Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want a good pet. I have gone to many of the local pet stores and asked to handle various animals. I came across one lutistic adult female and one african fat-tailed gecko that I like. I have looked online but I am worried about shipping. The lady said the african gecko does not have a regrown tail but when I look at the pictures online, the tail doesn't look the same. But the picture at the store looks different too. Like a rounded tail, not pointed. Does anyone have any suggestions on leopard vs. fat tail?
I also found a plastic 17.5 X 8.5 X 6 cage called a reptile ranch. Would this be safe to use with a UTH pad?

Hi, If you are buying from a reputable breeder shipping should not be a problem (I had one shipped from Ohio to Texas that arrived on Christmas Eve in fine shape and it was cold outside) Dont really know anything about the fat-tails versus the leopard. Sounds like the size of the reptile ranch is kind of small. If you want a comfortable setup that will make a nice display for your gecko I would go with a twenty gallon long. You can by a whole setup with tank,lid,light,thermometer etc. for about sixty bucks at petsmart. Some of the stuff in the kit is useless for geckos though. Gadzooks

I agree with Gadzooks on the cage size, but as far as the UTH goes it really depends on the brand. Repti-therm and exo-terra can not be used on plastic and they say that in the directions. T-rex brand can be used on plastic becasue the surface temp soesn't get hot enough to melt it. I've used them and they work great. Also they aren't self adhesive so you can move and reuse them as many times as you want.

The tank kit Gadzooks mentioned is also a good deal. it comes with a book about reptiles that is somewhat decent. Also it has bearded dragon food that doesn't do any good for the leos but I'm sure crickets will enjoy eating it.

The AFTs should have a point to the tail, very similar to leos but a lot fatter. Most of the fat tails I've seen have regrown tails, I don't know why, hmm. Anyways, they do need a higher humidity thatn leos and temps between about 82-90 F. They do ok on bark or a sand/soil mixture. Other than that their care is very similar to leos. Some people recommend adding pinky mice to their diet every couple of weeks though. Hope this helps!
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Emily

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The Spotted Gecko
**Updated 01-07-05**