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Sneaky, you took the words right out of my mouth. I don't want anyone thinking that reptiles aren't thinking and feeling creatures, I just don't give them human attributes. I think it's a lot more interesting to think of their behaviors in context with their species, rather than providing a human emotion to explain it. While lizards can be quite social creatures, I don't think of them as missing people, or loving them like a human would another human, and they are quite different than mammals who often show similar behaviors even when the species differs.
In regards to the lizard not eating for a week, reptiles often stop eating when something in their enviroment changes. When you left, his routine was changed, his feeding schedule was changed, and probably the way in which he was fed, so not eating was a fairly normal response. Even with snakes who can't hear and don't "play" like a lizard, they can stop eating whenever their is a change in their enviroment. I've often had snakes who didn't eat for awhile after we bought them, even if they were in the same tank. Reptiles will even go as far as letting themselves starve to death if a change in their enviroment upsets them enough.
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