Anti-predator adaptations often incur negative consequences for the prey organism. A particularly dramatic example is autotomy, the voluntary severance of an appendage in response to a variety of pressures, including predation and intraspecific competition. Tail autotomy in lizards has been linked to lower reproduction, slower locomotion, instability during jumping, and decreased social status, but the effect of tail autotomy on prey capture ability has not been unexplored. Desert banded geckos (Coleonyx variegatus) undulate their tails immediately prior to striking their prey. Additionally, they frequently capture evasive prey in nature. However, it is unclear if these tail movements are important for the strike itself, or if they simply draw attention to that part of the body. We used high-speed 3D videography to quantify prey capture performance of C. variegatus geckos striking at crickets before and after total caudal autotomy. We tested performance within two hours of autotomy and then repeatedly over a two-week period. Overall prey capture success was unaffected by caudal autotomy. However, maximum strike velocity significantly dropped immediately after autotomy (after two hours) but increased back to pre-autotomy conditions after two weeks. This not only highlights the importance of the tail during prey capture, but also suggests that geckos eventually develop compensatory mechanisms to deal with the loss of the tail. Our analyses will also examine the changes to limb and body kinematics as a result of tail autotomy.