Question on male geckos.

[denver2890]

Well I know females go off food for reasons like ovulation and egg laying. Do male geckos ever go through a time were they stop eating? Two of my proven males have went off food the past month.(my 20 gram males still are eating normally.) They always have mealworms available and I offer superworms and waxworms every couple days. First they stopped eating everything I offered them except waxworms. A week or so later they stopped showing interest in them too. They past few weeks one male has went to the bathroom once a week and the other every two weeks.(their fecals were tiny, they had a larger urate.) If they have eaten anything it was just a mealworm or two in a week. They havent lost a ton of weight but dropped a gram or two. Should I be worried? Or is this a normal behaivor? I might go get them checked for parasites but wouldnt the female I paired them with have them too? All my females are gobbling down some food after egg laying season.

Denver

 

[Khrysty]

Well I know females go off food for reasons like ovulation and egg laying. Do male geckos ever go through a time were they stop eating? Two of my proven males have went off food the past month.(my 20 gram males still are eating normally.) They always have mealworms available and I offer superworms and waxworms every couple days. First they stopped eating everything I offered them except waxworms. A week or so later they stopped showing interest in them too. They past few weeks one male has went to the bathroom once a week and the other every two weeks.(their fecals were tiny, they had a larger urate.) If they have eaten anything it was just a mealworm or two in a week. They havent lost a ton of weight but dropped a gram or two. Should I be worried? Or is this a normal behaivor? I might go get them checked for parasites but wouldnt the female I paired them with have them too? All my females are gobbling down some food after egg laying season.

Denver

Can the males smell the females? Sometimes males go off food during breeding season if they can smell females nearby

 

[denver2890]

Well the males are in the tub next to there partner's tub.( Im ocd lol, I have my pairs all next to each other in my racks) They can smell and also see them at all times unless one is in a hide. Does this cause them to go off feed for a month or two? One of my males did this last year but i thought it was because I had just brought him home and he was stressed. I just hate seeing one one fecal and sometimes none when I go to clean cages weekly. THanks for your help.

 

[Khrysty]

That's what happens to my males, anyway. I keep everyone in the same room, real close to each other. To cut down on it you could try washing your hands thoroughly before handling your males, after handling your females. Aside from that, if they're only losing a gram or two it's really nothing to worry about (I say that, but I freak out too when any of mine stop eating, so you're not alone)

You can take a fecal sample to a vet just to rule out parasites for your piece of mind. I think a fecal test is around $20-$30. And you don't need to find a special herp vet to do a fecal exam (unless you want a crypto test..but that's entirely unnecessary in this situation)

 

[denver2890]

I think I will give them another month or so unless they start loosing more weight. Then I will take them in for a fecal, it runs me $40 or so a fecal per gecko so Ill wait to see if they start eating again on their own. Also, does it effect them more when the females are ovulating? None of my breeders are but I have 4 or 5 females in the 35-40 gram range that started ovulating around when they stopped eating.

 

[denver2890]

May I also ask, does this not effect the smaller males around 30 grams? I have one that is 35grams near females and he is still eating.
Thanks

 

[acpart]

I have at least 1 male whose weight can vary by as much as 20 grams between early breeding season and late summer.

Aliza

 

[MichaelJ]

We have a few males that slow down and one that pretty much stops completely for about 2 months each year. The 1st year he nearly gave me a coronary.

It seems some of them go into, "mating mode", for a solid period of time, and really have no interest in food...