My gecko has stopped eating

[happyface]

I know this is a really common complaint but this problem has really got me stumped and I was hoping someone could give me some advice. Ive had my leo dex for about 9 montha now, she was fine for the first 6 or so (hunting, eating, shedding consistantly, going to the toilet etc) but about 3 months ago she started to loose interest in her food. At first she just didnt want to catch it so I had to offer it to her with tweezers but from their its deveopled in to her not having any interest in food at all.

When she started to loose weight I took her to the vet who said it had something to do with the way she was bred and so she has started on a gruel diet but still refuses to eat. I tried to feed her different foods and changed the substrate to paper but she still dosent eat. Luckily she hasnt lost to much weight but she still spends a lot of time in cool side of the tank and dosent go to the toilet very often.

Has anybody encounted this before?

Thanks in advance Simon (and dex)

 

[Starwild]

Some geckos, especially females, slow down eating when they hit sexual maturity and start ovulating, and also some geckos of either sex will semi-brumate in winter.

Have you tried offering different foods? Maybe some crickets would jump-start her hunting drive. Also, what are your temperatures?

 

[happyface]

As far as im aware the temperatures are ok but I might by a new heat mat and thermostat just to make sure they are worrking properly. I tried giving her new options but she just dosent have any interest in food at all .

 

[OneFootedAce]

If shes spending a lot of her time on the cool side, she's probably trying to brumate, and slowing herself down. Since it geting close to winter (BOOO!) Leos usually start to eat less, or may even stop completely, and sometimes even brumate (like hibernation). If her weight is holding pretty steady, its probably fine, just keep an eye on her

 

[acpart]

It's a bit late in the season for her to be ovulating, however, I bought a gecko in April that started ovulating soon after and didn't really eat till July. Now that she's finished ovulating, she started eating again and rapidly went from 44 grams to 56. As the poster above mentioned, also, many leopard geckos are cutting way down on eating now that it's getting colder and there's less light. I feed my adults every 3 days and most of them are really eating only every other one of those feedings. If she's still somewhat active and not getting noticeably thinner, she may be fine. Anything else I may have to say about geckos not eating is in this article here:
http://www.geckotime.com/my-gecko-is-not-eating/

Aliza

 

[happyface]

Thanks for the info guys. Hopefully its just a natural cycle like brumating as she hasnt really lost much weight over the past 3 months even with reduced eating. I'll just keep her on the gruel and see how it goes.

 

[arborman]

Wow, I am in this same boat! After reading the article posted, and the replies by the more experienced, I feel better. The one thing I am still not understanding is why our female is not going to the bathroom. It has been at least 4-5 days. She really slowed down on eating about 2 weeks ago, and has almost completely stopped going to the bathroom. I keep getting up in the morning to see that familiar mess in the tank.... hopefully soon