JUST HATCHED!

[nokturnal305]

My very first hatchling, just hatched! I decided to check on the egg and found this little guy. I'm not expert, but I got this far. Please, any support and advice greatly appreciated on what to do next. I'm guessing DO NOT put him in with my female and male adult leos.
Thanks COMMUNITY!

 

[stager]

Yes don't put him with any geckos that are not his or her size the will probably kill it accidentally. I keep my hatclings warm and damp until there first shed, and that's when I feed. You can keep in the incubator in a deli cup with a damp paper towel for this first week.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

+1 to what stager said! Damp paper towel in a bin by itself or with it's clutch mate. Adult leos will more than likely eat him. He'll shed and eat his skin and the poop. Once I see poo I usually start leaving a small dish of mealworms in the bin so they can eat when they're ready. Cute little guy! Good luck!

 

[Phoenix1115]

Agree with the above, except I don't keep my in the incubator. I use plastic shoe boxes with holes drilled into them, and then I used paper towels as a substrate which I spray down so they're damp. For heat I use heat tape kept around 90F that takes up half the box, then once they start eating I use a humid hide instead of making the entire box humid, and I move the heat tape to just 1/3 of the container.

 

[nokturnal305]

Thank you guys for all the help. So far, I'm using a ziplock lid container with holes stabbed through it. Using newspaper as substrate, an old mealworms container as a hide, a small lid with calcium, and a bottle cap as a water source.

When do you guys think is a good time to transfer him over to a glass terarrium with regular hides, water sources, subs, etc.
:main_robin:

 

[Phoenix1115]

Sounds good, I'd just switch the newspaper out for paper towels. Better for humidity plus there's no dyes. I upgrade mine to glass tanks around 15g or so. Just when they start to look too large for the little tubs. (or sometimes the get upgrades when more eggs hatch and I need the hatchling containers =P)

 

[nokturnal305]

Cool! How long does it take for hatchlings to shed? Because I don't want him to go TOO long without his first grub. Also, what should be his first meal. Mealworms? Mini mealworms? I'm assuming not baby crickets because they are relatively too large for him.

Thank you guys for all the help!

 

[stager]

Around 1 week to shed, I use small meal worms. At that age I keep food in his container at all times.

 

[Phoenix1115]

Around 1 week to shed, I use small meal worms. At that age I keep food in his container at all times.

+1

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I try to pick out mid-sized mealworms for him but I've found that healthy hatchlings that weigh close to 3g or more can definitely handle adult mealworms too. Good luck!!

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[nokturnal305]

Hey Community!

Thank you for all the help and wise words. It's been a week, and our little one still hasn't eaten. It's definitely shed, it couldn't get the excess shed off by itself, so I helped out, VERY CAREFULLY. The mealworms however, don't seem appetizing to it. Any body use anything else besides mealworms?

 

[scm133]

Congrats on your new baby. Not eating? Double check your temps..it needs to be warm....around 90-92. Good luck!!:main_thumbsup:

 

[LepoInc]

Try cutting open a mealworms so some guts come out and put it up to his nose and try touching the guts to his nose. This trick got my little guy to eat on day 2 (He came out at 5g)

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I usually give mine 2 weeks to start eating and if they haven't by then I try hand feeding. To hand feed I just hold them gently and tap on the side of their mouth. Eventually they try to bite me and I stick a mealworm in their mouth instead. If they are hungry they usually chomp it several times and swallow. If they are not they usually spit it back out. I don't go to extremes and stick it down their throat or anything. I find those that won't eat a mealworm the second they feel it touch their mouth generally don't do very well with anything. I've had to start a couple babies this way that didn't seem to understand mealworms and I had a couple others that started to eat once they saw a high motivation prey that moved quickly to stimulate them. I use dubia because I have them in the house but you could probably pick up a few crickets if roaches are harder to come by for you. I would try roaches or crickets before hand feeding. Good luck!!

 

[DrCarrotTail]

P.S. I leave mealworms in their bins in an escape proof bowl 24/7. I weigh them after 2 weeks and if they haven't gained weight. If they have not, then I start to worry enough to try dubia or hand feeding. I've only had to do this with 3 of my babies out of the 60 I've hatched this year. The vast majority started eating on their own. Again, best of luck!!