Fat-Tailed Gecko - Hemitheconyx caudicinctus

Make sure a shallow dish with water is available at all times. Feeding consists of a main diet of crickets coated with a vitamin and calcium supplement. Some of the best supplements on the market are Rep-Cal (calcium and vitamin D) and Nekton-Rep (vitamin). At feeding time, use Rep-Cal as a major component for vitamin and mineral supplementation. Two to three times a month use Nekton-Rep as an additional vitamin supplement - shaking this mixture back and forth to coat the crickets before feeding. Crickets may be found at your local pet store but are about $1.30/dozen. I would suggest ordering your crickets from a supplier (such as Armstrong Cricket Farm,800-658-3408). You can order from this supplier at a cost of $16.50/1,000. The crickets may be kept in a tall trash can with a screen top and fed baby chicken starter mash as a diet. Water should also be made available by an inverted water dish, also available from most suppliers . The crickets have a life span of about six to eight weeks so its best not to order anymore than you will use in two to three weeks.
Fat Tail  hatchlings should be fed 1/2 inch crickets and adults should be fed 3/4 inch crickets. Mealworms may be fed once a month. Feeding should take place three to four times a week. An adult will usually eat between five to seven crickets at a feeding. A hatchling will usually eat two to three crickets at a feeding.

Daytime temperature should be around 85 degrees F and may cool to 75 degrees F at night. The daytime temperature may be achieved with a spotlight, such as a fifty watt grow bulb. Make sure it is not possible for your animal to come into contact with the bulb as this will cause burns. A small part of the substrate should be heated from 85-88 degrees F. You may heat the substrate using heat strips or a heating pad made specifically for reptile cages, which are available at most pet stores. You want to purchase these heat strips or pads to place under the tank  so they do not come into direct contact with your animal. Do not use heat rocks as these can get to hot and may burn your animal. Remember these lizards are exothermic (require heat from outside sources).

A breeding group may consist of one male and three to four females. Never house males together as they are very territorial and will fight. Mating for the African Fat Tail usually takes place in November or December with the first eggs being laid in late December. Eggs are usually laid in clutches (which consist of two eggs). A clutch is then laid every ten to fifteen days afterwards. Each female can lay between three to thirteen clutches in a season, depending on their health and genetic makeup.

Keep a closed plastic container inside the cage with an opening large enough for the Fat Tails to go in and out. This plastic container will act as a hide box as well as an egg laying site for the females. Keep about two-three inches of coarse vermiculite (commonly found at garden stores) inside the container. Mist the inside of the container occasionally to keep the vermiculite damp but not wet. The eggs can become damaged by to much moisture or by becoming to dry. The female will lay her eggs inside the plastic container.
The eggs will be soft shelled and can be removed for incubation. Place the eggs inside a plastic container  with dampened vermiculite and cover the container with a lid and place it into the incubator. Check the container every few days to make sure the vermiculite maintains moisture and to let fresh air into the container. Make sure you check the containers often when its close to hatching time and remove hatchlings as soon as they have hatched.
 

The hatchlings will not feed until they have had their first shed, which usually takes about five days after hatching.

In sexing these hatchlings I would suggest purchasing a 30X illuminated hand held microscope (found at most Radio Shack stores). The cost is about $10.00. In males just above the cloacal opening you will find an angular row of nine to fourteen pre-anal pores. These pores are prominent in the males and are lacking in the females. As the males grow you will notice they have a widened tail base in which the hemi-penes are housed. Males also tend to have a larger or wider head and tend to be larger than the females. If you do not feel comfortable in sexing your hatchlings it is best to have an experienced person do this for you.