fattail cage ?

[bluevapor]

im getting some fattails and dont know if i should use paper towle as substrait and give them humid hides, or use something like coco fiber,eco earth and cover the entire bottom. which way works best?

 

[Wild West Reptile]

Paper towels are way easier to maintain. If you want it to look cool and have plenty of time for cleaning, then the eco earth is fine as well. I personally have all mine in tubs so it's paper towels for me!

 

[bluevapor]

cool thanks for the help

 

[acpart]

THere are many ways to do it. One issue if you use coco fiber is being able to provide drainage layers for plants and a place for the UTH and proper heat as well. What I've finally come up with is to put the expanded clay balls in 3/4 of the tank, put the mesh on top, wrapping it around the clay balls at the edge to hold them in one part of the tank and then putting coco fiber in the whole tank. I put the plants where the drainage layers are and the UTH on the other side where there's just coco fiber. In order to keep the geckos from burrowing right down to the UTH and possibly burning themselves, I use ceramic hides with ceramic bottoms, but you could also just put a ceramic tile under the coco fiber where the UTH is.

Aliza

 

[Carinata]

All my adults are housed in 6qt Iris boxes. Newspaper substrate, water bowel, and a humid hide with coconut fiber in it. I have never had an issue with eggs or anything like that.

 

[bluevapor]

i set them up with paper on the bottom and humid hides. thanks to all for helping

 

[tlbowling]

All my adults are housed in 6qt Iris boxes. Newspaper substrate, water bowel, and a humid hide with coconut fiber in it. I have never had an issue with eggs or anything like that.

6 qts for adults?

 

[Carinata]

6 qts for adults?

Yup. Single adults

 

[Russellm0704]

Yup. Single adults

6qt seems too small for an adult, can you maybe post a pic of one of your tubs with a fatty in it

 

[Carinata]

Sure. I know it seems small. But they breed fine and it makes them feel more secure. Much like ball pythons, they live underground in the wild.

 

[tlbowling]

Sure. I know it seems small. But they breed fine and it makes them feel more secure. Much like ball pythons, they live underground in the wild.

Just asking questions, not knocking your husbandry...obviously its working for you, since you produce lots of nice animals. But I don't see how a humid hide/ lay box, a warm/ cool hide, water dish, food dish, calcium dish AND the adult male and female would even fit in there? I too would love to see pix. I had my adults kept singly in 15 qt tubs for a few months and felt that was too small, so now everyones housed singly in 32 quart tubs.

 

[Carinata]

I house everyone singly. Not in pairs. I use a smaller humid hide. They can still fit very well in, but when females are laying they get a larger one. I don't use a calcium dish, but all feeders are heavily dusted. Just works for me I guess.

 

[tlbowling]

I know you said housed singly, but you gotta fit 2 in there at some point in order to breed them right?

Your animals all look healthy and must be happy enough to breed for you, but I personally wouldn't feel comfortable with that size tub.

 

[Carinata]

I pull the hides when the breed. I didn't know if 6qts would work, but I've never had an issue.

 

[kkigs]

I can see a 6 qt. Iris tub being big enough, as it has more floor space than your standard Sterilite box. My next racks will be made for Iris, so I'll have a chance to test that theory. Fat-tails and leopards are fossorial in nature, and don't need all that much room to thrive, and one breeder I've talked to said he gets better growth rates in smaller tubs.

 

[Wild West Reptile]

I agree with the smaller sized tubs. You would be surprised how big of a gecko can thrive in the 6 quart tubs. I house my smaller ones in 6 qts. and my larger ones or pairs in 15 quarts. I do use 21 x 17 floor space tubs for my breeding groups of 3 or more though. Like David mentioned, they really don't need much space and feel more secure in smaller enclosures. I have some pretty large ball pythons in 32 quart tubs as well. Just do what works for the geckos you have. If they aren't thriving then maybe it's not right for your geckos. I had several sub-adult fattails in 32 quart tubs and they hated it…wouldn't even eat. I moved them to 6 quart individual tubs and they are back to eating and love it.

 

[Carinata]

Exactly! Much like Balls, AFTs don't like wide open spaces and being able to see out. They need a tight space where they feel secure.

 

[BrightReptiles]

I've been interested in fat tails lately as well. I currently have none.
from what I see they have the same housing requirements as my Leos, so icould just put one in a tub in my Leo rack and be good to go, correct?

 

[Imperial Geckos]

I've been interested in fat tails lately as well. I currently have none.
from what I see they have the same housing requirements as my Leos, so icould just put one in a tub in my Leo rack and be good to go, correct?

you are correct!! Only difference is that fatties have a higher humidity requirement.

 

[acpart]

I prefer glass enclosures and I keep up to 3 AFT's in a 20 long, but I have to admit that they spend 90% of their time crammed into a little hide, so I can see someone using a 6qt tub effectively. On the other hand, one cage of fatties has females that like to take a "stroll" through the planted part of the tank after "dinner" and do it regularly. It would be a shame to deprive them of that.

Another note --when I keep hatchlings in the rack I don't use a humid hide because I feel that the rack holds the humidity better.

Aliza