FAT-TAILED GECKOS IN THE WILD! (Are we keeping them correctly?)

[@KT-kn9vd]

This channel is probably one of the most important reptile channels out here. The fact that Dav visits actual environments where our animals come from is amazing. I’m so ready for the Ball Python movie!! Keep up the fantastic work Dav!

[@juliagulia2686]

Never owned a reptile but I really enjoy these videos and learning about these amazing little friends! So cool to see these guys in the wild. What an amazing adventure. Can’t wait for the ball python movie!

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Thanks!

[@growingheart8039]

Are we keeping Dav correctly? Give him your likes Leave a comment Send him your money! Great video! 🌞

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Any way you can post this comment on a billboard somewhere? Lol! Thanks for being awesome! Rattle On!

[@staceyroberts3468]

@@davkaufmansreptileadventures for real 🤣🤣🤣

[@cytarea]

​@DavKaufmansReptileAdventures no but you can pin the comment :)

[@ashleyseay2871]

Make it your KZbin channel intro "Are we keeping Dave correctly" ..."Hey guys help keep me correct so I can help keep the reptiles correctly"

[@ggoannas]

These are the best videos. Nobody does videos where they actually go into the habitats. Wonderful.

[@dianya7]

For reference: Termite mound 96% relative humidity, 33C (92F) Ambient nighttime 76% relative humidity, 29C (85F)

[@reptilez13]

I've kept Leopard gecko's but always have been interested in AFT Geckos, they are super cute and beautiful morphs too. Fun vid! Termites and their mounds really house so many animals, truly a keystone species.

[@amphimrca]

My Fat tailed gecko escaped in a winter .There was no heating temp was around 15-20'C. No food .insects etc..I looked everywhere for him . I thought he's gone . 4 months ..yes 4 months later Miracle..Found him in the frame of the bed. He was bit slim but Alive. Big lesson for me.Now He's big boy and beautiful.🤟🤟🤟

[@rosmink9684]

Wow bro that is so out of mind😱

[@fajawrr]

Bro, your gecko didn't go anywhere, he stayed there as long as you thought he was gone, because based on my experience, if my gecko was gone, I would check the bed frame and yep, he was there.

[@l.a.catron452]

Thanks for covering AFT’s! Your video disproves all of the care guides I’ve seen on these guys. We are definitely keeping them too cold and too dry (most care guides say high of 88F with no consensus on humidity range). I hope lots of people see this and improve captive care of these cuties!

[@geckomaster25x]

So glad you got enough footage for this one 😃

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Me too!

[@erinurbanus1858]

Oh those tubby little toes! ❤️ I'm excited to possibly be able to work with them soon. Such darling little creatures.

[@Hamburglar009]

Getting even more excited about the ball python movie hearing you say everything is hatching in Africa. I bet we get to see some hatchling, days old or less, or even maybe hatching snakes!

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

I hope you enjoy it when it’s out

[@Hamburglar009]

@@davkaufmansreptileadventures I can’t imagine how I would NOT enjoy it!

[@hazycloudb1161]

This is amazing. Even though the conditions may be roughly similar, I would be interested in seeing this same kind of doc on Leopard Geckos.

[@sneekyalexa2657]

Agree so much! On KZbin at least, it seems there's very little actual footage. I've heard various things where they may actually have more humidity in their environment than what we expect!

[@abbeymanalli5485]

I think it's difficult to travel to where Leopard Gecko are naturally found. Although, I would love to see Leos in the wild. I think if anyone can do it, it would be Dav!

[@InjectorGadget]

Love this channel, thank you for showing is all of this; helps us to learn how to better keep our pets with true facts, instead of "what we think". Thank you!

[@TheBachBabe]

This was great!!! Your Africa series has been spectacular.

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Thank you! Really glad you’re enjoying!

[@TerraMagnus]

This is amazing. I wish we had content like this in the 1990's. My first fat tailed gecko lived over 20 years. But the "care" we were advised to give back then made it sound like these guys preferred arid environments with nothing more than a sweat box to provide humidity for shedding... which of course they spent all their time in since they wanted that humidity.

[@alyssafigliano3994]

I knew that fat-tails liked it more humid than leopard geckos but I hadn't realized how much! And I didn't know that they needed such hot, humid hide boxes so that's good to know too!

[@kimspurre1242]

The little baby has a fluorescent stripe on it’s tail..too cool 😎

[@sashascarah6533]

I have two of these guys, both have the stripe and regrown tails. This was a really insightful video and I'll definitely be using some of this information to improve my care of my two babies.

[@cs4870]

I have loved every one of the videos from Africa. You’re doing some fantastic work Dav!

[@bluefrogcreations6132]

Thank you so much for creating this video. I've been beside myself with anticipation ever since you said it was in the hopper. If I may ask some follow-up questions? I realize that you may not have the answers given the time constraints and filming conditions, but maybe you saw or heard things from the locals who were helping out with this ambitious and much appreciated project. (1) Were the termite mounds where you found the geckos still actively occupied by termites, or just whatever random bugs and lizards moved in afterward? (2) What insects, arachnids, and other potential food sources did you see that the geckos might have been feeding on? They're so notoriously picky in captivity that I feel like we're missing something in their natural diet. (3) Did you see AFTs leaving their burrows of their own volition while the sun was up? Any evidence they were able to cryptic bask during the day (my captives do so regularly, but those mounds don't look terribly conducive to the practice). The one study about their habits that I found indicated that, at least in the study area in northern Ghana, they were coming out only after dark, and settling back in before the sun came up. (4) Any thoughts on seasonal variations in temperature, ground cover, diet, and habits? I was gobsmacked by what you revealed about the brumation habits of Savannah monitors. (5) Do you think collecting for the pet trade is helping to keep them from being killed or extirpated for other purposes? (6) Any other offhand gleanings that didn't make it into the video that I haven't thought to ask about?

[@aquadraco20]

These are all great questions!

[@bluefrogcreations6132]

@@aquadraco20 You have no idea how excited I am to have someone to ask these questions of, assuming our esteemed host has time and energy to do so.

[@nicholaspietrzak9992]

That baby is beautiful. Really cool you got to go and see them in the wild habitat.

[@M0053yfate]

It's always such a bummer stumbling on random dumping sites like you did. Thanks for including that kinda footage (and your appropriate reaction lol) to help people realize what a problem it is. I find these all over the United States and there's nothing more disheartening than being surrounded by lush greenery in Alaska only to find some smoldering pile of trash. It unfortunately isn't unique to any one state, or country, in my experience. It's a uniquely human problem. There's gotta be a better solution than landfills, whether official or not.

[@Dennis-DJMReptikes]

Great video Dav! Temps are interesting and I can’t wait for the ball python video. Looks like we might all be bumping up that ambient temp soon.

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Thanks Dennis!

[@surfpanther]

Madagascar is my dream vaca lol. those parsons in the wild.....❤❤❤

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Planning that trip now!

[@surfpanther]

@@davkaufmansreptileadventures dude! Thats so awesome! Im getting set up to breed parsons YGs right now! And O'Shaughnessy chameleons. Seeing them in their natural setting would be like a dream come true LOL please get tons of footage of Parsons chameleons if you can LOL and O'Shaughnessy. Maybe some ground temperature readings LOL enjoy your channel and I hope you have a great time on that trip that's totally awesome!

[@dreyhawk]

That was so cool seeing them in their natural habitat. I love these kind of videos. I learn so much. I noticed the one with the white stripe looked like it had a slightly deformed knobby tip to it's tail.

[@EmilyGrace20]

He’d almost certainly dropped his tail at some point. The knobby bit is the regrowth. :) As Dav mentioned, they grow back kind of bulbous, smooth and odd-looking, and you’d likely find more regrown tails than original ones in the wild.

[@nicolasannawn5715]

I have been saying this for years. I have high success in breeding because back in the days, friends who have been there and local guys told me they were always in termit mounds. I never had she shalky look they can have, nor the thin tails, and a high birth rate keeping they slightly humid with very humid areas. I went from the average 50% birth rate people had to 90%+. Also their skin always look healthy and they were way more active. I even managed to have them hatch babies in the terrariums, not in incubators any longer. Also what you say about the pattern is a theory friends had (gecko specialists, I mean, in a scientific way). Because in some area, most of them had the white stripe, it's a co dominant trait, but it looked like is area they went in, tbe ones with the white stripes had more chance of survival. But one of them died unfortunately before he could really dig into it more thoroughly. Thanks for these amazing videos!

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

I think the humidity is something a lot of keepers overlook.

[@nicolasannawn5715]

@@davkaufmansreptileadventures When I talk to a friend who has grown up in Gabon and nigeria (now living in France in my city), he very often says that people don't realize how humid the air is. He kept animals there, and used to breed a lot of them, also he was one of the people who opened a shelter for animals poached, hurt, which needed time to recover and heal. When he came back to france, after spending most of is life there, his first impression was how arid people keep animals from west and central africa, as if everything is a desert here. I told him to watch your videos, he likes them because your videos are showing what he is trying to explain. I will be direct, I think your work is way more than traveling and showing stuff, you really are providing data which people very often don't value enough. Your videos allows us to gather precious data that we won't find even in scientific publications. I we were to pay to see them I would. But back to the topic, it's true that many keepers use mostly old data sheet outdated and poorly done as a base. Keeping herps and other animals should never be "set in stone" rules, but always a quest to try to get more data to be as accurate as possible (of course, with the means we have), to try and improve our keeping. Thanks for the dedicated time and also to allow us to see our dear animals in the wild.

[@johnso2399]

@@davkaufmansreptileadventures It is almost rainforest temperature and humidity, less the vegetation. I am thinking if i can keep them with White's green tree frogs together.

[@iamtrucknup]

first video ive seen of yours you definitely deserve more viewership!!! might not mean much from a random person but absolutely phenomenal work sir.

[@martingreen1099]

When you mentioned in the frist video that you didn't think you had enough footahe for this video, I was worried we wouldn't see this one but man, like always, you hit it out of the park with this! Love this Africa series!!

[@leafystreet]

those babies will have quite the story to tell. awesome vid as always

[@cannedcobras2893]

SO glad you managed to film this! fat tails are my absolute favorite and im always looking for ways to improve my little guy's enclosure

[@thechickenwizard8172]

I've never kept an AFT and i'm not a certified biologist (yet) but here's my hypothesis on why some geckos have stripes and others do not: It's just a genetic mutation that doesn't really increase or reduce the individual's biological fitness. Think about it, if the stripe were really that useful for camouflage, then 'normal' and striped individual's wouldn't exist in the same region, as one color would likley surpass the other. The stripe could just be a random mutation that pops up in wild individuals the same as normal individuals. You see this all the time in other reptiles: California kingsnakes, crested geckos, western banded geckos, and many other species display multiple prominent color variations that are neither locale based or impact survival rates, but are simply part of the natural colorations found within the species throughout their range. I believe the aft's are equally camouflaged with or without the stripe, hence why no one pattern is present in a single area.

[@Midwest_Lizard_Mom]

OMG! I met you at a convention in MN and asked if you'd be doing an African Fat Tailed vid. So excited to see this! I have one that's been friendly, thriving and still has her original tail. Sometimes she'll spend a decent amount of time in her humid hide, it makes sense since the humidity in the wild is so high! And the stripe being a stick! Totally didn't think of that. I can see that being a good defense/ deterrent.

[@surferdude-ll2qu]

Great info! This is what the Hobbie needs more awareness on natural habitat, terrain, temp, humidity and diet. We got people out here over feeding their reptile the wrong diet.

[@staceyroberts3468]

The baby is beautifully colored! Cool video Dav, this African trips been fun!

[@OffTheRipMXB]

So excited for the ball python movie!!

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Finishing it up now. It’s coming soon!

[@helianthe3457]

This was awesome! It was really cool to see them in their actual habitat! Do you think you can do the same with leopard geckos?

[@LifeWithAllOfUs]

I’m really loving all these African videos

[@falcolf]

This is so fascinating, seeing where these friends actually live ❤

[@johncorpuz3861]

Yes!! Thank you! I was hoping for a “gecko - Are we caring for them correctly” video

[@LetsTalkHerps]

I’m admittedly not a gecko guy. But these videos are so great and I did fully enjoy this.

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Glad to hear that

[@davidarden6942]

Love this video! Very informative. What size enclosure would you recommend?

[@donna7243]

This series is awesome! I super hope this pays off for you.

[@janezkanoni473]

Awsome man! That is what we need, habitat parameters from the wild. Awsome!

[@OverlordZhou]

Hey Dav! Any chance you could get out to the Solomon Islands? The monkey tailed skink has been getting real popular among reptile keepers lately and there seems to be very little documentation of their behaviors in the wild. There's a large amount of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates in the pet trade that come from those islands that you could talk about as well. Just an idea, love your videos and your unique style of contributing to the reptile community!

[@pawang_game_id]

quality content, I love AFT because they are very docile gecko, even in the nature.

[@xkoala303x]

Thank you so much for doing this! I know it’s not exactly the same as a leopard gecko but they are pretty similar and I always worry that my gecko isn’t getting the correct environment so this helps soothe my fears a little

[@erikm8372]

Thanks for this Dav… would be cool to see one about sand boas or rosy boas too! But yep, as far as the temps and substrate, this is all exactly dead-on what I hoped for! I had a breeding pair of these geckos for ten years… the only substrate I ever used for them was from the nursery, in the pond section, and it was literal clay. Bought it dry, in bags, labeled as “aquatic plant substrate”. I just didn’t saturate it, clearly. Ironically, for my aquarium plants, I used a decent potting soil blend. The clay is ideal for desert herps though, when it dries. It retains good moisture but dries to a good consistency. It ended up being ideal for certain plants; African succulents like Haworthia, aloe, crassula, as well as Peperomia, Pilea, tradescantia, etc. And here we can clearly see these are not exactly desert-dwelling geckos. There’s tons of grass growing, which the roots help maintain soil structure and burrow form. You can see also tons of little herbs and plantlets sprouting all around, likely the seed growth of larger shrubs and plants in the area… in the ball python video that one had a very “minty” entrance to their burrow! Probably aids in repelling some pests I’d think… So, I say all this because for a while, I was seeing a ton of people keeping these geckos in setups you’d expect to see beardies or uromastyx in. They’re definitely sub-tropical inhabitants. 💁🏼‍♂️😂

[@Triiplesiix]

I’ve had my Leo for 22 years. I’ve never had a humid hide, hes never EVER had an issue shedding. And it’s probably because I always have it at about 70-80 humidity. It’s crazy because “experts” tell u it’s supposed to be 20-30

[@melsexotics]

Absolutely incredible video. Thank you for giving us this look into wild fat tail habitat. I intend to get back into fat tails one day, so this information will help me improve my setups. Many thanks!

[@WildGrowthChannel]

Very informative.......I learned a lot - EXCELLENT video.

[@staceyroberts3468]

Really interesting on the different color variations. I’m sure you’re correct on your reasoning. Africa has been great! Sure have enjoyed all the videos!

[@zp4007]

I love this video series so much! what an adventure!! 🤩

[@nosir5596]

Here for habitat inspiration since I'm doing a setup for one of these fellas, always love to see actual footage of them in the wild to get an idea of how to build an enclosure. Sad to see the litter but also sad to see Dav's "that's Africa" comments; rest assured there's plenty of garbage dumps just like those in the US too, especially in rural areas. Lot of trash pits and litter all over rural Texas, it's very much something you see in the first world too, unfortunately. Still, great video, looking forward to many years of keeping one'a these little critters.

[@KM-uh5ro]

They’re so chill! :0

[@mhkooijman2342]

Thank you for this very interesting and helpful video Rare information about the wild habitat 👍

[@reptilesrodents]

Great job Dave I love the Africa series your doing..

[@chrispagano3841]

please let the gecko know its tail is too shinny, he needs a humid hide because he's missing toes and he must have impaction from being in all that loose dirt!😆

[@sherrybrzeczka7966]

Awww, poor ugly tail club! That baby was AMAZING in coloration! And so sweet, just blinking in the lights.

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Right?

[@PhonkedMaster]

I WAS WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO

[@briannelson3830]

Best series your doing great work man

[@とぅふ-i7l]

野生のニシアフかな？意外とワイルド個体なのに逃げ回らないの可愛すぎるっ！！！

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

彼らはかわいいです

[@kylecedrickgraciano9743]

I hope there's also a video about like this about leopard geckos too so we would really understand the debacle about it's husbandry especially it's substrate

[@droggbeats713]

That baby aft gecko is adorable

[@wildside306]

Amazing footage. There's not enough documentation of wild fat-tails!

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Thanks!

[@Tom-repgeck]

Awesome, informative video! Have you or are you considering doing one for Leopard Geckos?? There is basically nothing on them in the wild.

[@Nibi.HerpetologaRetro]

It will be awesome a video about leopard geckos in the wild!

[@fastbreak0822]

Dāv ....... Your content from this rough African adventure has been a pleasure to behold.... Thank you. brother ... Go Vikes..... You should put some replacements and Hüsker Du tunes in some of your clips.... I’m sure The guys would let you slide..... One x

[@liltopp95]

Love the insight

[@tristanpaulik8419]

Such a cool video !

[@aquadraco20]

I would have really liked to see a uv reading with a solar meter. Being active at dawn and dusk, they do naturally get some uvb exposure.

[@justtommy1346]

Love seeing all the different animals in the wild. Great work Dav. Can't wait to see the Ball python video.

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

It's coming soon!

[@phresh4208]

This video is so cool and intresting!

[@aaronsmith2054]

These are leopard geckos, so cute!

[@loriw2661]

Love your videos so much!! Can’t wait does the Ball Python movie!!!

[@Varanidking]

Very well done!

[@droggbeats713]

Those are super cute animals lol I think this video is dope

[@gavinmccune93]

This is a very much needed video. Very helpful. I did find it odd that pet stores out here had sand for their AFTs when, in a book, the single picture I saw that was presented as AFT habitat, had dirt and not sand. This clears things up. I'm looking forward to getting my own African Fatties.

[@daniellatimore213]

Once again enjoyed watching your work from. Your trip, being a gecko's guy myself From Australia keep n breeding species from strophurus spp I'd love to see a video of what you guys are doing with any Aussie gecko's in the state's

[@paleoscales]

It's kind of funny yet interesting how sometimes wild reptiles are more mellow than some pet ones, like this wild one just tolerated you somehow despite it very likely not being used to humans and you being hundreds of times bigger.

[@itsLizJaramillo]

The fact that there's geckos with the stripe and the banded ones in the same areas makes me think they're both successful camouflage patterns. I agree the stripe looks like a stick but the bands also blend with the soil. They look like uneven soil with shadows or moist spots

[@VinoWater]

So nice video : )

[@NerinaRSA]

Dav you forget that the equator crosses the continent. We have winter at the moment

[@CallMeZebo]

I agree

[@jewellione6131]

This videos is excellent. I'd love for you to find eublepharis macularius, fuscus and different sub species too!!

[@elliotperez5071]

It takes a dangerous explorer to find the truth and for that I thank you Dāv Rattle On🤘

[@staceyroberts3468]

He’s def always been a brave man !!!

[@excitingstuff8209]

Super cool

[@StephanieDols]

This was so helpful, thanks Dav! 🫶🏻👌🏻

[@PitsFam]

I think you’re right about the stripe! Curious if you saw any Giant African Bullfrogs while out on your adventure?

[@rossklk14]

So I was thinking about the locality white stripes and tbh if I lowered the resolution or unfocused my eyes the gecko with the white line bares a striking resemblance to a caterpillar could it possibly be aposematic mimicry? I wonder if there is a similar looking poisonous caterpillar or beetle larvae in the area. Just a thought haha amazing video though!

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

That could very well be! Good observation!

[@stefanostokatlidis4861]

From the habitat we can see, they are definitely much more terrestrial than leopard geckos. That explains why they have shorter legs and toes, and also less accurate climbing ability. They are slow moving even in the wild, this was surprising. I expected them to be slow, but I would expect that they would dash for a small distance first. Probably this is why some superstitious people believed that they are poisonous, just like with the leopard geckos. When you see a seemingly defenceless animal being slow, you think it has something else to defend itself with. Ancient people could moreover not figure out what the tail is for. Blotches are good for camouflaging slow animals and stripes are good for camouflaging faster animals. Probably they are somewhere in the middle and both traits help them. They are quite cute though. I always overlooked them compared to leopard geckos, but they are also soft, plump, slow, and with very beautiful patterning.

[@danielleb.7055]

I love these videos. I hope to see a ball python video! The ones I unfortunately see are when people literally round them up and it's quite sad bc we have too many ball pythons in the hobby to do this. I know people say with all types of animals but they breed them to keep the animals from having to be taken from their wild habitats. If ball pythons are being removed can you imagine the most rare reptiles or any animal for that matter. But like I said I love these videos it's great to provide this info to keepers because it could be different than what we think in the hobby or what works in the hobby but everyone has their own way and what works best for them and their animal. Have a great day

[@pereztube2]

Please do a vid like this for the Leopard Gecko.

[@-cMc-]

Fat tailed geckos in the wild are so cute 😍

[@twoturtletom]

I’m still holding out hope for some West African Chelonians. Great video Dav!

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Sorry. We didn’t see one. Not one. They’ve all been eaten long ago.

[@dlowe8725]

What type of material would be good for the terrarium floor for a fat tail gecko? I’ve ready calcium sand, but other things I have seen say that’s not as good. What would you recommend?

[@LanceKirkman]

That is EPIC Thank you Dav! #RattleOn

[@davkaufmansreptileadventures]

Thanks Lance!

[@ritzysky6413]

the way the white line moves when the fat tail gecko walks almost entertains the thought that they're imitating something that slithers, since they don't stand still when near a possible threat (well- it's walking while eyeing the cameraman), but .. well, that doesn't make sense to me either. A fat tail gecko wouldn't know if it was born with a white line to utilize as imitation or not! I think it probably is a stick-look in their camo. It helps for them to have a bright mark and have the rest blend in because the predator is gonna focus on that bright mark and be confused on what shape the prey actually is. ... maybe. it's sort of like if you focus your eyes on a bright dot, your vision blocks out everything around it.? over all, this looks like natural selection could be in the works here testing out what kind of camo works best for this species and neither has been decided as the better option yet (just becoming geographical like u said?) ?? It's interesting!

[@SuperGiantGeckosLLC]

Dav needs to do a tour of his rooms.

[@HippyDippyBus]

Incredible how slow moving they are even when you're touching them haha!

[@jlagersss]

I wonder how could it be so gentle than my captive bred leopard gecko 😂