Huge belly on week old hatchling :-(

[Wonzzer]

Is this normal??? This is my first hatchling and his/her belly wasn't this large when it hatched. He/she is only a week old and I offered 3-5 meal worms twice in the last week.

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[katie_]

that doesn't look good, hopefully someone with more experience will pipe up. Hope it's okay.

 

[justindh1]

That doesn't look normal at all. I haven't seen anything like that. I wouldn't give it anymore food at the time being. My hatchlings are usually 5-7 days old before I even try feeding them. What size mealworms do you feed it? Almost looks like some sort of impaction or swelling in the belly. What is really weird is that it's confined to just the center of the belly. What does coloration of the stomach look like? Can you take a pic from the underneath?

 

[Wonzzer]

Ron Tremper told me it was an abdominal hernia.

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[arianne]

That's horrible. I hope you don't have to cull it.

 

[acpart]

I do have a gecko that developed an abdominal hernia after several years. She's actually the one in my avatar. Needless to say she was immediately retired from breeding. An adult gecko, at least, can live with it. My vet told me to gently push the hernia back to see if I could "reduce" it without difficulty in which case I'd know that no adhesions are present. I have also heard of babies that end up with fluid in the belly. It may be good to get a second opinion.

Aliza