Female leopard gecko not eating/change in behavior (breeding season?)

[harpbeat339]

Hi all! I'm a first time leopard gecko owner (first time reptile owner, actually!) and I have a 10 month old girl from a breeder (have owned her for about 6 months). She's been an absolute dream in terms of feeding up until about a week and a half ago when she entirely lost interest in mealworms. I've offered them to her every day since and have gotten her to eat just one - she otherwise closes her eyes, walks away or acts like she doesn't see them. I'd be freaking out if she was at all lethargic or skinnier, but if anything she's become more active, i.e. now loves to come out of her cage (wasn't very interested at all previously), sleeping outside of her hide more often, and just generally more restless/alert. The only thing that has changed for her is I added two large lizard ladders to her cage because she's a big climber. I heard this could be related to breeding season, but I'd feel much better if I had an idea of what that timeframe is / how long I can expect her to be off of food? Should I expect her to lay an egg and go back to normal? Thanks in advance!

 

[acpart]

Welcome! I may have responded to you on another forum if you posted elsewhere. It's likely that she's ovulating. She may lay an egg but most female geckos without a male just ovulate and reabsorb so they never lay. Just in case, you could put a plastic container (the kind you get in the store for sandwiches) in the enclosure. Cut a hole in the lid, fill it with paper towels, or, better, moist coco fiber, and it will double as a humid hide and a lay box if that's what she ends up needing to do. The "not eating" period can go anywhere from a few days to weeks or more. One of my female geckos is pretty chunky and up until a month ago she was eating regularly. Now I don't think she's eating at all, but she's just as chunky. She didn't eat most of last summer either. Just keep offering and don't worry about it unless the gecko starts losing a lot of weight and seems lethargic when it should be awake.

Aliza