Hunger Strike

[Cammyron]

Hi guys,

My leopard gecko Kitty stopped eating a week ago. She is 4 months old now and has been fed mealworms with tweezers, as many as she wants, almost every night (she eats between 5 and 15). She is still fairly active between episodes of sleep. Luckily she has a bit of bulk to her tail now, so i have a bit of time to find a solution before malnutrition problems start kicking in.

Her cage is slightly on the warm side, the cool hide is 86F, warm hide is between 91-97F, and i'm working on getting this gradient better. However, the setup has been the same since i first got her 3 months ago from a breeder, so i guess that may rule out heating problems. She last ate the Friday before Halloween, would it be silly to think that it may have something to do with the clocks changing (sun rising later?). I use paper towel as a substrate.

My plans are to try switching to crickets first of all, if that doesn't work, I'll have to take her to the vet. She is an enigma het raptor, I've heard these can have some problems, but she's been a bundle of joy so far, and i'm hoping she will regain her appetite soon.

I've tried to upload a picture of her today. She lives alone and there's no possibility she could be knocked up. She's my first reptile and so any help you guys could offer would be invaluable to me. Thank you for your time x

 

[baseball2k26]

Its possible she is slowing down for brumation. Sometimes geckos don't eat much as it gets colder.

 

[MiamiLeos]

give her another week, i agree she may be slowing down for winter. if you want you can put a few crickets or some wax worms in for her to see if you can peak her interest. it looks like u take good care of her tho. shes nice n fat. however if she doesnt eat in another week or so and you see a noticeable change in her weight, it may be time for a vet visit. good luck with her. she is a pretty girl.

 

[Cammyron]

That sounds like some sound advice, done a bit of reading and it sounds like it's quite common for geckos to reduce food consumption in late fall.

Can I ask if anyone else notices this change in any of their gecko's each year? If so, how big is the reduction? I just want to know what's going on... If i tried to starve myself until February I'm sure I wouldn't live to tell the tale!

Thank you guys and gals x

 

[77gecko]

One of my females has decided to eat less too, this is my first year with her, so I don't know if it is due to the weather/season change. My temps are fine and her tank mate is eating well (I hand/tweezer feed all my gekcos, so I know there is no bullying)

She'd eat 2-3 superworms every other day, now she'll eat one every 3 days. As long as she's not losing weight, I'm not going to worry.

 

[ReptarNDukeNukem]

My female who usually is a piggy who eats 6 superworms(usually 1. inch to 1.5 inch) but since it is getting colder she has only been eating 3 super worms every other day.

 

[houseape57]

My LG have almost completly stopped, makes me very nervous. It's normal this time of year and I am in the adiorndacks where it is now very cold. Even though I still give them 12 hours of light per day they still know. Could very well just be the season change. Keep your eye on her.