#hemitheconyx

[herpsandbirds]

Taylor’s Fat-tailed Gecko (Hemitheconyx taylori), family Eublepharidae, endemic to Somalia

Specialized termite feeders

photograph by The Knobtail

[herpsandbirds]

Taylor’s Fat-tailed Gecko (Hemitheconyx taylori), family Eublepharidae, endemic to Somalia

Specialized termite feeders

photograph by Benjamin Bucks

[herpsandbirds]

Taylor’s Fat-tailed Gecko (Hemitheconyx taylori), family Eublepharidae, endemic to Somalia

Specialized termite feeders

photograph by Reptiles4all

[hejhejme]

Baby👶

[lunationgeckos]

Kristi Cichy-Housman of Ghoulish Geckos suggested this book to me when I asked her about books that were good resources for learning more about leopard geckos.   I haven’t looked at it in depth and don’t have time to do so today, but it encompasses multiple genus of eyelash geckos, when and who discovered them, observations on location and distribution, descriptions and pictures of biomes where available and even charts of temperatures and weather.  Twelve pages of listed documented references, a glossary and photo credits.  

The covered genus included (as listed): 

Aeluroscalabotes (Cat Geckos)

Coleonyx (Banded Geckos)

Eublepharis (Asian Leopard Geckos or Fat-Tailed Geckos)

Goniurosaurus (Oriental Leopard Geckos) 

Hemitheconyx (African Fat-Tailed Geckos)

Holodactylus (East African Clawed Geckos) 

It’s 238 pages, with probably some outdated information on care, but as Kristi said, it’s great for the natural history of the animals and their discovery. And each genus has sub-articles on subspecies and sections on diseases.  Expect further review and lots of excerpts as I go through this cool book. 

[reptilefacts]

African fat tailed geckos (Hemitheconyx caudicinctus) are the sturdier cousins of the leopard gecko. Both species belong to the subfamily Eublepharis of geckos as they share several key characteristics which make them different to most geckos - they are ground living (terrestrial), have movable eyelids, vertical pupils and lack the "sticky" feet of arboreal geckos.

The african fat tailed gecko is found in West Africa, from Senegal to Cameroon in savannah and scrublands. Though these are dry desert-like environments these geckos avoid the harsh daytime temperatures and dryness by sleeping in underground burrows (or other humid hiding places) and becoming active during the night. 

AFTs typically grow to 8 to 14 inches long (20 to 35 cm), with females being slightly larger than males. They have a captive lifespan of 10-25 years. Normal coloring is brown and tan/beige stripes, with a possible thin white stripe along the length of the back, but various colour morphs are bred for by breeders including: tangerine, albino, patternless, white out and aberrant.

AFTs are becoming an increasingly popular pet, in part because of their ability to thrive in captivity but also because of their docile dispositions and their openness for being handled. The primary difference between AFTs and the more popular leopard gecko is AFTs have a higher humidity requirement.

Photo sources [1], [2]

[markscherz]

I had a question about gecko behavior I own a African fat tailed and he behaves normally he's healthy and such but the other day I walked into the room where I keep him and he was out of his hide on the rim of his water bowl and as he noticed me he did the tail wag which I always assumed was the behavior that he did before he struck at prey but he wasn't after prey at all so I was just a bit curious of why he may have done this since he's never done that before

Drawing from my knowledge of other geckos, the tail wag can mean a great many things. It often precedes striking, yes, but it is also used as among-individual communication. It may indicate submissiveness or be a signal of dominance - it's hard to know. I think there's also something about it being a mode of wafting pheromones, which would tie well into its role in mating behaviour.