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Reality check AFT (long)

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Posted by BruceHallman on April 04, 2003 at 10:48:43:

Wow, African Fat Tailed gecko's are cute!

Actually, I am trying to be a responsible Dad...my 11 year old daughter has been nagging me for two years to get a pet snake. Though I can plainly see that she finds basically *all* reptiles to be adorable.

I (and we) are doing our research, fully aware that caring for a pet, (expecially a pet that can live for twenty years) requires one to be committed and responsible.

The popular snakes, kept as pets, get too big! I found leopard geckos to be a better choice, and was researching them now. During a visit to the EastBayVivarium in Berkeley CA, they turned me on to African Fat Tailed Geckos.

AFT's seem to strike an almost perfect balance between features to make them an ideal pet, for a responsible 11 year old girl.

I guess that my only negative concerns might include that AFT's are nocturnal, and my daughter is not . Also, I would like to buy an adult AFT, and these seem hard to find.

We already have a 40 gallon tank, with an under tank heater. Testing out the setup, the bare glass above the heater seems to exceed 100 degrees, but the air and surrounding immediately surrounding that spot seems too cold. Perhaps I need to diffuse the heat in that spot with a layer of some 'substrate' or something. Also, I am trying to improve the heat distribution of the 'warm end' of the tank through the use of a 60W ceramic IR heater in an 'elboe' desk lamp fixture.

Part of the problem must come from the fact that the rest of the room is cold, 60 deg F. plus or minus. The screened top of the tank lets in too much cold air from the room.

My idea is to get the gecko tank all ready and set up before be bring the animal home.



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