Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have had an adult leopard gecko for about 9 months now, retired from my younger son's class room. It has been healthy and problem-free, but about a month ago it started to eat two crickets every other day rather than its usual 2-3 crickets per day. More troubling, it has shown no interest in food at all for eight days now.

Otherwise, it shows no obvious signs of illness....no skin lesions, discharges, or off-color droppings, and its tail is still fat. (Although if this noneating keeps up, I'm sure that it will thin).

I'm at a bit of a loss here....could this simply be seasonal anorexia? If so, how long does it last? Although I'm willing to admit that possibility, we are also in the tailend of winter here in the Pacific Northwest, and it seems surprising that this would crop up as the weather is actually taking a warm turn.
We use both a low-watt below tank heater and a lamp for heating. Although I'm sure that our drafty old house has challenged even this setup, he seemed to do fine during the coldest part of winter in Dec and Jan.

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Hey there!
I am by no means an expert, however have had my leos for many years now and have been able to observe all of their quirks and strange behavior throughout many seasons. Every once in a while, my girls go on a little "fast" and refuse to eat for weeks, even months (the longest was 3 months) at a time. They never really lose weight during this period of not eating, and seem to be fine otherwise. Also, I live in Los Angeles, where our winters can hardly be called such, so they really don't know what cold is. I would recommend not worrying too much, unless your leo has been exposed to other reptiles, and just keep an eye on his weight with a digital scale that weighs in grams. I keep a notebook of my girls' weight and record it every week and find it very helpful. Also, you can safely supplement him during his fast with human Ensure (vanilla flavored only). I buy the kind with extra calcium (for women) and feed 5-7 drops per week just to keep them nourished when they are not eating. If he starts to act strange, or starts losing weight rapidly, I would make sure to have a good herp vet picked out.
Good Luck!
Nicole
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0.1 Hogg Island Boa
0.3 Leopard Geckos (my very first reptiles-I've had them a LOOOOOOOOONG time!)
2.0 Wonderful Dogs