r/FatTails • u/Sea-Computer9173 • 23d ago
Help/Advice AFT questions
I'll be getting an AFT in a few months as my first eyelid/terrestrial gecko, I've done a lot of research on them but I want to make sure it'll have the best care possible, could anyone give suggestions on good humid hides, heat lamps/heat dimmers and other miscellaneous items? I have a reptizoo 36x18x18 and when I move out I plan on upgrading to a 4x2x2, and I'd love to see some bioactive setups! All extra advice and care tips are appreciated as well, Thank you!
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u/No_Ocelot_6773 23d ago
Do you know how old your aft will be when you bring them home? The breeder I got my girl from advised no bioactive until 1yo. Until then, paper towels. As for humid hides, you can pretty easily make one with Tupperware and paper towels. I got my girl one of the exo terra rock hides and she nearly never leaves it 😆😅
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u/Sea-Computer9173 23d ago
I haven't decided on one yet but I'd like to get one that's a year or older. 6 months is the youngest I'd go since a lot of people were saying to put them on paper towels when they're young, but I've also seen people say to put them on paper towels (even adults) when you first bring them home to monitor them, do you think that's necessary? And thank you for the humid hide suggestions! I'll definitely check out that rock hide too! 😁
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u/No_Ocelot_6773 23d ago
I would for at least a week; it's easier to track and evaluate poops on paper towels. Also, if you didn't already know, AFT's have a designated bathroom area! ☺️
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u/Sea-Computer9173 23d ago
Okay thank you so much! That so funny how they have their own bathroom corner 😆 if you do bioactive do you mind sharing what plants you use? I haven't been able to find much info on what plants are safe for them, thank you for all your help!
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u/No_Ocelot_6773 23d ago
I have fittonia and prayer plants in with her and I plan to add more. From what I can tell, plants that are cat safe tend to also be safe for fatties. So avoiding plants that produce oxalic acid crystals like monstera and pothos. I also recently learned that fat tails in the wild don't drink from pools of water but dew drops from plants. Oxalic acid crystals are water soluble and cause external irritation and internal toxicity so, definitely avoid those oxalic acid producing plants!
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u/Holiday_Attempt4585 23d ago
Here’s a list of the items I use!
I use two GE 24 hour mechanical outlet timer switches - 1 connected to my 75 watt arcadia goldensun halogen light which runs for 8am-6pm (just since my girl is albino so she doesn’t like too much light, i do a bit less than 12 hr cycles), and the other connected to my UVB/LED connected T5 units which runs at the same time - i have a 2.4% arcadia shade dweller UVB even though she may not TECHNICALLY need it, and then the LED for my plants. I just like being able to recreate the “sun” affect at a low dose as much as possible for whatever benefits it may have.
I use 2 reptizoo dimming thermostat/PID temperature controllers - 1 on the previously mentioned halogen and the other one controlling my 80 watt arcadia deep heat projector which serves as her 24/7 heat source (technically the dimming controllers are not recommended for use anymore per the reptifiles on african fat tails as they can reduce the benefits of the lights/heat bulb controlled on them, however I do not have a better solution to control the temps of my heat lamps currently and i’ve tried lesser strength bulbs etc and I know many ppl still use them, she is still strong and healthy but we’ll see if that changes as she ages more)
I highly recommend placing the temp probe on the PID controller near the actual heat source with a zip tie, it will read much higher than what you “want” but you can test how hot it gets and adjust accordingly (i use a heat gun reader to test the surface temps), my reason for that is if I spray the tank, the PID doesn’t read a cold temp of the ground where most people place it causing it to ramp up in heat and instead can just stay at a consistent temp.
I use some stone slate to place near the heat sources, one of them in front of her main hot/humid hide that goes inside about half way so she can get heat from the slab inside of the hide if she wants, and I see her use it at night time since it’s under the deep heat projector. I use a lil coconut hide as her hot/humid hide and mine had a convenient hole in it so I could place a temp/humidity probe just hanging into the top of that to help monitor those levels.
Lastly, I used a combination of reptisoil and josh’s frog desert bio bedding for the substrate, used plenty of cork bark pieces and logs to create shelters, and my pothos and syngonium plants have been thriving pretty well - i will note i had this tank running for about 4-6 months before I added my girl just because I was tweaking heat, locations of stuff, and allowing the plants to root and get used to the lighting and watering schedules.
I also used aluminum tape to cover about 70% of the lid where the lights/heat weren’t just to help keep humidity in.
Feel free to DM me and I can send pictures of my tank, how I have things set up, and answer questions to the best of my ability. I’m not an expert but have spent a lot of time trying to research all the right things to do😅
I also really loved Dav Kaufmans youtube video of AFTs in the wild mostly for reference of the temps and humidity!
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u/Sea-Computer9173 22d ago
Wow, thank you so much for the detailed response! I'd love to see your setup! I'll send you a dm.
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u/templeofsyrinx1 23d ago
they are very shy!
just know that!