Leopard gecko not eating!

[Jennybo02346]

My son has a leopard gecko (Yoda) that is not quite a year old yet. We have had him since September and he has done great at eating and has been pooping normally also. About 4 days ago he stopped eating like he usually does right before shedding, I didn't think anything of it. He usually sheds that night. And is back to normal the next day and he is ready for some crickets the next night. But this time has been very different and has my son and I worrying! He stayed in his moist humid hide for 2 days and must have come out the 3rd day, because there are pieces of skin in his hot dry hide also, but he went back in his humid moist hide for the 3rd night. He finally came out on the 4th day to go back in his hot dry hide. But he has not eaten a single meal worm, which he eats daily and hasn't wanted to eat crickets either. How long do I wait before panicking? (Even though I am so worried already!) And help what do I do????

Worried Mom!

 

[indyana]

It's okay! At least for now.

There are several things that could be going on, but I am not inclined to think it's anything serious from what you've described. First, the change in daylight/temp often causes leopard geckos to slow down their eating during the winter and behave differently. For example, my adult has been in his humid hide for almost a month and not eaten in two weeks.

Another thing that you will start to see is a natural slow down on eating as your gecko grows up. They get out of the mad "eat everything in sight!" growing phase and begin to eat less. By three years old or so, they will slow down even more (or maybe need a diet).

You should certainly continue observing him and make sure he is not losing a lot of weight, especially where he's still a juvenile. A lot of people use kitchen gram scales to weight their geckos when they are keeping track of weight. If he doesn't pick up on eating again in a couple weeks or is acting very sick, please let us know and we'll try to start troubleshooting what could be wrong. Just to cover all the bases, you can review this caresheet to make sure there's nothing missing in his environment that could cause a health decline over time (especially as far as temperatures and diet/supplements):
http://www.onlinegeckos.com/leopard-gecko-careguide-caresheet.html

Also, you'll connect better with leopard gecko owners if you use the leopard gecko forum. This "General Site Issues" forum is more for questions about using the message board.
Leopard Gecko Forum

I hope this is helpful, and if you have any questions, let me know.

 

[Kristi23]

Moved this to the correct section.