YAY! It finally happend!

[IrishFox350]

amazingly my husband finally said yes! We've been talking about it for months, and finally agreed to get a reptile. Today we were in our very good local Petco, and they had just gotten African Fat Tail Geckos. It's a new animal, so of course I asked to hold one. Seeing me so happy my hubby asked if I wanted to take him/her home. I dont know if it is a male or female or how to tell. I have done my research tho, and he/she has a moist hide, under substrate heating pad, mealworms, crickets, a warm hide, and everything else I could get. All in all bout 275 dollars. Awesome gift from the hubby!

I need help naming him/her and figuring out how to sex my new friend.

I'm attaching pics of the tank and him/her. The poor thing is about to shed, but that's okay.

please tell me what you think.

Sarah

 

[Dimidiata]

Do you have calcium and vitamin suppliments? Also, i would get it to a vet for a general check up. Always good to be percautionary when purchasing any living animal from petco or anywhere for that matter. But petco particularly. Also, im not used to fattys but it sort of looks like he/she has regrown atleast part of there tail. Be sure to have a cool hide btw. lovley gecko.

 

[IrishFox350]

Do you have calcium and vitamin suppliments? Also, i would get it to a vet for a general check up. Always good to be percautionary when purchasing any living animal from petco or anywhere for that matter. But petco particularly. Also, im not used to fattys but it sort of looks like he/she has regrown atleast part of there tail. Be sure to have a cool hide btw. lovley gecko.

I do have an exotic vet here in town. I was gunna take it asap.

the cool hide is the moist one. they said they just got them, so idk about the tail. i do have the calcium and vitamins. i know at my petco they take extremely great care of their animals. especially since most of them have several reptiles of different types. thank you! When I first held him/her, it instantly relaxed in my hands and was calm and comfortable. the other one bit me, lols. i felt chosen, so I'm very happy my hubby said yes.

does anyone know how to tell if it is male or female. Im hoping male. i wanna name it Merlin.

 

[Dimidiata]

There should be a warm hide(hot side) humid hide(middle or hot side) and a cool hide.

 

[LZRDGRL]

This one is big enough to sex. Look under its tail, and when you see two big bulges and dark pores in a V-shape, it's a male. If not, it's a female. If in doubt, try to take a pic of its butt and post them here

Nice, well-nourished Normal with a regrown tail. Maybe it was wild-caught? By the way, you don't need that lightbulb at all; a UTH is enough. They like it dark. They would hide away from daylight. And the temp must be measured on the floor, not on the wall. The rest of the tank looks very nice! :main_thumbsup:

You spent a lot of money 10-gallon tanks at PETCO are 12 bucks (10 with PALS card), and a UTH from amazon.com is under 20 dollars. The wood is not needed, since they're not arboreal and don't climb, but it looks nice. For water and food dishes, simple lids will do. But of course they would look unnatural and less pretty.

Chrissy

 

[IrishFox350]

This one is big enough to sex. Look under its tail, and when you see two big bulges and dark pores in a V-shape, it's a male. If not, it's a female. If in doubt, try to take a pic of its butt and post them here

Nice, well-nourished Normal with a regrown tail. Maybe it was wild-caught? By the way, you don't need that lightbulb at all; a UTH is enough. They like it dark. They would hide away from daylight. And the temp must be measured on the floor, not on the wall. The rest of the tank looks very nice! :main_thumbsup:

You spent a lot of money 10-gallon tanks at PETCO are 12 bucks (10 with PALS card), and a UTH from amazon.com is under 20 dollars. The wood is not needed, since they're not arboreal and don't climb, but it looks nice. For water and food dishes, simple lids will do. But of course they would look unnatural and less pretty.

Chrissy

thank you! Im so excited! i've wanted one for a while now. I tried with the tank set up. lols. umm i have the heat lamp because our house gets so so cold i didnt want the ambiant air temp in there to be way too cold. should i get a uv bulb instead of the daylight?

 

[IrishFox350]

There should be a warm hide(hot side) humid hide(middle or hot side) and a cool hide.

oh so i need another hide then. okay no problem. i have another Tupperware dish i can mutilate.

 

[Dimidiata]

i have another Tupperware dish i can mutilate.

Join the club . Also, in my experince the darker the hide the better, typicaly they will sleep in them so you can imagune theyd like it a bit dark.

 

[IrishFox350]

i think its a female

 

[IrishFox350]

she's asleep on my belly right now hehe i love this!

 

[LeopardShade]

I agree with everything that's been stated above. Pictures are cute, although you seem to have him/her out quite a lot. Coming to a new home can be very stressful for a reptile, and excess handling, especially before its settled in, can only worsen the problem. I'd hold off on handling him/her for the next week or so and let him adjust. Trust me, I know it can be hard initially, but think about it, you'll have lots of time to have fun with your new gecko once he's acclimated properly.

 

[brillobee]

I'm getting my fattie, tuesday as long as it's not too cold. *fingers crossed*

 

[Russellm0704]

Congrats on your new gecko. Looks like he does have a regrown tail tip.(it won't affect him one bit). Thank you for using reptile carpet and not sand. You need some hides that are not clear and will be darker. I would get rid of the lights. The light will just stress him out. All you need is the under tank heater. Also you need a probe thermometer to measure surface temp of hot/cool side. It sounds like you put the heater under the carpet instead of under the tank? Those things get very hot

 

[Russellm0704]

I'm getting my fattie, tuesday as long as it's not too cold. *fingers crossed*

Will it be your first fattie? I got my first fattie a couple weeks ago and he is so chill. And they are a lot softer than leo's

 

[IrishFox350]

Congrats on your new gecko. Looks like he does have a regrown tail tip.(it won't affect him one bit). Thank you for using reptile carpet and not sand. You need some hides that are not clear and will be darker. I would get rid of the lights. The light will just stress him out. All you need is the under tank heater. Also you need a probe thermometer to measure surface temp of hot/cool side. It sounds like you put the heater under the carpet instead of under the tank? Those things get very hot

i have the thermometer on top of the carpet where the heating pad is, and it is only reading 80 degrees. i'll be able to get some better hides in about a week. once the heater is stuck can it be unstuck? so i can move it? light is off. no worries.