Brumation questions

[cwheeler]

Good morning all, and a belated happy holidays.

I've got a few questions regarding brumation that hopefully someone can point me in the right direction of.

I have a female, hatched in middle of 09. She's at 64 grams. I received her via shipping at the end of September. She is in a ten gallon tank, with an UTH. The hot side is approx 91, and the cool side approx 75. (Her setup is the same as the other four leopards I have)

I feed daily, and offer her food as I feed the others. She has taken a couple of crickets, ignored the superworms entirely, and has chomped down on mealworms left in a dish a few times. (This worries me to no end, but after a talk with the prior owner, he assured me she does go 'off feed')

Her weight hasn't dropped. (In fact she gained a gram or so) She moves from hide to hide, but isn't very active. Her color does not appear any worse, nor is her tail looking any worse for wear.

How can you tell if a leopard is indeed going through brumation and that there isn't something more serious entailed?

Thanks everyone.

 

[Aurorae]

Hey cwheeler

Firstly, I'd whack the cool end up to about 79F. As it's now winter *sigh*, it is very normal for our cold blooded friends to ''slow down''. The days are darker for longer and they can pick up on this. Leopard geckos are very sensitive to atmospheric changes, so be aware that it is very normal for this slowing down to happen.

Secondly, if her weight hasn't dropped and she is still eating something then I would not be too concerned at this stage. If she stopped eating entirely then I'd have cause for concern.

Thirdly, if the temps are as measured then she should not be cold enough to brumate (unless you were measuring ambient temps instead of ground temps, then that may be a little different).

Fourthly, if you have any more concerns or if anything at all changes, do let us all know. It's perfectly normal to be paranoid for such cute and special pets I'm guilty of it too

 

[acpart]

I generally don't worry about ambient temperatures at any time during the year. That means that the ambient temps on my cool sides in the winter can be in the 60's. Conversely, during last summer's heat wave, my living room temps were 106! Through all this, the geckos are thriving. I have 1 male who has virtually not eaten in the past 2 months. He is offered crickets and superworms every 3 days and always has fresh water. I weighed him last week: 101 grams. Right now, my adult leopard gecko population ranges from the not-eating at all to eating 4-5 superworms every 3 days and everything in between. Everyone is between 58 and 100+ grams.

Aliza