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Crepuscular ground gecko

African fat-tailed gecko

Hemitheconyx caudicinctus

Kept the same way as the leopard gecko, so they share one kit: the same heat, light, and humidity, sized to the animal.

Build an African fat-tailed gecko setup See the gear
Photograph of a African fat-tailed gecko
Photograph by Lucky Okpanachi Atabo, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist.

Care sheet

What it needs

We have taken these figures from published sources and are still checking them against our own experience. Treat them as a guide, and ask us before you buy.

Basking surface
32 to 34°C Measured on the surface the animal lies on, not in the air.
Daytime air
20 to 28°C The cool end, away from the lamp.
Night air
17 to 25°C
Humidity
50 to 80%
Adult length
10 to 30 cm
What it eats
Carnivore
When it is active
Nocturnal
How it lives
Terrestrial
Typical captive life
15 years
Longest recorded life
16 years A record from the literature, not what to expect. Most animals live well short of it.

Our reading of the literature, not veterinary advice. Animals vary, and so do rooms, so take these figures, and any setup the builder puts together, as a starting point, and ask a reptile vet about your own animal. Where the figures come from.

From the catalogue

Gear that suits an African fat-tailed gecko

Chosen for crepuscular ground gecko. The setup builder puts the whole kit together, sized to the animal, with the reason for each piece.

Build the whole kit

Same care group

Kept the same way

Where it comes from

Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Mali, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana ?, Liberia ?, Guinea (Conakry), Sierra Leone ?

Breeding: oviparous. Exhibits temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD) fide Cornejo-Páramo et al. 2020 (and references therein).

Where the figures come from