Crested geckos are small and do not eat a lot, especially after becoming adults. There can be different reasons why a crested gecko might stop eating. In this post, we will discuss the possible reasons why your crested gecko is not eating, how much it should eat and how to help it start eating.
Normally, hatchling crested geckos should eat 5 times a week, juveniles (7 months+) – 3-4 times a week. However, adult crested geckos will need to eat only 2-3 times a week.
A healthy adult crested gecko should weigh 30-55 grams, and around 15-20 grams when reaching sexual maturity at the age of 12 months and over.
Anything under this can indicate poor appetite and weight loss. Monitor your crested gecko’s weight weekly with digital scales that weigh to the nearest 0.01 gram.
It might be hard to tell if your crested gecko is eating at all. This is because crested geckos don’t eat much. The best way to tell if your crested gecko is eating is to check for poop and lick marks.
And now, let’s look at the reasons why crested geckos stop eating.
1. Your crested gecko has not acclimatized yet.
If you have just brought a new crested gecko home, it will be stressed and scared. Make sure to place different branches and foliage in the crested gecko’s terrarium, so it can hide there. This will provide some sense of security.
Don’t try hand feeding or offering food with tongs in the beginning. Instead, place a food station in the tank. This way your crested gecko will be able to eat whenever it wants. If your crested gecko doesn’t eat within a week, offer some food on a spoon or in a cap by touching its snout gently. Mist the gecko to encourage eating.
It can take few weeks and even up to a month for your crested gecko to fully acclimatize and start feeling comfortable in its new home. Make sure living conditions are ideal to speed up the process.
2. Your crested gecko is stressed.
Improper living conditions and other factors can cause stress in your crested gecko. Stress in one of the main causes of poor appetite in crested geckos.
Very often, stress is caused by other cage mates, very big or small enclosure, or a wrong setup. Review the terrarium setup and identify any issues.
Never keep crested geckos of different sizes together and make sure that the cage is big enough for them. And even though you can keep 1-3 adult crested geckos together, never keep hatchling, babies or juveniles (7-12 months old) together. Don’t keep males together.
Bullying is very common in hatchlings and babies. This can cause stress in a crested gecko, underfeeding and weight loss.
3. Your crested gecko’s terrarium is too small or too big.
Keep baby crested geckos in a small 5 gallon terrarium or a plastic container for several months (until gecko turns 8-10 grams) before getting a larger tank. Also, use paper towels only, for babies and juveniles. Smaller tank will enable your crested gecko to find its food and water easily.
Adult crested geckos require a vertical terrarium that is at least 15 gallons, and 20-30 gallon tank is the best for a single gecko. For 2 or 3 adult crested geckos, you will need a 30 gallon vertical terrarium.
Please get an at least 20 gallon terrarium for your adult crested gecko, as it will be very hard to impossible to create a temperature gradient in a smaller tank!
A terrarium like this (18”x 18”x 24” and roughly 33 gallons), will be ideal for 1-3 crested geckos. Exo Terra mini tall terrarium is the minimum size for a single adult crested gecko. Crested geckos become adults at 12-18 months of age, usually at roughly 20 grams.
4. The temperatures in the terrarium are too low.
Very low temperatures in the tank will cause indigestion in your crested gecko, affecting the appetite. Make sure the temperatures are ideal. However, temperatures should not be too high, either, because that will cause stress and can even kill your crested gecko.
Ideal temperatures in a crested gecko’s tank are:
- Daytime ambient temperature in the terrarium – 71-79 degrees Fahrenheit (21.6-26.1 Celsius). Around 75 degrees in the warm side and 68-70 F in the cool side are ideal. Make sure there is a temperature gradient!
- The maximum temperature directly under the heat bulb should be 83 degrees F (28.3 Celsius).
- Night time temperature can be 69 degrees Fahrenheit (20.5 Celsius) for periods of summer – autumn. In winter, 63-65 F (17.2-18.3 Celsius) are ideal for your crested gecko.
- If the temperatures in the room are ideal at night (and even during the day), then you don’t need to use any heat bulbs.
- The best bulb to use in a crested gecko’s terrarium is a low wattage CFL with low UVB output, like this Exo Terra 2.0 Repti-Glo. At night, if the temperature in the room drops below 65 F, then you can use a small low wattage (around 25 watts or maximum 40 watts with lower than 60 degrees or larger tanks) ceramic heat emitting bulb like this.
- Don’t leave the visual light on for the whole night, you can have it on for few hours in the evening. Dim the lights to replicate natural environment.
You can read a full lighting and heating guide for crested geckos in this post.
5. Your crested gecko is sick.
If your crested gecko is sick, it will refuse food. Loss of appetite in crested geckos can be caused by internal parasites and other infections.
If your crested gecko is losing weight, not eating and is lethargic, then it could be infected with parasites. Other illnesses that can cause appetite loss are MBD, respiratory infection and more. If you suspect an illness, take your crested gecko to the vet.
You can find a list of crested gecko diseases in this post.
6. Your crested gecko is impacted.
Never keep your hatchling, baby or juvenile crested geckos on a loose substrate. This is because young crested geckos are likely to ingest the loose substrate. Impaction is not easy to detect straight away and can kill your gecko.
Also, never give large insects, or insects that contain a very hard shell such as beetles. The size of the feeder insects should not be bigger than the width between your crested gecko’s eyes.
Keep your crested gecko on paper towels until it turns around 10-12 months old, or roughly 15 grams. Once your crested gecko becomes an adult (after 12 months onward), you can prepare a bioactive soil mix.
This bioactive setup will help break down the waste and keep high humidity that crested geckos need. And even though there is still risk of impaction, that is one of the best substrates for adult crested geckos.
Never use small rocks or sand in a crested gecko’s terrarium. These types of substrates are even harder to pass and can cause death. Always remove your hatchling crested geckos from the incubation boxes full of loose substrate within few hours, or they will ingest it.
If you think your crested gecko is impacted, try to help your gecko pass the mass. Signs that your crested gecko is impacted include round belly, sudden weight gain of few grams, constipation.
Switch to paper towels to monitor the stools. Offer some watery foods and ones higher in fiber (such as apples with skin, pumpkin etc.), and soak your crested gecko.
Limit harder to digest foods, such as bugs, until your crested gecko has pooped properly. Normally, crested geckos poop 3-4 times a week.
You can read all about choosing and preparing the substrate for your crested gecko in this post.
7. Your crested gecko has grown up.
As we have mentioned in the beginning, crested geckos need to eat less with age. While hatchlings will need to eat 5 times a week, juveniles and adults will eat less. Juveniles will eat 3 times a week, while adults – 2-3 times a week.
These changes in the crested gecko’s diet might seem sudden to you. But don’t worry, once your crested gecko turns around 6-8 months old, it will slowly start eating less. Implement these changes once your crested gecko starts eating less.
8. Your crested gecko is shedding.
Shedding can cause appetite loss in your crested gecko. This is often 2-3 days before and/or after shedding. Be patient and your crested gecko should start eating again few days after shedding has finished.
9. Your crested gecko has started brumation/hibernation.
Your crested gecko might naturally start brumation in the late fall, when temperatures start dropping and light cycles change. A crested gecko is not likely to eat during winter, if it’s entered the state of brumation.
Brumating crested geckos will be mostly inactive, eating and moving less. You should let your crested gecko go through brumation – this is natural and will cause increase in energy once the brumation has finished.
10. Your crested gecko might not eat much during the breeding season.
Most female crested geckos might refuse food during ovulation and before laying eggs during the mating season. Don’t forget that female crested geckos can lay eggs without mating with a male (infertile eggs).
Males can also eat much less during the beginning of a breeding season, when trying to look for a potential mate. A male can also stress out a female, making her eat less. This seasonal change should pass by itself.
The breeding season for crested geckos in the Northern Hemisphere (USA, Canada, UK and most countries in Europe) starts at around the end of March and finishes at the end of October. After October, crested geckos slow down a little, until the next spring.
You can read all about breeding and mating season in crested geckos in this post.
11. Your crested gecko is dehydrated.
Crested geckos require high humidity levels, which should be around 70-85%. But this doesn’t mean that the humidity should be that high all the time! Actually, constant high humidity will cause high bacterial and mold growth in a warm terrarium.
Let the tank get to 50-55% for few hours during the day, and mist in the evening to raise the humidity. Also, don’t let the tank get too hot, as it will cause higher evaporation. Ventilation is also crucial to prevent any infections.
If the humidity in the terrarium is too low, your crested gecko will not eat much. In case you find it hard to increase humidity levels, you can get a reptile fogger to raise humidity.
Mist your crested gecko once a day towards the evening, and that will stimulate the appetite and improve hydration. Also, always have a small bowl of water for your crested gecko.
How to help your crested gecko start eating?
If your crested gecko is new, it can take from few days to weeks for it to start eating properly. However, if your crested gecko hasn’t eaten for a week after bringing it home, start offering food more actively.
You can use a bottle cap or something similar and fill it with small amounts of Pangea or Repashy food. Once you notice that your crested gecko started eating by itself, stop ‘hand feeding’. Otherwise, you gecko can get used to it. Instead, incorporate two feeding stations in the tank.
Please note that each crested gecko has its own preference of food consistency. Some crested geckos like more runny food, while others – thicker consistency. Experiment with consistencies and see what you crested gecko likes the best.
Don’t forget to also offer small live bugs to your new gecko to promote interest. Also, don’t handle your new crested gecko for around 2 weeks to let it acclimatize first.
In general, crested geckos eat small amounts of food and inconsistently. Some crested geckos might go off food for few days at a time, and this is normal. Your crested gecko might not eat for a week or two without a problem, if it’s of a normal healthy weight.
Make sure gecko’s setup is correct, and that it’s not having other symptoms. You can even leave the gecko’s food in the tank for a day, as some cresties like more fermented food (doesn’t apply to live bugs).
If your crested geckos has stopped eating complete gecko food, try to limit the number of bugs that you are offering. Implement new veggies and fruits sometimes, but mainly offer CGD in few spots of the tank. CGD should make up the most of your crested gecko’s diet.