I think it's safe to introduce...

EchoPet

Gecko Obsessed
Messages
408
Location
Little Rock, AR
I think it's safe to introduce my very first hatchling! She (temp-sexed female) hatched last Wednesday May 27, but I was worried she wasn't going to make it at first, and being slightly superstitious I guess, I wanted to wait to post about her.

I actually thought the egg was probably going to go bad. The mother, Pip, is almost 10 years old, and I didn't even think she would still be fertile at her age (which is why we had this surprise in the first place). So far none of the other eggs have made it (she's had four clutches total, first I didn't get to in time, second molded, this was the third, and the fourth went bad). This baby was laid on April 9th, and from the start, candled pink while the other egg in the clutch candled yellow. At about 45 days, I piped the other egg, only to find it empty. Both were so small, and I worried that my incubation container wasn't airtight enough and that the humidity was too low.

After being dented for three days, I feared that this little egg was a goner. I decided to just go ahead and pip it on day 49, and when I did, a head came out. Now of course I worried about piping it prematurely. To make matters worse, she came out fighting! She thrashed and thrashed and exploded out of the egg.

baby1.jpg

Her stomach was so caved in and empty, I don't think she absorbed the yolk.

baby2.jpg

She was so tiny. :(

She never made a peep, but was so active I had to put her in a tub because I was afraid she'd get out of the container I was incubating in. I feared she wouldn't make it through the night, but set her up in her own little place, gave the tub a mist and saw her lick up some droplets, and went to bed. The next morning, she was up and stomping around and even looking a little less super-skinny.

Since I was worried about her not absorbing the yolk (when I weighed her Saturday morning, she was 2.7g), I decided to go ahead and leave her some mealworms before her first shed and poop. She eagerly devoured her first meal on Saturday as soon as I dropped it in.

baby4.jpg

stalking...

baby5.jpg

nomnomnom

I caught her shedding on Sunday, and she graced the tub with her first poop on Monday. She's eating like a little piggy, and although she still hasn't made a peep, screech, or hiss, she likes to stomp around whenever I peek in on her.

As of today, she's up to 3.4g. :)

baby6.jpg


baby7.jpg
 

EchoPet

Gecko Obsessed
Messages
408
Location
Little Rock, AR
Thanks everyone!

Nope, no name yet. I'll have to think of something soon. I want to look up names that have a meaning of either "first" or "quiet". But Grace is really pretty too, so I'll keep that in mind as well. :)
 

Stitchex

New Member
Messages
1,301
Location
Earth
I'm so glad for you, congrats! It's amazing how much she turned around with a little loving care, you did a good job taking care of your first hatchling^^. Hope she lives many long, happy years with you.
 

Chewbecca

www.ellaslead.com
Messages
1,772
Location
60 miles south of Chicago
Hey, Echopet, I have 9 surprises still incubating, and 4 surprises that hatched successfully via making the SAME mistake/assumption you did.
I ASSUMED my 8 year old leo females could no longer produce eggs since they had been caged with a male for 2 years and none of them ever even laid so much as a bunk egg.

Back in March, I noticed they had stopped eating well. It was then I realized the bulb on their lamp was dying, so I replaced it.

GUESS WHAT I DID???
I, unknowingly, caused ALL THREE of my 8 year old leos to ovulate. Appetites went through the roof and so did egg production, apparently.
And by the time I saw the male rattling his tail, it was too late.
He had already gotten to all three of them.:D

But it's ok. This has happened to more than one owner before, and if we do not sell all our hatchlings, they'll always have a home with us on our rack.:D
 

Chewbecca

www.ellaslead.com
Messages
1,772
Location
60 miles south of Chicago
oh, and DUH!
Congrats on the little cutie!!!
Isn't it awesome???

I'm still on a hatchling high.
NOTHING like going to your incubator to find a little life that has made its way.

I got all 4 of mine on Sunday and Monday, and now I'm addicted to seeing a hatchling in my incubator, and I don't know if I'm going to make until the next eggs hatch!:main_laugh:
 

EchoPet

Gecko Obsessed
Messages
408
Location
Little Rock, AR
Thanks everyone! :D

Rebecca, I'm glad I'm not the only one! I'm still kicking myself about it, and have been so worried for Pip. I separated Emilio as soon as I knew what was up, and she hasn't laid since the fourth clutch on 4/30, so I'm hoping she's done now. I don't want to risk her getting egg-bound or anything. I'm hoping to purposefully breed in the near future, so I guess this is good practice.

I definitely plan on keeping this baby, being my first and all. :) But when I breed in the future and try to sell babies, even ones that don't sell will always have a home, like you said. :)

And yes, it's very awesome! I've been floating all week. Now I can't wait to get some younger females so I can have eggs to brood over again, hehe.
 

Chewbecca

www.ellaslead.com
Messages
1,772
Location
60 miles south of Chicago
Heh,
Mine ate like PIGS the entire time they were gravid.
About 2-3 days before they'd lay, they'd go off food.
But my one that's working on more eggs ate a male dubia roach, and then the next afternoon she ate 11 supers.
ELEVEN SUPERS.
And she did NOT regurg.

And on a typical day, any one of them will eat AT LEAST 4 supers. AT LEAST. DAILY.
PIGGIES.
I just make sure I dust them well with the Repashy calcium plus ICB, and so far so good.
One of them has laid two bunk eggs, but I have three clutches from two of them, and one good egg from the other.
Oddly enough, the one that laid the two bunk eggs was the biggest, and seeminly healthiest of the three females.
 

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