African Fat Tailed Gecko Breeding and Eggs

African fat tailed gecko breeding follows a set seasonal pattern in Hemitheconyx caudicinctus. This West African eyelid gecko is kept widely as a pet. Adults use a polygynandrous mating system, so both sexes mate with more than one partner across a season.

Breeding activity concentrates from November into March. That window matches the cooler, drier part of the dry season across the species’ native range, which runs from Senegal east to northern Cameroon. It also lines up with the animal’s own natural cycle rather than an artificial one imposed by keepers.

Animal Diversity Web gives sexual maturity at 250 to 300 days after hatching for females and 300 to 350 days for males. Body condition matters as much as age. ADW lists adult body mass at 40 to 90 grams, averaging near 50 grams.

Most keepers wait until a female sits solidly in that range with an evenly thick tail before pairing her. That weight guideline reflects widespread keeper practice, not a formally published cutoff. A first year female that is technically mature but still light is better left another season.

Retained eggs, called dystocia, are the main breeding risk for females. Merck notes that reptiles can hold eggs for weeks or months. Metabolic disease such as calcium deficiency makes it worse.

Treatment starts with a private nesting site, suitable substrate, and a corrected diet. Many cases still need surgery.

Breeding season and courtship

The November to March window lines up with cooler nights across the gecko’s savanna and rocky woodland habitat. Many keepers copy that shift indoors before reintroducing pairs. A roughly 5 degree Celsius drop from day to night is already standard reptile husbandry practice, according to the Merck Veterinary Manual.

This mild seasonal adjustment is gentler than the deep brumation used with some cooler climate reptiles. It is not a period of fasting or full dormancy. Shorter daylight hours alongside the cooler nights are usually enough to trigger pairing behavior.

Courtship is brief and driven mostly by the male. Fat tailed geckos are otherwise solitary and territorial. Animal Diversity Web notes that males vocalize with squeaks and clicks during disputes.

That same territorial streak shapes how pairs should be introduced. A short, supervised introduction works better than permanent cohabitation. Leaving animals together outside a breeding window risks real aggression, not just noise.

Review the full behavior guide for more on territoriality and vocalizations before attempting a pairing.

The general gecko breeding guide covers how this species compares with other geckos kept as pets.

Eggs and clutch size

A gravid female becomes visibly rounded through the abdomen in the weeks before laying. She needs a moist nesting site to dig into. Eggs need contact with humidity from the moment they are laid, or they dry out and collapse.

A shallow container of damp sphagnum moss or vermiculite pressed into the substrate gives her somewhere to lay. Keep that spot separate from the drier basking area of the enclosure. Check it daily once a female looks gravid.

Clutch size stays small. Animal Diversity Web puts each clutch at one to three eggs, though the pet trade most often describes a standard clutch of two. The true figure likely sits somewhere in that range depending on the individual female.

A single female can produce up to five clutches across one breeding season. That is a high output for such a small, fixed clutch size. A productive female can lay ten eggs or more between November and March.

Eggs should be checked within a day or two of laying, then moved to an incubator rather than left in the display enclosure. Incubation temperature is the biggest factor in both hatch time and, potentially, hatchling sex. Handle eggs as little as possible and never rotate them, since gecko eggs do not tolerate turning the way bird eggs do.

African fat tailed gecko incubation temperature and timing

Animal Diversity Web gives an incubation time of 40 to 70 days under controlled conditions, and about 6 to 12 weeks in wild conditions. The exact number depends heavily on temperature. ADW reports that lower temperatures of 80 to 85°F (27 to 29°C) stretch that window toward the long end.

Warmer incubation at 88 to 90°F (31 to 32°C) shortens it toward the 40 day mark instead. Humidity inside the incubation container should stay high enough to keep the substrate visibly moist. Avoid letting water pool directly against the eggs.

The sex column and the 88 to 90°F timing come from Animal Diversity Web; the length at the cool end is extrapolated from its 40 to 70 day range. Pair this section with the species’ broader heating and lighting setup. The incubator should run on its own thermostat, separate from the main enclosure.

Temperature dependent sex determination

African fat tailed gecko breeding is often marketed around choosing hatchling sex through incubation temperature alone. The underlying biology is real, but it is more complicated than a simple dial. Hemitheconyx caudicinctus does show temperature dependent sex determination.

That sets it apart from some other pet geckos, such as the Madagascar ground gecko, which relies on genetic sex determination instead. Incubation temperature has no effect on that species’ offspring sex.

Animal Diversity Web describes the pattern over the usual incubation range: 24 to 28°C mostly female, 29 to 30.5°C close to even, and 31 to 32°C mostly male. Across that span, warmer means more males.

A 2010 review of sex determination across gecko species by Gamble adds the top end of the curve. It classifies the fat tailed gecko as Type II TSD.

Females predominate at both the low and the very high ends of the incubation range. Males dominate only at intermediate temperatures, the same pattern documented in the closely related leopard gecko.

The two descriptions fit together.

Pushing the incubator above 32°C to get more males backfires and produces females again. Treat incubation temperature as a strong influence rather than a guarantee. Some individuals break from the expected pattern at every setting.

Hatchling care after the eggs hatch

Animal Diversity Web describes hatchlings as precocial miniatures with no care of eggs or young by the parents. A hatchling emerges fully independent.

Move it to its own small enclosure rather than leaving it with adults. Fat tailed geckos stay territorial into adulthood.

Giving each hatchling separate housing avoids the same aggression that shapes how adult pairs are introduced. It also makes it easier to track individual feeding and growth. Group housing invites stress even when animals look calm at first.

Humidity matters immediately after hatching. Animal Diversity Web notes that moderate humidity is needed for normal shedding in this species. A hatchling that cannot shed cleanly can lose toes or tail tips to retained skin.

A humid hide should go into the enclosure from day one. General reptile husbandry guidance from the Merck Veterinary Manual also recommends a quarantine period for new arrivals. That applies to hatchlings joining an existing collection just as it does to adult geckos.

Feeding starts once the yolk sac is fully absorbed, usually within the first few days. Offer appropriately small insects such as pinhead crickets. Dust them with a calcium supplement, following the same calcium forward approach recommended for insectivorous reptiles generally.

Review the full diet guide for how those needs scale up as a hatchling grows.

See the enclosure guide for housing sizes as a juvenile grows toward adult size.

The main care guide covers day to day husbandry once juveniles are established.

Growth is gradual. Captive fat tailed geckos can live 10 to 20 years, so a hatchling is a long term commitment. The general lizard lifespan guide puts that figure in context against other pet lizard species.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many clutches can one female fat tailed gecko produce in a season?

Animal Diversity Web reports up to five clutches per female across a single breeding season. Each clutch is fixed at only one to three eggs. That still adds up to ten eggs or more from one productive female between November and March.

What does a polygynandrous mating system mean for breeding pairs?

Neither sex is monogamous in this species. Both males and females mate with more than one partner across a season. That is why breeders commonly rotate a male between several females rather than keeping one fixed pair.

Can incubation temperature guarantee whether hatchlings are male or female?

No. Incubation temperature strongly influences the outcome but does not guarantee it. Cool incubation near 24 to 28°C leans female and 31 to 32°C leans male, while temperatures above that range swing back toward females.

Should hatchlings be housed with each other or with adults?

Individual housing is safest. Adult fat tailed geckos are territorial enough that males vocalize with squeaks and clicks during disputes. That same instinct can surface between growing juveniles sharing space.

How long do fat tailed geckos live once they reach adulthood?

Animal Diversity Web reports a captive lifespan of 10 to 20 years. Wild individuals are estimated at 10 to 15 years. A hatchling raised successfully today can still be an active adult two decades from now.

Do fat tailed geckos need a true winter brumation to breed?

Not in the deep, fasting sense used with some temperate reptiles. Most keepers use only a mild nighttime temperature drop and shorter daylight hours. That mild shift is usually enough to nudge pairs into the November to March breeding window already documented for this species.