Small hatchling, what to do?

[david13]

wow tiny little thing

 

[Gecko Ranch]

Have you attempted to feed the gecko live food? I suggest leaving a small container of small mealworms or mini-mealworms. Supplementing with Calcium Plus (also sold as T-Rex Leopard Gecko dust) would be helpful too as leopard geckos as well as all Eublepharine geckos are strongly attracted to scent, and this product has a scent they like and should help them find their food.

 

[lytlesnake]

I'd throw some baby crickets in it's tub. Best of luck.

 

[Stitchex]

She's adorable, I hope she makes it! I would wait to feed her until she sheds if I were you.

 

[Stitch]

She's adorable, I hope she makes it! I would wait to feed her until she sheds if I were you.

I agree don't feed the gecko until after it's firts shed. Most babies won't eat until then anyway. I would also try to get the vermiculite off of it using a wet Q-tip, this way he won't eat it with the shed. :main_thumbsup:

 

[Gecko Ranch]

I agree don't feed the gecko until after it's firts shed. Most babies won't eat until then anyway. I would also try to get the vermiculite off of it using a wet Q-tip, this way he won't eat it with the shed. :main_thumbsup:

You will usually not see the first shed. By the time you find the little sucker they are usually done with this! A better guide to when they are ready to eat, which is something you can always see, is their first poop, which is mostly green. Once you see that then they are usually hungry. Before that they are finishing up digest what they got from the egg.

 

[OhioGecko]

Her egg was still full of liquid so I don't know how much of the yolk she absorbed before she got out. Usually the eggs looked liked the air was sucked out of them and this one looked dented and still full of clear goo.

I was worried that she might not have enough nutrients to make it to her first shed, therefore the slurry question. And with her being so small I don't think live prey would be a choice.

Has anyone given the slurry to a hatchling just for nutrients?

 

[Gecko Ranch]

I think it is fine to offer the slurry in a low dish so the gecko can take it. Force feeding at this size is really tricky and may kill the gecko by stress alone.

 

[Baker14]

Hows she doing?

 

[david13]

ya, any updates for us?

 

[OhioGecko]

I feed the slurry to her two nights in a row. She licks it off the end of the dropper. She is doing very well right now and her energy level is up. She has not shed yet so still waiting for that to happen. She has pooped twice though. I will post pictures tomorrow for everyone to see. Thanks again!

 

[Gecko Ranch]

I feed the slurry to her two nights in a row. She licks it off the end of the dropper. She is doing very well right now and her energy level is up. She has not shed yet so still waiting for that to happen. She has pooped twice though. I will post pictures tomorrow for everyone to see. Thanks again!

She is well enough that you can leave the slurry in one dish out for her and another of small mealworms. Shedding is something that you may not see as a gecko owner.

 

[OhioGecko]

Thanks! :main_thumbsup:
I will put the slurry in the dish tonight but I don't have any mealies right now small enough, they are due to arrive Tuesday. I do have crickets small enough to feed so I will throw these in at feeding time.

I'm sure she didn't shed because she has some very small gold speckles on her from the Vermiculite during hatching.

 

[Gecko Ranch]

Thanks! :main_thumbsup:
I will put the slurry in the dish tonight but I don't have any mealies right now small enough, they are due to arrive Tuesday. I do have crickets small enough to feed so I will throw these in at feeding time.

I'm sure she didn't shed because she has some very small gold speckles on her from the Vermiculite during hatching.

You're welcome! I would be careful with the crickets, I'd take them out if she does not eat them in an hour or so at her size. What size crickets have you got?

 

[OhioGecko]

Right now the crickets are slightly larger than a gnat.

 

[Gecko Ranch]

Right now the crickets are slightly larger than a gnat.

Good thing I asked. What size food, what to put on it as a supplement and how often to feed are really not understood well and I am making it a mission to get out there and educate folks about this.

First, a hatchling leo should be fed small mealworms although some hatchlings can eat an adult mealworm with no problem. This is what most folks do these days so that is not an area that folks really make mistakes with. The most common mistakes are how often to feed (this is usually with older geckos as most folks correctly feed hatchlings daily) and with size of cricket to use.

If you do feed crickets, hatchling leos a week or so old will take a two week old cricket. It is very important not to give them anything smaller, because they will likely not be interested in a small food item and if they are forced to eat this as their only food source, they will expend a great deal of energy catching this food for little nutritional reward. As a result their growth will be minimal.

As a general rule of thumb for all lizards, the cricket should be 90-95% of their head size. To show yourself how well this works, put a gnat sized cricket (pinhead) in with your hatchling and a 2 week old cricket (1/4"). Observe which is eaten first. It is as if they are genetically programmed to maximize their nutrition by chomping down on the biggest food item they can find!

Here's a size chart provided by Bassett's Cricket Ranch (6 week to pinhead):

Commercial crickets range from 6wk (1") to pinhead. In about one to two weeks your hatchling leopard, if keeping up with average growth, can now eat a 3 week old or 3/8" cricket. Keeping careful track of how big a cricket or mealworm your hatchling can eat is very important to helping them grow well.
I and most breeders prefer mealworms for young leos as they seem to grow better on this higher fat (than crickets) food item.

Recent research has shown Leopard and other related Eublepharine geckos like Coleonyx are very attracted to scent. This is very important to take advantage of in getting youngsters to really get going on their food. Calcium Plus (also sold as T-Rex Leopard Gecko Dust) has a scent Eublepharines are very attracted to and it sticks well to their food. When introducing an unfamiliar food item you can use this product to get them to take it without much hesitation, as they recognize the scent of their supplement.

Hope this helps!

 

[OhioGecko]

Great info.

We have been feeding crickets, mealworms, and silkies to our hatchlings. We dust the crickets in Osteo-Form or Vionate. We also leave a small bowl of Osteo-Form in their tub.

We currently only have 4 other hatchlings and they all seem to like the variety. If we give them the same food everyday, they tend to let it sit longer than if we change to a different food every two days.

The crickets we currently have are pinheads (1 week) on the chart. We usually leave them in overnight because they crawl under the paper towel right away. There is not too many mornings we check and find that they are still in the tubs. If there is any left, we remove them.

Thanks for the feedback, if we can improve on anything I have open ears. I do think we need to start supplementing with an additional calcium powder without D3 and was looking to see the differences in Herptivite and Vionate. That will be a good discussion for a separate post.

 

[Gecko Ranch]

Great info.

We have been feeding crickets, mealworms, and silkies to our hatchlings. We dust the crickets in Osteo-Form or Vionate. We also leave a small bowl of Osteo-Form in their tub.

We currently only have 4 other hatchlings and they all seem to like the variety. If we give them the same food everyday, they tend to let it sit longer than if we change to a different food every two days.

The crickets we currently have are pinheads (1 week) on the chart. We usually leave them in overnight because they crawl under the paper towel right away. There is not too many mornings we check and find that they are still in the tubs. If there is any left, we remove them.

Thanks for the feedback, if we can improve on anything I have open ears. I do think we need to start supplementing with an additional calcium powder without D3 and was looking to see the differences in Herptivite and Vionate. That will be a good discussion for a separate post.

I am always glad to help! I have been around the block many times on this supplement issue. I posted some of what I think is cutting edge recently here:

http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?p=189983#post189983

The thread includes a link to an extensive overview of supplementation by Allen Repashy, the developer of Calcium Plus (aka T Rex leo dust). I have been part of his many year test team on the product and it is a great all in one supplement which eliminates the need for any other types of powders.

There is nothing wrong, for leopards, with using RepCal Ultrafine with D3 and Herptivite mixed 50/50, there is just something more advanced on the market in Calcium Plus.

 

[Stitch]

Any updates on how this one is doing?

 

[OhioGecko]

Update on hatchling....

She is 8g as of today. Seems perfectly healthy.

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