Hunger Strikes common?

[Hellomy]

I have a Leo who laid some eggs about a month back and went on a short hunger strike back then(5 days). I know they will go on hunger strikes just prior to shedding but are hunger strikes leading up to nothing just as common? She hasn't eaten in 3-4 days, been pooping fine up till today where she only had white poop and no brown poop. No signs of weight loss or broken bones. She is a little lethargic in her cage and wants to climb the glass a lot. When I take her out though and put her on the bed, she's as active as ever. Am I just being a bit paranoid here?

About your leo:
- Sex: Female
- Age & Weight: exactly 1 year, weight unknown(looks healthy)
- How long have you owned your leo: 3 months
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend): Pet store

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: once or twice a day
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now.
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe: She's usually really active and jumps at my fingers sometimes, since 3 days ago she's a bit lethargic and climbing the glass
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal): Nope, just today theres only the white poop, other days norma
- When was the last time he/she went: Last night
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on: Hunger strike for 4 days, a bit lethargic, climbing the glass

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: 10 gallon
- Type (ex. glass tank): Glass
- Type of substrate: Reptile Carpet
- Hides, how many, what kind: 2, one moist in middle, one dry in cool side
B) Heating
- Heat source: UTH, Lamp
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side) 90 hot, 80 cool
- Method of regulating heat source: Thermostat
- What are you using to measure your temps: digital thermo
- Do you have any lights (describe): Red night lamp on always
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females) None
- Describe health, or previous problems None

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much) Crickets, 4 a day
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect) Tongs
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) Calci/D3 (ReptiCalcium)
- What are you gut loading food with (Oatmeal, carrots, apples)

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Four days is not a long time for a healthy adult leo to go without eating. They can go for several weeks without losing much, if any, weight and hunger strikes can be fairly common for a variety of reasons. She has probably stopped pooping "brown" as she has nothing in her system to get out. I would invest in a cheap gram scale and keep track of her weight. If she loses more than a few grams I would start to keep a serious eye on her, more than 10% of her body weight and I would start to really worry.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I can see a few things.

1) You shouldn't leave a red light on 24/7. It used to be thought that geckos couldn't see this light, but we now know that their color vision is much better than ours, so they see these lights so much better than we do. By leaving a red light on 24/7, you're disrupting her day/night cycle as well as bathing her in a totally unnatural color of light. I guarantee you will notice an increase in activity if you switch to either a light during the day and a ceramic heat emitter at night or a ceramic heat emitter 24/7 (as it doesn't give off any light).
2) Your supplement doesn't contain any vitamin A, so your gecko is probably suffering from a deficiency, which can lead to lethargy and a lack of appetite (as well as shedding issues, eye problems, ulcers, etc.). I would suggest getting Repashy Calcium Plus and using that according to the label. This should also increase your gecko's activity.
3) If you have one in your area, Pet Co is having a $1/gallon sale, so now would be a great time to pick up a 20 LONG ($20 plus a few bucks for a lid). Your gecko will be very grateful, as it's almost twice the space of a 10 gallon and will allow for a better temp gradient (10 degrees isn't all that great). If you do this, I'd suggest adding a third dry hide in the middle just to allow a place in the middle of the temp gradient.

~Maggot

 

[SC Geckos]

I would put one of the hides on the warm side of the tank and minimize the amount of handling. 1-2 times a day is a bit excessive IMO. These animals are not really the handle every day type. This could be causing some stress.

A multi vitamin in addition to the calcium is essential for the over all health of the gecko.
As for the lighting, I would check and see if you can maintain a surface temp on the warm side around 90 without the light. If you can then I would stop using the light. 80 on the cool side is a bit warm but as long as it does not go above that I don't think it is much of an issue.
As Lisa said, for days without eating (assuming the gecko is already at a healthy weight) is not a big deal but I would also recommend getting a scale to keep records of weights.

 

[Hellomy]

Alright I'll be buying a ceramic heater really soon and also getting some multivitamins for her. Any idea why she keeps climbing the glass and everything?

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Alright I'll be buying a ceramic heater really soon and also getting some multivitamins for her. Any idea why she keeps climbing the glass and everything?

I don't know of a multivitamin on the market that contains non-beta carotene vitamin A. Your best bet would be Repashy, which is an all-in-one (unless someone else knows of a multivitamin that would work). That would cover all your bases so you wouldn't need to use what you're currently using.

The climbing the glass usually means there is something wrong with the environment (with a few exceptions like being in a new environment), which is why I suggested getting a larger enclosure in case she's too warm and is trying to find somewhere to cool down. Also definitely need a dry hide on the warm side, which might also be why she's climbing - looking for somewhere warm but safe, which she doesn't currently have.

~Maggot

 

[Hellomy]

Weird. She's loved her environment and has been comfortable ever since I got her. Could it just be that since I've been handling her too much that it's stressing her out and she's getting uncomfortable with her environment.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Excessive handling is stressful, but I'm not sure if that would result in climbing the glass or not. What side does she do it on?

~Maggot

 

[Hellomy]

All sides. She'll try to climb the thermometer(suction cupped to the hot side wall) then it'll just uncup and fall down. She'll move to the cool side and try to climb the corner. Then on top of the cool side hide and water bowl. Then to the middle glass areas on both sides.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I'd leave her alone for a few days (except to add a hot side hide) and see if that helps, but that does sound like something is bothering her. Unless maybe she's ovulating, though I don't know if females will try to escape like males do during breeding season. Maybe someone else who's more familiar with that could weigh in.

~Maggot

 

[Hellomy]

When she was ovulating about a month back, she did the same exact thing and then laid two eggs. Maybe it's just a second batch of eggs.