Natural seasonal slowdown?

What is your experience with the change of seasons and your gecko’s appetite? Do you notice a difference at all, if so how much?

Currently my tank temperature has dropped from about 93 at night to 86. I have two tanks, one tank housing two females, one tank housing one male. The male still eats regularly, but the females don't. They both ate a couple of mealworms last Friday and have yet to eat anything since. I just put in a couple of crickets and to my surprise, nothing happened. I also keep a constant supply of mealworms in their tank that they seem to have completely lost interest in. Over the past month or so they also seem to have lost a little bit of weight (very little, maybe two/three grams total), mostly from their tails. They are still relatively active.

I'm panicking, should I be? I'm going out of town for a couple of nights (Christmas) and I was planning on leaving them here. Now I'm considering taking them with me and going to a vet (there are no herp vets where I'm living, but there are herp vets where I'm going). Is it really worth the stress to them and me? It will be a three hour drive with the roads being so bad, plus it's -20 to -30 out. I will also have to pack them in with my two large monsters (dogs) and my bird. This is not an easy task when the monsters, if given the chance, would eat both the geckos and the bird. Now don't get me wrong, I have no problems with taking them to a vet at a later date, when the situation is better for them and me. I guess it will all depend on what the general consensus is regarding appetite and the weather.


Thanks for any info,
Lisa

Hi Lisa- Was it after the drop in temperature that you noticed that the females stopped eating and is the males tank at the same temperature as the females or could it be warmer? What type of heating do you have on the vivs and is there a rheostat or any control regulating the heat source?
I just wondered as temperature plays such a large part in every function of these animals lives.
At any rate- I would not risk taking them with you. Under the conditions that you described-especially the extreme cold weather this time of year- I would think that they would be much better off left at home.
God forbid if something were to happen it sounds like you will have your hands full enough just with the two dogs.
Also- I would advise leaving the bird home too- they are just as sensitive to the cold as reptiles and just a draft can make them ill so I really would not even risk the transport from indoors to outside in such weather.
What type of bird is it- would it not be OK for a few days with food and water in a warm room in your house with perhaps leaving the cover on the cage?
I'm sure that there will others replying with more experience than I have regarding the loss of appetite with your females.
I hope that you have a safe trip
Sandy

every year durring the cooler months i notice most of geckos slowing down on feeding.it is natural and it is seasonal. as long as you do not notice any significant loss in weight, you should not worry (the cooler weather slows down the metabolism, causing less food intake yet keeping the same basic weight) and no i would not take your geckos with you... traveling is very stressful on reptiles.. just make sure they arre kept warm and leave a fresh dish of water and feed them the day before you leave. i would suggest a thermostat or even a rheostat to help regulate the temps to keep theem in a saffe area.... i would rather my geckos be a bit chilly than them overheat. ocerheating will kill them, them getting a bit cooler really does not effect them other than slowing them down (relitively cool... im not talking like 30 or 40 or 50)

Hi Sandra and Robin thanks for your replies. Sandra I noticed the eating habbits start to decrease around the bigging of November. It has't really been that cold but cold enough to make a slight difference in their tank. The males tank is actually one or two degrees cooler than the feamales tank, which is kind of why I'm so confused. Their tank is not really the most practical as it is a normal 33 gallon. There is an UTH and an overhead heating lamp to help keep the air a little warmer.

I was actually just going to go pick my bird up but I'll wait on that unless it warms up significantly.

Robin I have to look into a thermostate or a rheostat. I do have a dimmer, but that's only for when I notice the temps to hight. I'd say only 1/4 of both the tanks is covered by an UTH. If they did overheat would this be enough space for to still be ok, especially with the cooler temps in the air? They seem to move when an area becomes too warm for them, especially in the summer months (my tank does always stay under 100 though). I just bought a new larger UTH yesterday, but I'm not going to try it untill I get back, I would like to watch it for a while before having to leave it.

Whew I'm glad I'm not the only one who has noticed this. Thanks again and have a verry merry christmas.

Lisa

i have also noticed that while some of my girls are decresing their food, none of my four males are at all. if anything, the tremper eats more. the girls have sort of been fluctuating through October november, but now are pretty steady at about 3 itmes/week. some of the girls eat just as much as they used to.

I have been noticing this the past 2 weeks here. I live in NY, and the temp has dropped significantly during that time period. The room they are in is staying fairly steady, but has dropped a few degrees since the summer. It's about 1/2 and 1/2 with me, with one half eating and doing great, the other half having little to no interest in food. Most have only dropped 1 or 2 grams so far. Hopefully just the seasonal change...