, Zoo Med ReptiSun T8 5.0
Distance and Mesh
The strength of the UVB lamp’s output varies according to distance from the bulb - stronger when closer, and weaker when further away. If you are using a Solarmeter 6.5 to measure your UVB lamp’s output, the UVI (UV Index) reading should be between 1.0-2.0 at the height of the gecko’s back when standing on the basking platform (or 0.5-0.7 for albinos) and down to 0 on the cool side. If you don't have a Solarmeter, here is a rough estimate of how far away your basking platform should be, based on which bulb you are using and whether the lamp is mounted above or below mesh. Calculations are based on Arcadia and Vivarium Electronics fixtures - using a differ...
