Leopard gecko stopped eating crickets!

[RUBYsoho]

Hi, everyone. I'm new here, so please bear with me. My leopard gecko is a 2yr old female. I've had her all her life & have never had any problems so far. Recently, she just stopped eating crickets. I generally switch up her diet; crickets, mealworms & waxworms as treats once or twice a month. I usually feed her about 4x a week - about 5-6 small crickets twice a week, while the other two days consist of about 18-20 mealworms. She usually eats most, if not all, of the crickets overnight and the mealworms in one sitting. She gobbles them up fairly quickly and returns to her hide or a warm spot in her tank. For the past two weeks, she hasn't eaten one cricket. I even tried leaving them in her tank for 3-4 days, but to no avail. She still eats the mealworms and, of course, the waxworms. She simply ignores the crickets. I'm not sure why. I also found it strange that she said twice within this two-week span, but I'm not sure if this has anything to do with her aversion to crickets. In a nutshell, she hasn't really been acting like herself. Even though she still has somewhat of an appetite, I'm concerned. Should I just lay off the cricket feeding for a while? Can leopard geckos get "sick" of certain foods from time to time? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

 

[Best Friend]

Sometimes, most times male adults go on hunger strike's. It's not uncommon. Since yours is a female, you have two options, take them to a vet or do this, pre-kill several insects by pinching their head hold the bug in one hand, pick up your gecko in other hand. The nose up - tap the eye and/or jaw line with your thumb so the gecko opens it's mouth, drop the Small, crickets in the geckos mouth. If the gecko spits it out, do steps #2 and #3 again. Keep doing this till the gecko will eat on it's own. Warning; this should be done small crickets, if the crickets are alive or to big your gecko could choke! Crickets size should be, 1 inch. I hoped this helped. Thanks to Ron Temper for the advice for all. I strongly recommend getting his app! It's called leopard gecko care!

 

[lisa127]

Personally, if it were me I wouldn't worry as long as she is eating. If your gutloading your mealworms and dusting them, there is no harm in her eating just those for now until she decided she likes crickets again.

Do you weigh her? Is she maintaining her weight?

 

[Best Friend]

Personally, if it were me I wouldn't worry as long as she is eating. If your gutloading your mealworms and dusting them, there is no harm in her eating just those for now until she decided she likes crickets again.

Do you weigh her? Is she maintaining her weight?

Yes. You should give your gecko a various choices. :yes:

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I feed my adults twice a week. They often start going off food at this time of year as the days get shorter and they sense winter is coming. I would pick up a gram scale and weight her once every week to see if she is losing weight. I find this is a better indicator of health than appetite. If she is not overweight and she loses more than 10% of her body weight I would start to worry. If she loses more than 20% I would get her to a vet ASAP. If she is overweight it might be a good idea to cut back feeding her to once a week or so until she gets to be a bit healthier. If you post a picture folks may be able to gauge her slimness better

 

[lisa127]

I agree variety is best. But if she is still eating, and is maintaining her weight as well I would not be worrying at this point.