Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all... i have had very bad luck this breeding season. I have had 4 babies born and to date 2 are still living. One was a premie but seems to be doing very well now. The other all appeared to come out healthy but after their sheds they never ate and passed on.
I just do not get it. i bred one baby last year ( first clutch for my female ever) and she was a cake walk. This year is just different and I do not know what i am doing wrong.

For one thing none of the babies can shed on their own. I have a moist hide and I mist the cage in the morning and at night and still they cant get their sheds off. Temperature is 86-90 degrees. Water in the tank, plenty of hides... i am at a loss...

Can someone be so kind to give me thier input and maybe step by step procedures for when a little leo is born to when they are "healthy".

I am afraid one of the newer ones is going to die. She seems weak and possibly blind. We helped her shed by soaking her the other day and this big white glob came out of her eye. It did not look like an eye or anything but it did not look right either... Right now I am hydrating her with a syringe and feeding her baby food...I am really desperate at this point....

please help!

Hi. I'm sorry to hear about your loss and the probles you are having. This may sound like a stupid question, but where did you get the parents? Are they related (sister and brother, Parent and ofspring) Also what temps are you incubating at?
Everything that you are doing sounds right.
Emily
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2.4.2 leopard geckos
1.1 ferrets (Oliver and Delilah)
1. budgie (Max)
0.0.1 Ring neck Parakeet (Kiwi)
1.1 German Shepards (Jake and Abigail)

www.freewebs.com/thespottedgecko

The Parents are not inbred. the Female is a jungle the male is a High yellow lavendar purchased at different times and different breeders.

I am incubating at 83 degrees in hopes of getting females. Besides the preie when all 4 came out they appeared healthy and energetic but withing days lost that energy and 2 havee died...

Have you breed before... From hatch to healthy leo what steps do you take? enclosure? temps hides.. All this stuff would be helpful to me. i think i am doing everything right but some how the outr come has been rather depressing...

thanks for your response emily...

Jon

Everything you are doing sounds in order. Make sure you have a temp gradient in the enclosure low 70's cool side on up to 88-90* hot side. Also good idea to make small moist hides at each end of temp gradient. One of the biggest mistakes people make with the hatchlings is bothering them too much, not saying you are, but they need time to acclimate. They are generally pretty hardy little buggers. When a gecko hatches out I leave it in the incubator for 24 hours or so. I move it to a small sweaterbox rack, each housed by itself! I use petri dishes for a water dish & the lid to the petri dish for calcium. I put in small mealies (into calcium dish & mist the hides daily (actually at night). I clean out the cage weekly, using paper towel as a substrate. When I feed & change out the water I always look for poop. One of the biggest indicators of an animal's health is the feces, very gross, but true. If your gecko is finding its way around & not bumping into things & seems to be aware of your presence, it probably isn't blind. I hope I covered everything, if not just ask.

you did answer everything.. thank you... unfortunately for me I am doing everything right so I am still at a loss for why my leos are dying when they come out appearing healthy.
As for her being blind... I just do not know yet. I thought the premie was blind too because the eyes were never opened but now she is extremely alert. This newer one used to have wide eyes (at least at birth) and not I cant see anything and she is not all that alert...I am just crossing my fingers as that appears its all i can do!

Thanks for your input and help!

Tae only thing i could think of......
What size tank are you houseing them in? Babies seem to do best in small enclosers. I keep all mine in a shoebox rack now, since i have so many, but in previous years I have used those small criterkeepers with a heat pad and even a 10 gallon tank divided in half.
I can't think of a reason you are loseing them, The only thing I suggest if they aren't already housed by themselves in a small encloser (a 5 gallon would work well) seperate them and try that.
I keep my hatchlings boxes very simple just a small humid hide papertowels and a toilet paper roll, mealie and water dishes.

Maybe they have some internal problem, have they all been from the same female?
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Sarah H