Help i need advice!

[nmarie567]

I got a juvenile fat tail 12 days ago so almost at the 2 week mark I am new to owning one, his temp basking area 92 with ceramic heat emitter, cool humid side 75-80 with heating mat at night in his hide, humidity range 70 between misting twice a day. He ate for me 9 days ago. he ate 2 small dubias and 5 mealworms, he's pooped. Not interested in anymore food his tail is on the thin side it's not fat, he is male whiteout oreo morph I'm concerned and don't know If this is normal am I doing something wrong? I know it takes time to settle ive tried wax worms too and he's not interested I'm extremely worried

 

[nmarie567]

Pleade is there anyone who can help me with tips for my new gecko it's very concerning and just need some reassurance and advice

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Welcome aboard! Perhaps you can find some missing pieces included in the following AFT care sheet by highly respected former Geckos Unlimited moderator Thorrshamri (Herve).

Please share an image of your AFT's enclosure.

AFT/ African fat-tails quick care sheet (Hemitheconyx caudicinctus)

AFT Basic care hints Click right here \/ \/: AFTs are as big but less active than leos. They are slow-moving and purely terrestrial. For those who have kept leopard geckos, you will see a difference in behavior: AFTS are more secretive and less active than leos. A 60x40 cm (24"x18") floor...

www.geckosunlimited.com

What are the dimensions of your AFT's enclosure? Appropriate strength halogen bulbs are highly recommended instead of CHEs. Access to appropriate halogen bulbs may be limited depending where you live. The appropriate halogen bulb should have almost the strength your AFT requires. Halogen bulbs should NOT be dimmed very much to get the heat you AFT needs.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Please click the following link to discover an excellent message regarding AFT care by Herpin Man.

African Fat Tailed Gecko only eating crickets

My gecko, Arnie, will only eat the crickets I feed him. He refuses mealworms, and I can rarely get him to eat dubias. From what I have read, it is good to give a variety in a geckos diet, but I am not sure what else I can try. If anyone had any ideas, please help.

www.geckosunlimited.com

 

[Herpin Man]

While there are several possible reasons that a fat tailed gecko isn't eating, I think the most common reason is that they aren't being kept warm enough. With that in mind- I'm not sure I understand your setup. Is the "basking area" that is 92f out in the open? If so, the gecko may not be using it enough to properly warm up. During the day, this species hides in warm, slightly damp termite mounds. With that in mind, they need a humid hide box that hits 92 on the INSIDE. Use a laser thermometer to confirm, don't go by your thermostat setting. They like small, tight, enclosed hiding spots- not the hollow half logs sold at pet stores. A piece of cork bark they can burrow under is ideal.
Regarding misting twice a day- not necessary, and possibly detrimental. Unless the ambient humidity in your house is extremely low, the humidity in the hide box should be sufficient. If you need more humidity, moisten the substrate periodically. Do not use a full screen top.
Regarding the actual feeding- what is your technique? Are the dubia and mealworms burrowing in to the substrate where the gecko can't find them? You can make a feeding dish out of an opaque deli cup with a lid. Cut a circular hole in the lid large enough to admit the gecko. Are you using tweezers to hand feed it? Not all geckos respond to that- many will shy away. If the gecko is timid, my suggestion would be to dump a few gut loaded, dusted crickets in right at lights out, and let it hunt overnight.
One more bit of advice- do not handle the gecko until it is eating regularly and reliably.
Without knowing more about your set up and your feeding technique, some of my suggestions may be considered guesses. If you can post some more info for clarification, perhaps someone here might be able to offer something additional.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi nmarie567 ~
How has your young AFT gecko been doing?

Cheers,
Liz

 

[nmarie567]

Please click the following link to discover an excellent message regarding AFT care by Herpin Man.

African Fat Tailed Gecko only eating crickets

My gecko, Arnie, will only eat the crickets I feed him. He refuses mealworms, and I can rarely get him to eat dubias. From what I have read, it is good to give a variety in a geckos diet, but I am not sure what else I can try. If anyone had any ideas, please help.

www.geckosunlimited.com

Any picture I out in here says it's too big how can I minimize it so it will post ? I followed all of the needs on that specific article before I got him

 

[Hilde]

If you have a photo editor on your computer/phone then use that, otherwise you can check out the online ones, many are free.
Try the online Adobe Express free image resizer. I've never used it, but have heard it's a decent resizer.
Just upload the image, resize it on the website, download it, and then you can upload it here to the site.

https://www.adobe.com/express/feature/image/resize

 

[nmarie567]

This is the only way I could do it all his tank is 36L 18w and 12 tall. moss in humid hide on hot side. CHE without light, this is the very first time he ate for me off tongs perfectly fine. Mealsworms and dubias. Followed all substrate rules everything is by the book but his tail is thin not fat though but he is little

 

[nmarie567]

Also super active at night I left 7 dubias in his bowl last night along with mealworms in his other bowl but there's only 4 dubias this morning so I'm hoping he ate them. Last time I offered food ge walked away from tongs 2 days ago so

 

[nmarie567]

Hi nmarie567 ~
How has your young AFT gecko been doing?

Cheers,
Liz

I posted some pictures of him below! I think he might have eaten some dubias while I was sleeping

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Thanks so much for your screenshots & for the rest of your information, nmarie567!
Is there a screenshot of his tail? These screenshots aren't easy for me to see. But I see you're using exactly what Hilde recommended: Adobe Express.
It seems like your AFT gecko is eating again. That's VERY good news!

A 36 x 18 x 12 inch enclosure gives him lots of room.
Your humid hide could be placed a little more towards the middle of his enclosure. Be sure to moisten that humid hide no more than 1x daily.
Be certain to closely follow Herpin Man's AFT advice a couple messages earlier. Herpin Man is the expert on this thread. I've never kept AFTs.

I have some important general questions:
1. What temps are you keeping your AFT at & how are you measuring those temperatures? Those temps should be measured by a digital thermometer with a probe (or a temp gun), NOT an analog (circle) thermometer. Recently I bought a Zoo Med digital thermometer/ hygrometer from PetSmart online. It has 2 probes. This Zoo Med digital combo reads almost exactly the same to the tenth of a degree F as the mini Taylor thermometer within the same enclosure! Don't spray Zoo Med's digital's humidity sensor (probe)! I don't think that would be good for it.

2. What supplements (brand & exact name: like Zoo Med's Repti Calcium with D3) are you using & how often are you using them

Above all I'd love to see additional recommendations from Herpin Man. Be sure to do EXACTLY what he says.

 

[nmarie567]

I'm doing exactly what he says, I do have a laser gun thermometer there's hides on both sides and 1 in the middle along with other items and cork he can go under, he does have a screen lid I put plastic wrap around half of it like I do with some of my other cages I use the repti calcium D3 and also a repti vitamin from petsmart I put a small bit of the calcium on the food I leave in his cage if he does not take it from the tongs just to make sure he get some with any food he eats. Yes it's about 93 Inside the humid hide on warm side, I do not plan on holding him until he's able to eat for me and trusts to be out wandering around with me near. I have his food in non escape bowls for the food I leave I'm there at all times for him and when I do tong feed it's only at night

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Please share the exact name of "a repti vitamin from petsmart". All multivitamins differ in quality.

Did you buy Zoo Med's Reptivite multivitamins with D3 or Zoo Med's Reptivite multivitamins withOUT D3?

I've been using Zoo Med's supplements for about 21 years. I use
Zoo Med's Reptivite multivitamins withOUT D3 &
Zoo Med Repti Calcium with D3

When you have ONLY vitamin D3 + plain calcium carbonate in the supplement you use more frequently (Zoo Med's Repti Calcium with D3), it's BEST NOT to have vitamin D3 in multivitamins too.

For a young AFT, please ask Herpin Man what he does with regards to supplements.

 

[nmarie567]

Both zoo med reptivite,without D3 and zoo med calcium with the D3. I've been using both of these for for about 10 years

 

[Herpin Man]

Here is what I would do if this were my gecko- especially if you are new to geckos.
First, I would dismantle the entire setup and start over- I would forego the whole idea of doing loose substrate/bioactive etc. There are just too many variables for the new gecko keeper to trouble shoot. You can always switch back later, when you have a bit more experience, and your gecko is eating reliably.
I would set it up as follows:
- Heat pad on a thermostat, under one end of the enclosure.
- Newspaper substrate.
- A moist hide box on the warm end of the enclosure. I suggest a plastic sandwich box from Walmart or Target. Cut a hole in the top, large enough for the gecko to crawl through. A keyhole saw works best for this. Use coco fiber as a substrate- damp, but not dripping wet. Make sure the temperature is hitting at least 90f INSIDE the hide box. This is the only hide box you should offer.
- A feeding dish.

That's it. With this set up, the gecko has only one good place to hide, and you control the temperature there. This should keep it warm enough to have an appetite. Insect prey can no longer burrow into loose substrate, They may crawl under the newspaper, but so can the gecko. You can also easily see whether the gecko has been defecating.
Once it is eating, feed heavily to get the weight back up. Dubias and superworms are good for this. Just drop them in the feeding dish, right before you go to bed. The gecko should hunt overnight. It may be shy, so don't sit there and watch it or pester it. No unnecessary handling, at all.
If it still does not eat after doing all of this, then something else is wrong- but I think if you follow the above, it will eat.

 

[nmarie567]

He ate 20 small crickets!!!! I believe some were little bigger pin heads. He refused them off the tongs and to prevent him from getting substrate I removed the back legs on them which broke my heart even though I'm petrified of them I still care about them but I put them in a petri dish lid and he went to town!!!! Im so relieved, curious if he was that starved when I got him that he was gonna eat anything even if he was scared or is just comfortable in his environment now and rather hunt????

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Yahoo!
Please introduce your AFT. Knowing the name would be nice.

When your AFT grows this might work. As my geckos' food dish (usually crickets) I mostly use Anchor Hocking's 8 oz clear glass food storage bowls. I cut off both back jumper legs right below their 'knees'. Then crickets can still move which attracts a gecko's attention. I sometimes place a slanted rock ramp (also at ground level) up to that dish's 'lip' to improve accessibility.

Last I looked Walmart still carries these storage bowls.

 

[nmarie567]

I'm gonna take more picture the bowls are level with the ground but black and his name is Burton also I know it's gonna take a long time to get comfortable with me, even me being in front of the tank he's like...no your too close. What are some things other than talking to him to get him more acclimated with me without stresses the little one out?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

All my 8 oz glass feeding bowls are level with the ground.

Just don't move abruptly. Be gentle. Does Burton like certain music to 'associate" with you when you're present? That might be a long shot. When he's older introduce your open hand to him. Fingers facing up. Let him take the initiative to 'climb on board'.

I share the following because time is precious. The screenshots you shared were impossible for me to see clearly. I think I spotted Burton's beady little eyes on 1 of 2 B & W shots. I couldn't see his tail. Is there some way to get a higher resolution on your images? If not, it's better to share info in writing.

Unfortunately I'm a newbie when it comes to photo sharing.