Leo in brumation?

[addrianna818]

I suspect my leo recently went into brumation, and I want to make sure she'll be doing all right. I can't seem to stop her from going into it (cage temp stayed the same, but there was a large air pressure change which I suspect triggered it) so I want to make sure she does alright for the winter. She has all the signs of brumation - slowing down, sleeping more, eating/pooping less.

So some questions:

1) How often do leos eat and poop while they're in brumation?
I know they eat a lot right before (she was eating 6+ mealworms every two days and got it all out in two ginormous poops last week) but she hasn't eaten more than a couple worms or pooped since. Been drinking a lot of water, though. She hasn't lost weight, and I checked her tummy and interal organs (shone a flashlight through her) and all was well.

2) Should I avoid handling her while she's brumating?
I try not to handle her too often, but should I stop completely? I usually take her out once or twice a week to wander around, and maybe gently move her three or so times a week when shes in the way of me re-moistening her moist hide or something.

3) How much weight is healthy for her to lose?
I know she will lose some weight, but the amounts I've read that are safe ranged from 5%-20% of her weight. She is currently 69 grams, with a nice fat tail.

4) Will she still shed?
She shed a couple days ago, and ate the shed, but will she still shed while in brumation?

Any info would be super helpful, thanks guys!

 

[indyana]

I'd be interested in hearing answers to this too. This is the first year my male leopard gecko has done the winter slow down (last year, he was recovering from malnutrition and just hungry all the time).

My skink brumates every winter, and I basically don't see him except once in a blue moon. No moving, eating, drinking, or pooping for the most part. I try not to bother him at all, and if I do for some reason, he is /very/ quick to show me how displeased that makes him. He thins out a bit when he does this, then eats like a pig all spring and summer and gets fat again.

 

[Nektonic]

All of that sounds normal. I have three leopard geckos. Two males and one female. My 12 year old girl is the only one out of the three that brumates. She goes through pretty much the same pattern of behavior as you mentioned above.

During the Spring, Summer, and Fall, she eats a moderate amount of food every three days. Come the end of October into early November, she eats like a beast. Huge meals every other day until her tail gets about as thick as her body and then she stops eating.

I keep the surface temps constant year round, and there is only a slight change in ambient air temperature during the winter months but it never gets lower than 68-70F. The only thing that I can assume triggers her to brumate, is her biologic clock. It's interesting because brumation, like torpor and hibernation, is an animals response to the limited availability of resources in their environment but thats certainly not the case for animals kept as pets.

As for her behavior, she becomes very lethargic and less responsive when I'm cleaning her terrarium. When I handle her she is extremely docile.

Her feeding behavior also changes quite a bit. She only eats a couple of crickets or mealworms once a week and that's pretty much her eating habits for the next 3 months.

I do find it interesting that my males don't brumate. I wonder if this is because of their sex, or if selective breeding has changed the their natural instinct....

Anyway hope this helped put you at ease. Your gecko is just doing what geckos (should) do.