Hatchling not growing? Is this normal?

[AntMan612]

Do some hatchlings just stay small for awhile? I have a 5-week old that appears the same size as her 1-week old "sibling." She's housed alone, it's 90 F on the hot end, looks healthy and alert enough, but not really growing much. I have not witnessed her eating her live mini-mealworms or freeze dried fruit flies, but she's pooping every 2 days, and the food is slowly disappearing. Do I need to worry and do something different, or is this normal?

 

[acpart]

I have had incredible variation in hatchling rate of growth, even among clutchmates. Currently I have a super snow that was born 8/22 that is 5 grams and a PRS born 8/26 that's 12 grams. I have given a bit of extra attention to the ones who grow slowly --dropping mealworms in front of them and in some cases (where I'm not seeing much poop) holding them and hand feeding. Except for one that was clearly failure to thrive and dehydrated and only lived 2 weeks despite all my efforts, all the others have caught on and started growing well.

ALiza

 

[justalette]

I have a very small hatchling I had to force fed it the slurry mix for almost two weeks but its doing alot better now that i put it in a smaller shoe box. It's just now starting to grow. Maybe size does matter!

 

[LeapinLizards]

How big are the mini meal worms you are feeding them? If I am correct, they are the super thin and tiny things that I could barely see in the tub lol. My hatchlings (8 week old, and I'm guessing 3 week old that I didnt hatch out myself) both eat medium sized crickets, and large sized mealies. Definitely not giants or supers, but the mini's that I saw at the store were a joke. The rule of thumb is to just not feed them anything wider than the width of their head.

I won't say pooping every two days is a bad thing, but I know my hatchlings leave a little "present" for me every night I would try increasing the size of their food a little. Not to overwhelm them, but in my experience...when I fed pinhead crickets to my hatchlings they did not care much, nor did it seem like they were interested in hunting them. When I increased the size a little to the smaller mediums, they went nuts.

I wish you good luck. The little one may just be waiting to have a growth spurt

 

[AntMan612]

Thanks all for your advice! I'll try not to be too worried, but continue to monitor them. They are so cute when they're little, anyway!

I grow my own mealworms now, so I'm giving them the smallest ones I can find. I will try leaving some medium to large mealies like you are doing. I guess they'll be okay if they swallow them lengthwise?

It sure would be nice not to have to separate the minis from the grown mealworms...what a task that is!

How big are the mini meal worms you are feeding them? If I am correct, they are the super thin and tiny things that I could barely see in the tub lol. My hatchlings (8 week old, and I'm guessing 3 week old that I didnt hatch out myself) both eat medium sized crickets, and large sized mealies. Definitely not giants or supers, but the mini's that I saw at the store were a joke. The rule of thumb is to just not feed them anything wider than the width of their head.

I won't say pooping every two days is a bad thing, but I know my hatchlings leave a little "present" for me every night I would try increasing the size of their food a little. Not to overwhelm them, but in my experience...when I fed pinhead crickets to my hatchlings they did not care much, nor did it seem like they were interested in hunting them. When I increased the size a little to the smaller mediums, they went nuts.

I wish you good luck. The little one may just be waiting to have a growth spurt

 

[LeapinLizards]

Here is an example of the "large" meal worms I feed my two hatchlings (at least that's the size I ordered lol) vs the size of my smallest hatchling:

 

[acpart]

I have 5 gram hatchlings that are eating 1" mealworms with no problem. It's actually easier because it's easier for them to see and catch them.

Aliza

 

[Kristi23]

I agree with trying worms that are a bit larger. Mine have trouble with anything too small. Good luck!

 

[Nigel4less]

Trust me my friend, Don't even waste your time with Freeze-dried fruitflies or those Mini Mealworms. Even babies can take full grown Mealworms, much easier on yourself and on your Leopards.

 

[Ccrashca069]

I weight hatchling when I see them hatched and then weigh them weekly. I also feed them every day a min of 5 mealworms and slowly increase the amount or decrease based on what is left over from the night before. Some are also slow growers. I have 2 that are clutchmate and even now there is a 7-10 gram weight difference between the 2. And the most funny thing is the one that weighs the most hatched the smallest lol.

 

[shadowx362]

Once again like everyone else, Geckos can vary in size and appetite.
From experience use the large meal worms! I fed crickets last year and somewhat this year and I then switched to meal worms. I didn't know what size was appropriate so I tried "small" and it was a pain getting them to feed. I then started using "large" and the geckos are feeding VERY well and they actually finish their bowl of food. I also finally bought the superior enterprise food bowls they sell. I would get the small size because the large is even too big for an adult. The supplementation I am using is repti-life mineral and vitamin dusting. So far that has been working for me and I believe the geckos like that stuff over the regular plain calcium.
Here are some pics Best of luck

 

[AntMan612]

They ate 'em!

You guys' advice was awesome! I was able to feed both hatchlings full sized adult mealworms! I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't witness it myself. Hopefully, they'll start eating them out of their food dishes and grow up big and healthy!

 

[Kristi23]

I'm glad they're eating the bigger worms for you!