Hatchling Help

Newt · 04-08-05, 06:16 AM

my leo gecko hatchling was born on march 31...he shed on april 3 and had a lil poo
ive tried feeding him pinhead crickets and hes not interested in them at all
ive put them in his 10g tank for 30 mins and he ignored them
then i was told to put him in a sandwich container with the crickets and he freaked out
he has no interest at all
i have ever put tiny freshly shed mealworms in there to see if hed be intrested in them and nope
this normal?
and ideas would really help

DragnDrop · 04-08-05, 07:34 AM

If the hatchling is a normal sized one, not premature, then pinhead crickets are most likely too small for him to bother with. Get crickets that are a bit smaller than the width or length of his head. Some suppliers call them 2 weeks old, some say 1/4 inch, some have their own sizing description, so go by the size compared to the gecko's head.
I feed small mealworms to all baby leos too. For hatchlings, I pick out the tiny ones, just big enough for me to be able to pick them up. Don't use full sized or even half grown ones for a hatchling, but a bit smaller than half grown is okay. Put them in a coffee lid or the like with some food and the gecko will find them.
If you have too many crickets at a time where they're jumping all over the place, it could scare him into not eating. Just add 3 or 4 crickets at a time, enough to be noticed but not a mob. Confining him in a small container with them was bad advice, it probably just scared him more.

Newt · 04-08-05, 04:54 PM

well he hatched at 47 days so i dont know if hes a premie being hes the first one ive had hatch, he does seem small but ive never seen another to compare him too
i only got into geckos like 6 months ago and the 2 i had were supposably 2 females but the ppl were wrong, the male matured very slowly because he was malnuorished n starved
so i had to do alot of learning when i caught them "hugging" lol

Reptile Kings · 04-10-05, 03:31 PM

47 days in incubation is the norm, I doubt it's a premie. I would leave the crix in there for more than half an hour though, and try leaving the room, come back a couple hours later and see how many are left. I agree with Hilde though, get crix that are around the 1/4" size, and throw only a few in there, and see what happens.
Best of luck,
-Sam