Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, so I have 3 conehead hatchlings. 3 out 5 eggs hatched in about 2 months from when they were laid. The incubation temperature was 84*f, which I think was too high as one of the other eggs had a fully formed dead baby in it.

Anyway, they are 4 days old and very active, but not eating yet. Does anyone know how long until they will eat? I know many lizards do not eat for up to a week after they hatch. I have been trying small (2 week) crickets. I have an 8.0 UV bulb on them. The warm side of the tank is about 86* with a basking spot about 88-90* and the cool end is around 82-84*f. The humidity is between 40-50%. I have water dripping into a fake plant and going into a large dish. They seem to enjoy licking the water from the plant. They are on paper towels and being misted a couple times a day. They have lots of skinny branches to climb on and the one large fake plant. The tank is a 20 high. Any suggestions on their care?

The mother laid 4 new eggs today. They are set up the same as the other ones were but temps will be a couple degrees lower. More like 80-82*f.

Thanks for any help

I think you might be right about the incubation temperatures being too warm. I always hatch mine at about 78 to 80F. I've had 100% hatchrate so far.

I think you might have the temperatures in the cage a little high too...don't forget that they have smaller bodies than the adults and can overheat easily.

What species of conehead are they...L. longipes or L. serratus?

Good luck with them!

I will lower the temperatures in their cage a little. I beleive they are L. longipes. Any tricks to get them to start eating? I am going to try catching some moths and see if they like those better than crickets. They watch the crickets but haven't tried any of them. They love being misted with water and are always hanging out under the drip. They are very active and alert too, very cute

I fed them pinhead crickets to start off with and they ate like pigs. It took them a day or two to get started after they came out of the egg though. You said yours were watching them...so it might be that they still aren't hungry enough (may still have a little of the yolk retained). Have you tried fruit flies?

Be careful with wild caught insects...they could have come in contact with pesticides and they can also carry parasites.

You said..."They are very active and alert too, very cute"...that they are! Hope they do well for you!

I hand fed them each a cricket today and they all ate theirs. Hopefully now they will start to eat on their own. I am incubating the new eggs at 78-80*f so hopefully there will be a better hatch rate this time around.

Glad to hear that they ate! Hope they do well for you and that you have 100% hatch rate with the next batch!

I don't know too much about lizards, but am learning quickly! My son brought home a conehead lizard a couple months ago and so far she seems to be thriving. Very alert and active and eating plenty of crickets. Recently we moved her to a larger enclosure b/c we read that the one we had her in wasn't tall enough though it did have climbing branches and plants. Now the enclosure is taller with more climbing opportuities. She adjusted great to the new space. When we moved her though, we found 4 eggs buried in the soil stuff we bought at pet-co. It came in a tightly packed "brick" which we soaked and until it came apart. We changed the soil stuff and just gently buried the eggs like how we found them. She had laid them on the side of the cage where the heat lamp was, so we put them back there. Only it probably won't be as warm since the heat lamp is higher now. At the pet store, she was with a larger conehead....possibly a male. But, she probably didn't lay the eggs until about 1 month after we got her. Do lizards just lay eggs, not fertilized, like chickens? What do you make of this and what should we do with the eggs? Thanks!

Put the eggs in an area that is about 78-80*f keep the eco earth (stuff in a brick that you soak and it expands) semi moist. Wait about 3 months and babies Although I think vermiculite is better than eco earth for eggs I have hatched things on eco earth. She may lay more cluthes. The female at the store has laid 2 so far.