Hemitheconyx caudicinctus
African fat-tailed gecko
A terrestrial enclosure with a warm hide, a cool hide, and a moist hide.
Legal status
- Check local rules
Hemitheconyx caudicinctus is not recorded here as listed in the CITES Appendices. No EU wildlife-trade annex was verified for this species, so the annex field is empty. It is not marked on the EU list of invasive alien species and it is not marked as venomous. National and regional rules can still restrict keeping. Check local rules before you keep, move, or rehome an animal. This record is not a permit and not legal advice.
Official sourceNot legal advice. Rules differ by country, and sometimes by region. Check the law that applies to you.
- Temperature
- 24–32°C
- Basking
- 30–32°C
- UVB
- Ferguson zone 1. About 0.1–0.7 at the animal
- Humidity
- 50–70%
- Minimum enclosure
- About 90 × 45 × 45 cm for one adult
- Adult size
- About 20–25 cm including the tail.
- Lifespan
- Often 15–20 years.
- Difficulty
- beginner
Diet and feeding
Insects. Gut-load them and dust with calcium. Juveniles every other day. Adults every 2–3 days.
Substrate
Paper, slate, or a dry soil mix that is not loose calcium sand.
Health
Stuck shed, metabolic bone disease, and impaction if the animal is fed on loose sand or kept too cold.
Handling
Support the body. Do not hold the tail. Fat-tailed geckos can drop it.
Husbandry ranges are general guidance for captive care, not a veterinary prescription or a permit. Confirm the gradient with your own thermometers. UV zones follow Baines et al., Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 4(1), 2016, https://www.jzar.org/jzar/article/view/150. Legal fields use the source link on this species and stay empty when an annex was not verified.