Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm not sure how they are supposed to act. He is sleeping all of the time it seems. He does walk around when we take him out but it seems when he is in the tank he just stays in the same spot. I don't know anything about these critters, please help me. My daughter is in love with him. He is in the tank with another gecko, I believe that one is a day gecko. We got him about two weeks ago and he seems to be doing fine. I had no idea what I was getting involved in. I would appreciate all of the help I can get. We got them both from Pet Supermarket and they have no idea what they are doing. First they sold me a Tokay gecko and told me it was a Marble. I only discovered it on my own when we kept getting bit and found the information on the internet and now we have exchanged him for the Fat tail. When we got there they had him in a tank labeled baby Leopard geckos and it had sand on the bottom. He now has sand stuck to the bottom of his feet. I don't think he has any claws either. Please help!

First of all its very nice your family is showing intrest in reptiles! Its a great hobby that can be very enjoyable. That being said the first thing I want to to encourage you to do is get some books on the species you are keeping. Educate yourself and your reptiles will thrive. Now on to the problems you are having. Since I dont know your cage setup or what you have for heat and lighting let me give you some pointers. Day geckos and Fat tail CANNOT live to together! They come from 2 different environments. Day geckos come from tropical jungle type with high humidity and require full spectrum lighting to thrive in captivity. Fat tails are desert species they require a warm hot spot and are nocturnal. Separate the two immediately. Buy a full spectrum light and some plants and climbing branches for the day gecko. Spray the tank daily and maybe a low wattage heat lamp to keep the overall temp around 80 degrees. Feed them crickets dusted with a high quality vitamin/mineral supplement and GET A BOOK!! For the fat tail, my guess the reason he is so lethargic is he is not getting enough heat. Get an undertank heat pad and a heat lamp to create a hot spot. The overall temp should be in the high 80s and the hot spottemp in the middle 90s Also feed him crickets dusted with a high quality vitamin/mineral supplement and GET A BOOK! Good Luck

Also include shallow water dishes in each tank with clean drinking water use spring or distilled water.

personally I suggest you bring all the lizards back to the petstore you bought them from and get a refund for the animals. Then do research on the species you are interested in keeping. there are many good books on gecko species and tons of good information online. Use multiple sources, not just a single book or website, go to several sites, read the care sheets, take notes. Read older posts here in the forums for the species you are interested in. (this being the crested gecko forum and you are asking about fat tails and day geckos, which have their own specific forums here too.)

Once you have done all your research, find a local breeder or reptile show and make your purchase. This way you will have a healthy animal to start and everything all set up before bringing your new gecko home.

However if you find you just don't want to bring back the geckos you have, making sure you know what species you do have by doing google searches and comparing photos. taking good clear photos of the geckos and posting them here and we can help identify them too, even if they are not crested geckos.

in your description you indicated sand is sticking to your gecko's feet.....as fat tail geckos don't have naturally 'sticky' feet, only two things come to mind for the sand to be sticking. The sand is wet/damp so its sticking to the lizards feet or its not a fat tail or other terrestrial gecko, but indeed a crested or day gecko (which do have 'sticky' feet.) Further information about your current setup, size of tank, lights etc. will be helpful.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

Thank you for all of your help. I separated the two of them and got a new tank for the fat tail. I put a heater on the bottom and am using a heat lamp. I also put a container in there that has wet paper towels. He seems to like it better so far. I have been feeding them both crickets but I never see them eat. I do know the crickets are gone though. I read that you should keep the crickets separate and just feed them a couple at a time. I have also been feeding them mashed banana mixed with the calcium and vitamin and a little bit of honey. I have included photos. Also I believe that the stuff that I was told was sand on his feet was really his shed and I managed to get that off. Now he has shed again and it seems that he has a problem getting it off of his feet. Please let me know what you think of the photos and thanks again for all of the advice.

Day gecko

The setups look great! The fat-tail looks healthy so he must be eating. I cant really see the day gecko but from the bottom he looks good. You will need to get a full spectrum light soon though because day geckos require uvb that light gives off. A few more climbing branches and fake plants and the day gecko will be loving life. Also getting two good thermomters to tell tempetures in your setups will help alot. Good luck!

The "day gecko" is not a day gecko. It is a "Golden Gecko" Gekko ulikovskii. They are native to tropical Vietnam and SE Asia and the Fat-tailed gecko (Hemitheconyx caudicinctus) is from west Africa. Very different in needs. Please give the golden gecko some thick branches and a flat, vertical piece of cork bark, bark, or something to hide behind. Use a peat substrate lacking perlite, and keep the humidity up and a live plants, "snake plants" would work well.
A peat and sand mixture is good as substrate for the fat-tail as well (since he seems wild caught also, he would probably appreciate it). Yes, please care for them and learn about what they need and where they came from. Best wishes.
Take care,
Ashton
Vivarium Essentials

They both are insectivores and should not be eating foods with such high sugar content. Insects around the size of their heads should be their staple. G. ulikovskii will accept mashed fruits and Crested gecko diet on occasion. KEEP HANDLING TO A MINIMUM UNTIL THEY BEGIN EATING WELL.
Ashton
Vivarium Essentials

Thank you again for all of the advice. I will definitely read up on the species. I have a few questions. How do I keep the humidity up? Also, do I keep the lights on at night too? I have the red heat lamp for the Fat tail and I have a daylight blue bulb for the Golden gecko. You also mentioned live snake plants. How would I do that? Put them in a small container and keep them in the tank? Can I use branches from outside or is that not a good idea? I do have good news, the fat tail finally was up last night walking around and not just sleeping in the container with the moist paper towels and he also pooped. So he has to be eating. I put a couple of dusted crickets in with him but he just seems to let them walk around him. I still haven't seen him pee though. I have seen the Golden gecko do both. He hides a lot and seems kind of nervous. Will he get more tame? I also noticed that the Golden changes colors. The fat tail is so sweet & calm. Thanks again for all of the advice. I will post more photos when I get things fixed.

Just a few things. The humidity can be kept up by misting the cage each day and by using live plants in the cage. Bromiliads are a good choice for this they look good and are sturdy (correct me if im wrong but I beleave wild goldens use them also to lay eggs inside at the base of the leaves). You can leave the plants in pots or replant them into the substrait either one works just wash the plant and try to remove any fertalizer before it gets but into the tank. The more hiding spot the animal has with leaves and branches the more comfortable it will be not hiding and you can see it with less stress on the animal.
Yes you can use any branch you find outside. try to get it at least the thickness of the animal, I like using wild grape vines I think they look good and once they dry out they handle the humididy well in my opinion. Some people like to freeze branches before use to kill anything that might be on it. I dont do that but it is an option if your worried about brining in something to your cage. Dont plan on the golden being an animal that you can handle, you have the fat tail for that. Over time and with trust built on the animal not being force handled it might walk over to you but they are more to look at than to play with.

You will not see the fattail out and active during the day much thats just one of the fall backs of a noctornial animal, sorry.

That was more than I thought I was going to write.
Tom

ps I havent worked with goldens but I have worked with a number of day geckos(I think they are about the same). If some of my info is off please correct me.