Leo stopped eating - vet says needs to lay eggs?

[adeegee]

Hi, newcomer here. I registered because I'm worried about my leo.

She's about 20 months old, I got her when she was 6 weeks old. Everything had been great until around 7 weeks ago, when all of a sudden she stopped eating. Other than the very odd cricket, she's became very disinterested in food. I keep mealworms in her tank and she seems to have had a couple of those but not very many. About 3 weeks ago I took her to the vet as I was worried she hadn't eaten properly for a month - the vet said she seems healthy but may need to lay eggs, and recommended I put a variety of different materials in the tank to assist with this. I always had a hide with sphagnum moss but my gecko has never really been interested in using it. I also added a new hide with vermiculite as the vet recommended, which my gecko seems to quite like but still no sign of eggs laid or eating....

The strange thing is, despite barely eating for 7 weeks her tail still seems quite nice and fat, and she seems as active as ever (if not more).

Heating in the tank has stayed the same, around 32 Celcius (90 Fahrenheit) on warm side, and about 10-15 lower on the cool side. The substrate is ceramic tiles, and heating is provided with an heat mat under the tiles. I also have a light bulb but this does not emit heat.

This is my first ever reptile and I'm becoming increasingly worried, so any help would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

 

[katie_]

She may be ovulating, during which some females will go off food. If she isnt losing weight, I wouldnt be worried.

If she has never been with a male, she shouldnt need to lay (although some lay infertile eggs). A lay box/humid hide is always recommended though.

 

[Mickykayla]

Firstly, DON'T WORRY. I have 4 females currently going through the same thing right now.

Some females have no change during mating season, and some (most of mine) go off their food a bit. If she is ovulating she will either; pass out the eggs or re-absorb them (and will probably not need food after doing so)

One of mine does not like the moss, I use cloths and keep them damp. I find it to be much better and my geckos prefer it. You could use a sponge, cloth, small towel, shredded paper towel. Anything that keeps wet.

Some geckos wont lay their eggs unless they find a suitable place, they are looking for warm and moist places they can bury the eggs into. Try moving the moist egg laying hide around a bit to see if she starts to use it. I find some of my geckos much prefer to use it when its on the warm side, especially for egg laying.

I've had my geckos go off food loads of times and each time I get all worried and panic, only to find it was mating season related and they start eating like little pigs again!

Just make sure she is not losing weight rapidly, or becoming really lethargic.

But mainly. Don't panic. If she seems healthy then I'm sure everything will be just fine