Pet Lizards that won’t eat

If you have a pet lizard that has stopped eating that may indicate a problem which needs to be addressed and corrected. This is a good time to point out that a lizard which has stopped eating isn’t always a sign of a problem. For example a gravid lizard will often go off food, or it might be shedding. Some lizards stop eating during the mating season. But if you can eliminate things like that then it is time to start looking at other reasons they refuse to eat.

Environmental conditions
Photo credit: RedHandRecords

Lizards, like all reptiles, are highly specialized creatures and the conditions of their habitat must reflect this. When you first begin working with a particular species of lizard it is important to learn and provide them with the optimal temperature and humidity ranges throughout their lives. Drops or raises that would seem a complete non-issue to you or I can have a great impact on lizards. My personal experience is that temperature and humidity that is off by as little 3 degrees or 5% respectively can cause them to go off feed.

In addition to heat and humidity there are other factors involved with the environment in a lizard’s habitat that need to be addressed. One that comes to mind is UVA/B lighting if your lizard needs it. Your temperatures and humidity could be perfect but if you aren’t providing the ultra-violet lighting required to thrive they might go off feed. Though, in my experience you’ll see the effects of improper UVA/B lighting manifest itself in ways other than refusal to eat long before it ever reaches that stage.

Location of the lizard’s habitat
Sometimes we like to put our lizards on display and move them to a place in the house where everyone can see them. We especially like to watch them eat; hunting down their crickets or small mice can be a pleasure to watch and enterainment for the whole family. The problem with this is rather than standing a respectful distance away we often like to stand right next to the cage poking our meaty fingers at the glass. This tends to terrify the lizard. If you are going to keep your lizard on display keep in mind that hoovering over it while it eats can manifest problems. I have a bearded dragon that is in a display case in my front room. Everyone is free to watch it as they please, however during feeding time no one is allowed near her tank. After 15 or 20 minutes she’s done eating and things go back to normal in the front room. I didn’t always practice this regiment with her feeding and it wasn’t until a veterinarian suggested I do so that I began.

Another issue that involves location is high traffic areas. People and our four legged pets that are constantly walking back and forth in the vicinity of a lizard’s cage can cause it stress which can lead to refusal to eat. Sometimes, if you are unfortunate enough to be located on a busy street, the sounds of traffic can cause problems. At one point I lived on a very busy street with cars, pedestrians, bikes, trucks and of course emergency vehicles going through all the time. All of my reptiles stopped eating. Once I moved them into a room as far away from the hustle and bustle of the street as I could they started eating again.

Change in diet
As a rule of thumb lizards are creatures of habit; a sudden change in their diet can cause them to stop eating. Sometimes a change is unavoidable for one reason or another. Maybe the local pet shop doesn’t have crickets but does have tomato horn worms, or maybe your colony of roaches died off and you have to run to the store for crickets until you can get another colony going. These changes can cause a lizard to stop eating. My experience is that it’s often how we present the food that causes the problems. For instance if your lizards are used to eating meal worms out of a bowl and you suddenly dump 2 dozen crickets in that run everywhere the lizard might not know what to do. Try to make a transition to a new food source as easy as possible. Don’t intimidate your pet by giving it too much too fast.

Sickness and disease
Like all living beings lizards can and do get sick. This can cause them to stop eating. Often, one of the first signs of an ailment is a lizard’s refusal to eat. If this is confirmed to be the case you’ll need to treat the illness before you can adequately treat the eating problem.

You pet lizards can live long and happy lives if you take care of them. Not eating, with a few exceptions, is often a good indicator that something is amiss. To recap you should check: