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It’s always alarming if you have a reptile pet that decides to stop eating. But there are lots of reasons your pet may have a reduced appetite. Some are life-threatening and definitely warrant a trip to the vet, others are minor and can be solved with a change in your pet’s habits. How can you tell if your pet’s lack of appetite is serious or just a simple case of being picky?
In this article, we’ll talk about all the reasons reptiles stop eating so you can tell when it’s time to call the vet, and when it’s time to try something different in your pet’s habitat. Let’s dive in.
Why Won’t My Reptile Eat?
There are three main reasons your bearded dragon, leopard gecko, pixie frog, or other herpene pet might not be eating. First, it might be a health issue. It’s a good idea to rule this out quickly, or else get your pet to the vet.
Second, it might be due to stress. Reptiles can stress pretty easily and the exact cause can be hard to pinpoint, but there are a few key things you can try that will hopefully get them eating again.
And third, it might just be due to boredom or a lack of variety. This is the least worrisome case, but it’s not necessarily the easiest to deal with. Let’s talk about each of these scenarios, so you can start to diagnose your pet’s lack of appetite.
Warning Signs of Low Appetite
We talk about loss of appetite as a symptom for just about every major health problem a reptile can have. If a reptile is sick, injured, or otherwise medically upset, its survival instincts will probably tell it to stop eating. But how do you know if your pet is sick, or just stressed out?
The first thing to look for is other symptoms of disease or injury. The biggest other indicators of a health problem, along with loss of appetite, are lethargy and irregular poops. If your pet is being especially slow or refusing to move, that’s a big red flag. If it stops pooping entirely, or is having diarrhea, that’s a red flag.
If you’re noticing either or both of these issues along with loss of appetite, it’s time for a trip to the vet.
Your pet may be experiencing impaction from ingesting substrate or food sources with too much fiber, like crickets. They may have a parasitic infection, a virus, or a bacterial infection. This will usually require a stool sample to diagnose. Or they may have an infected wound somewhere, especially in the mouth. This is somewhat common with leopard geckos.
In any case, you’ll need to consult your vet to find out.
Brumation
Another reason some species, like bearded dragons, might stop eating is brumation. Brumation is a period where your pet’s metabolism slows down, kind of like hibernation. During brumation, your pet may eat less or not at all. Brumation typically starts as your beardy gets older, so this is something you can rule out if your beardy is still young.
Stress
Now, if your pet is otherwise acting normally and pooping normally, you might not have a health concern on your hands. You may still want to talk to your vet, as they can advise you on what to try. But if your pet has no other symptoms, chances are it is just stressed.
There are a lot of reasons a reptile can stress. Reptiles like familiar, predictable conditions, stable climate and light, and quiet. If any of these things is upset, your pet can stress, causing them to stop eating.
Temperature and Humidity
The first thing you should consider in the case of stress is the climate in your pet’s habitat. Too cold, too humid, too dry, too hot conditions are all reasons to stop eating. It’s wise to have a thermometer/hygrometer in your pet’s habitat that allows you to check on the conditions inside.
Too cold? Add a heating element or adjust their heat lamp. Try changing your pet’s basking rock to give them a better hot spot to warm up. Too hot? Adjust their lamp and move their rock out of direct light. Too humid? Increase the airflow in the habitat. Too dry? Try misting more often.
Lighting
Improper lighting is a big stressor for bearded dragons and other reptiles. Beardies rely on UVB light to maintain their metabolism. Make sure they have enough light, as well as the right kind of light, to keep their systems working properly. You may also try adjusting their warm and cool hides, as well as their basking rock, to give them a mix of places to regulate their temperature.
Different Foods and Habits
If your pet’s habitat is dialed in, with the right climate conditions and lighting, and there haven’t been any sudden disturbances or excessive noise, then it’s probably just a case of pickiness.
This is the least worrisome reason for a pet not to eat, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to deal with. Most likely, your pet just needs to have its routine switched up. Reptiles might not eat one prey type if it’s not satisfying their nutritional needs. So try giving them a different feeder, or gut loading the feeders you give them. Like we always say about feeding, variety is key with any reptile pet.
If you have a bearded dragon, you may find they don’t like to eat their veggies. You might try switching up their feeding schedule so that they only get vegetables until late in the day, to encourage them to eat more greens.
If you have an active hunter, especially a leopard gecko, you might also try switching to a more active prey item. Dubia roaches are much more active than superworms, and banded crickets are more active than brown house crickets. Or if you have an older pet, you might try the opposite- something they don’t have to run to catch. Superworms are a good slow-moving prey item for this use.