Baby leopard geckos aged 0 to 2 months can’t go more than 2 days without food. Juvenile geckos aged 2 to 6 months can’t survive more than 2 to 7 days without food. Sub-adult leopard geckos aged 6 to 12 months can’t stay longer than 7 to 14 days without food. Adult leopard geckos aged over 12 months can stay from 14 days to over a month without food.
Healthy geckos can survive a maximum of 3 months without eating, specifically when brumating. Malnourished, gravid, or sick leopard geckos should be offered food all the time
Look at the table below to find out how long geckos can go without food according to age and how often you should feed them.
| Age of Gecko | Size of the Gecko | How Long they Can Go Without Food | Feeding Information (How Often) |
| Hatchling | 3 to 4 inches | Can’t survive without food | Everyday |
| 1 Month | 4 inches | 1 day maximum | Everyday |
| 2 Months | 5 inches | 2 days maximum | Everyday |
| 6 Months | 5 to 6 inches | 2 to 1 week | Every other day |
| 1 Year | 7 to 10 inches | 14 days to 1 month | Every other day |
| 1 ½ Year | 8 to 11 inches | More than a month | Every other day |
7 Factors Impact How Long Geckos Can Go Without Food
1. Health Conditions
Generally, a healthy leo utilizes its fat reserve, which impacts how long it can go without food. On the contrary, a sick gecko may not have fat reserves or may lack the ability to convert the fat in its tail to energy.
But all this depends on the severity of the health condition. Critically ill geckos face even more challenges.
In a nutshell, the fat reserves your leopard gecko has and its ability to use it are critical in impacting how long it can go without food and water. Off course, leos need water and all the essential nutrients to keep their immune system working and active to fight off diseases.
Additionally, sick geckos lack appetite, so they’ll go long without eating, which is why you need to be extra cautious if your leopard gecko stays for long without eating.
Make sure to consult your exotic pet if you suspect something is amiss, as some diseases are deadly if not treated at the right time.
2. Metabolic Bone Disease
MBD is a disease that leos get due to calcium deficiency as well as a lack of other essential nutrients like vitamins which affect how they absorb calcium.
As a result of low calcium levels, calcium is extracted from the skeleton to meet the required level, in turn causing deformities, breakages, and slow, painful death.
Keep in mind that even a leopard gecko that has been ‘well-fed” can suffer from Metabolic Bone Disease if not offered proper diet and supplements. That said, it’s imperative to constantly feed your leo only healthy feeder insects dusted with calcium and gut loaded.
3. Breeding Season
It is usual for leopard geckos to stop eating during breeding seasons.
Whether male or female, your pet may stay for days or a couple of weeks without food during the start of the breeding season.
So don’t go forcing your little pal to eat. Instead, keep an eye on him to ensure he doesn’t lose too much weight in this crucial process.
Should you notice your gecko has lost a significant amount of weight, make sure to consult your reptile veterinarian, as this could signify something more serious. And you definitely don’t want to leave anything to chance.
4. Gravid Females
How long your leopard gecko stays without food depends on whether it’s female or male. As opposed to male geckos that don’t lay eggs, gravid gecko females may stay for a few days without food just before they start laying eggs.
So, it shouldn’t bother you because it’s an entirely normal process. Your pet should start eating again after she has laid eggs. Your leopard gecko won’t suffer any health complications because of the few days it didn’t eat-remember; geckos can even last for a couple of weeks without food.
5. Tail Size and Tail Loss
The size of your gecko’s tail plays an essential role in determining how long it can go without food. Similarly, if your little buddy has lost his tail, it also affects how long he can go without food-he lacks fat reserves.
Not only does the tail serve as a fat reserve, but it also provides a lot of information regarding your reptile’s overall health.
Let me give you an overview of this.
A healthy gecko tail has a weird shape, and novice keepers may think it is caused by unnecessary weight.
A healthy tail is actually as wide as your pet gecko’s body, but at the beginning, about half an inch long, it is narrower. However, note that if the tail is wider than the gecko’s body, your pet is putting in unnecessary weight.
To fully understand how the tail affects how long your leopard gecko can go without food, think of it as a camel’s hump that contains excess water and fat reserves that it will need in the future.
In simple terms, the large the size of your leo’s tail, the longer your adorable lizard will go without food when he can’t catch prey or when brumating or falling sick. More like how much they can endure long fasting.
That said, losing a tail means your pet reptile loses all its water and fat reserves at once. Therefore, failure to provide your leopard gecko with adequate food and water can greatly affect its health.
At such a critical moment, before the tail grows back, ensure you supplement your pet with all the vital nutrients, including calcium, vitamin C, and fatty foods.
Generally, it takes only about two months for geckos to grow their tail. However, you’ll need to keep a strict feeding schedule for 4 to 6 weeks to get the filled with fat reserves and healthy.
Not only that. During the entire period, be sure to keep a close eye on the tail wound to ensure it doesn’t get infected.
6. Dehydration
While geckos can go for days and weeks without food, it is entirely a different case when it comes to water intake. Water is essential to geckos like it is to us, and your pet’s survival depends on it.
While leos store a surplus of fat and some fluid in their fat tail to support their normal functioning when they are not eating, the water is too little to keep them from hydration.
A gecko gets fluids to hydrate his body from his food, meaning your pet can’t go long without food. If your leopard gecko doesn’t eat, he won’t have a fluid source.
Also, if you take water away from your adorable lizard, then he has no fluid intake. Unless you’re planning to give your gecko a relatively quick and horrible death sentence, never leave your little pal for days without a source of fluid.
If you suspect your leopard gecko is dehydrated, look out for the following symptoms and act accordingly.
Symptoms of Dehydration
- Lethargy
- Dry skin with little elasticity and puckered appearance
- Impaction or infrequent defecation
- Trouble shedding if they’re hydrated during and just before shedding
Your leopard gecko may get severe, moderate, or mild dehydration- and each of them must be addressed accordingly
- Severe dehydration- For severe dehydration, get your gecko to the nearest exotic reptile vet and follow their guidance and how to treat it and ensure it doesn’t happen again.
- Moderate dehydration- Get your leopard gecko to your exotic pet and follow the postulated guidelines. You may be asked to soak your cute reptile in lukewarm water or apply oral administration.
- Mild dehydration- Provide your gecko with fresh and clean water. It is also necessary to soak him in some lukewarm water.
Additionally, to prevent your pet gecko from dehydration, make sure to:
- To keep the humidity levels in the terrarium between 30 and 40%
- Give your pet gecko clean, fresh, clean water daily (don’t forget to wash the water bowl)
- Feed them live insects to ensure they get adequate fluid from the hemolymph. Offering your reptile dried mealworms now and then will not do any harm unless he is already dehydrated.
7. Brumation
Your leopard gecko can stay without food all through the brumation period (up to 3 months) as long as you provide it with the correct brumation phase-temperatures.
The only task you have during the brumation period is to give your pet clean water and watch him closely to ensure he doesn’t lose too much weight.
Primarily, too much weight loss in geckos is associated with parasites or sickness. Therefore, you’ll need to get your adorable reptile to a vet if your suspect the weight loss isn’t normal.
Why is My Leopard Gecko Not Eating?
1. He is New to your Home
If you’ve just brought your gecko home, chances are it may go without food for a day or two.
No matter how fantastic and authentic your new habitat appears to your leopard gecko, in one way or the other, the transition will be stressful for your pet.
That said, to ease the transition to their new home, ensure the leopard gecko tank is appropriately set up before placing them in.
Consider placing the terrarium in a calm area away from inquisitive children and pets to avoid harming your lizard.
During this period, make sure not to handle your gecko except when putting him into his aquarium. Handling your gecko too early may only scare him because you haven’t established a bond.
To help your little reptile adjust to your presence, you can hang around in the same room with him; however, you should avoid any loud noises, such as playing music or video games, to avoid causing stress.
As the days come and pass, your leopard gecko will become accustomed to you and welcome greater engagement. So avoid pressuring them into interacting with you, as this can add to their anxiety and make them feel threatened.
2. The Tank Setup Is Wrong
There is a possibility that your leopard gecko will lose appetite if the tank isn’t correctly set up, thus affecting how much it can go without food.
The main reason for this is that your gecko’s metabolism will decrease to a point where it will be unable to digest food if you keep it in an environment with persistently low temperatures.
Remember that dehydration and too much heat can harm your gecko. So, maintain the right temperatures in your reptile’s tank and ensure they’ve access to fluid or clean and fresh water.
To give your reptile a chance to regulate its body temperatures, ensure that:
- Warm temperatures are between 900 F to 920 F (32-33 0C)
- The cold temperature range between 70 0F to 77 0F (21-25 0C)
In addition, keep the tank humidity between 30-40 %.
3. Impaction
Gut blockages or impaction is one of the reasons why your lizard may stop eating altogether, thus affecting how long it can go without food.
Keep in mind that this is a very serious condition meaning you’ll have to consult your exotic vet immediately if home remedies don’t work.
Most likely, your vet will administer an enema to your leopard gecko. In the worst-case scenario, surgery may be required to save your friend’s life, but it rarely occurs.
Check for the following symptoms to find out whether your leopard gecko is suffering from impaction and act promptly:
- Vent prolapse
- Reduced activity
- Swelling on the abdomen
- Loss of appetite
If you suspect your reptile is suffering from impaction, try giving it a lukewarm bath and gently massaging its tummy. This can help in a successful bowel movement for easy passing of stool.
Ensure you test how hot the water is by using your wrist or elbow before submerging your little friend.
If the lukewarm bath does not alleviate impaction, consult your vet soonest possible to schedule an appointment.
4. Parasites
Although it is common for pet reptiles to be infested with some parasites, other parasites, such as Cryptosporidium, are highly infectious. This affects how long your leopard gecko can stay without food and causes issues such as:
- Diarrhea
- Lack of appetite
- Excessive weight loss
- Failure to thrive
In the worst-case scenario, your reptile veterinarian may recommend euthanasia due to too much cryptosporidium infestation.
5. Ovulating Females
We’ve already discussed how geckos typically don’t eat at the start of the breeding season and how gravid females may go without food a couple of days before starting to lay eggs.
Ovulating females, on the other hand, may skip meals or refuse to eat food, thus staying longer without food compared to non-ovulating ones. However, you must be sure to keep feeding them because they need a lot of nutrients for egg creation and maintaining their health.
Actually, your leopard gecko may even lose weight (only a few grams) during ovulation. But don’t panic just yet. Your pet would be perfectly fine as long as he starts eating again.
The only time there should be a cause for alarm is when your reptile stops eating altogether, its condition worsens rapidly, or you notice rapid weight loss.
Can My Leopard Gecko Starve Itself to Death?
No. Your Leopard gecko cannot starve itself to death. Other than that, your gecko refusing to feed despite him starving is a common symptom of illness or improper tank design for your adorable reptile.
Just to be clear, there’s probably a good reason your gecko isn’t eating. So be keen to ensure your lizard doesn’t refuse to eat because of illness. You know where to find your vet!
Warning Signs When Your Gecko Won’t Eat
Should your leo suddenly lose a lot of weight or show signs of illness, you’ll need to contact your exotic reptile vet to schedule an appointment for proper examination and treatment.
All in all, the major warning signs that show sickness in geckos include:
- Too much weight loss
- Sunken eyes
- Vent prolapse
- Lethargy
- Poor appetite
- Swelling abdomen
How to Tempt Your Gecko to Eat?
If your pet gecko has skipped some meals, but you haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, you might want to persuade him to eat before taking him to an exotic vet.
Here’s what you should try out offering your lizard:
- Try some favorite treats such as dubai roaches, waxworms, or silkworms. But be careful not to overdo it, or they will develop a habit of living on goodies alone.
- Try to entice them with a halved mealworm (of course, after putting them in a fridge. Think of cold as a natural anaesthetic)
- Try to tempt your gecko to eat by hand-feeding them.
Do Leopard Geckos Go Through Periods of Not Eating?
Yes, a leopard gecko may go for extended periods without food when he has reserved enough energy in his tail. They may survive off the energy reserves for weeks or even months.
Not only that, leopard geckos typically brumate between the months of November and February, during which time they eat very little or don’t eat at all.
So, if your pet is healthy and has a robust tail, just like his size, you needn’t worry too much if he suddenly stops eating. Still, he can survive for a couple of weeks without eating.
What’s more, leos may stop eating at times due to impaction, so make sure your leopard gecko can defecate easily.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What If I Can’t Feed My Gecko for the Whole Weekend?
So long as your gecko is old enough (not a baby) and healthy to go without food for a day or two, he’ll be fine to utilize the fat reserves in his tail throughout the weekend.
Besides, desert geckos can survive days without food. However, make sure to provide clean and fresh water.
What If My Gecko’s Feeder Insects Died, and there Isn’t a Way to Get Any for a Few Days?
There is nothing to worry about if your gecko is not too young and is healthy. Just ensure he has clean water accessible to him at all times.
Geckos below two months can be in a lot of trouble if they don’t eat daily. Try mealworms, as they’re a good energy source to break the long fast.
How Long Can My Gecko Survive Should He Get Lost in the House?
This one sounds tricky. Well, it depends on whether you have other pets in the house or not. Cats and dogs may prey on your leopard gecko when they come across one. Besides that, your reptile can survive for weeks without food, provided he’s in good health.
Conclusion
Summing up, adult pet geckos can go without food from seven days to several weeks (mostly during brumation), while youngsters can go up to ten days without food. You might actually be surprised to find out that adult geckos in brumation can go for three months without food!
Despite all that, you must ensure that your pet is not refusing to eat because of illness or lack of proper care. Or you’ll lose your adorable friend.
Therefore, consult your reptile vet ASAP if you suspect something amiss with your adorable reptile friend. By doing so, you’ll enjoy the companion of your little pal as he lives a healthy and long life.
