Need help ASAP.

[jaredm3624]

As some of you know, I have a new addition (you can see him/her in my theard "updates with a new addition"). Yukis is VERY tiny and my guess is that s/he was only a few days old when I purchesed him/her from the local store here 4 days ago. The questions I have fall in different categories so I just decided to post it here....ok, what I need help with.

1) S/he is on carpet right now. Should I change that?

2) Being so tiny I tuned off the light and replaced it with a heat producer (it works like a light bulb) so that I can keep it at a constant 80-85 without using an overhead light (I do use a UTH). I figure I have to treat him/her as a new hatchlng.

3) All s/he does is sleep. Is this natural? I.ve never dealt with one so young. Night and day all it does is sleep.

4) It poops in it's moist hide. What can I do about that?

5) What should I feed him/ her? I've tried mealies, crickets (sared of the crickets poor baby), and a wax worm. Not interested at all. I have phoenix worms coming in later this week.

6) Some one told me Yuki looked dehydrated. How can I tell if s/he is and how can I correct it?

Sorry for the length of this, but I want to make him/her healthy. I appreciate any feedback (even if i's only about one of these topics). Thanks in advance.

 

[brad.a.c]

I Personally would put her on paper towels but other people have said that carpet is fine too.
I think the light situation is fine but bump up the temps just a tad if you could.
Of course you already know that Leos sleep during the day but maybe (s)he just comes out to move at night? And if (s)he doesn't it might be that (s)he doesn't have much energy because of her/his lack of eating.
Try silkies too, anything that you can and is safe to try....try it.
I really don't know much about dehydration in Leos so sorry about that.

Ok, I hope I helped you in SOME way, but sorry if I didn't. I really hope (s)he gets better and good luck!

 

[downthebeatenpath]

Carpet is fine, paper towel works too, just personal preference really.
The heat is fine as said just raise the temps a little bit.
Not sure about the sleeping as I have never cared for one that young.
There's nothing you can do about pooping in the hide, they poop where they want to poop so just clean it out when she poops in it.
Has she shed yet? If she is truly only a few days old she may not have shed, and babies usually do not eat until after their first shed. If she has, crickets and mealies are the usually but she may be too small for that, you could try the phoenix worms when you get them, or you could try flightless fruit flies.
I'm not sure how to tell if they are dehydrated or not, I know with other dehydrated lizards you can soak them in warm water, not sure if that would work though with a baby this young, also you can take a syringe or an eye dropper and drop water onto it's nose and they will generally lick it off, or mist the tank occassionally.

 

[LeopardLunatic]

she may not be interested in any kind of food right now as she prolly has no energy soak her in a mixture of Gatoraid and Pedialyte this will help alot but you also need to mix up a batch of slurry http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=19356
this is best fed through a syringe a method i found much better than the nose dropping is to VERY gently apply a little bit of pressure on the back of the jaw they usually open their mouth and hold it open so you can get lots of slurry in their mouth for them to eat much faster and doesnt hurt them if you do it right and just to clarify so you dont do it wrong the part of the jaw that is hinged is were pressure is applied I would not recommend this though unless you cant get her to lap up the slurry from her nose. As for sleeping yes its normal she is dehydrated malnourished and has no energy. And the pooping in the hide just move it and if she continues to then there isnt much you can do she has made up her mind (women :main_rolleyes: lol just kidding) the phonix worms are nice but they dont move much but if you use my technique they move ALOT and the geckos then strike http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=22380
any questions about anything PM me

 

[jaredm3624]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the help. S/he has had the first shed. It was the day that I got him/her. So that was Thursday of last week.

 

[godzillizard]

On the pooping in the hide thing--you can refresh/clean the moist hide and move it to another location in the cage--but you have to place a poo or 2 where the humid hide used to be if you want it to continue going there. thats the only way I've gotten a leo to stop pooing in its humid hut. And CONGRATS on the new cuty

 

[Rich Of The U.K]

The temps are a little cold, aim for 88-90 on the warm side, when at cooler temps, they dont feel hungry...

Personally, i would never use reptile carpet due to many associated problems, i'd use papel towels or natural stone tiles which are either tumbled or unglazed...

Regards...Rich...

 

[LeopardLunatic]

shelf liner also works very very well foam or vinyl doesnt matter

 

[jaredm3624]

Well, I soaked her in a "bath" and dropped some water on her nose and she began to lick t off. Still looks like she just has no energy. She will open her eyes for about a minute, and then seem like she goes right back to sleep. This was at 1 am this morning.

 

[LeopardLunatic]

need to feed her some slurry she needs nutrients