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I got a short horned female, She has been eating VERY well and enjoys time out of the cage. Though she seemed a bit fat when she was "unpuffed" We thought she was just eating well.
This morning I noticed a single baby half buried in the sand. On further inspection we found another live baby, a deceased one still in the sac and another that was partially in the sac but dead also. They were apparently live births. How do i care for a lizard the size of my thumb nail?
Any suggestion would be helpful!

Order yourself some fruitflies right away. They are small enough for them to eat. Some very tiny crickets are also in order. What kind of climate do you live in? There are some small ants that are also suitable but they won't eat just any kind.

I've found this to be a good source for crickets and they have very quick delivery. http://www.millbrookcrickets.com/ourproducts_crickets.html

Fruitflies: http://drosophila.herpetology.com/
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www.phrynosoma.com

I live in Chandler AZ i have them set up in a 20 gal with a 100 watt heat lamp and uv light. i bought some pin head crickets but they seem to be more afraid then interested in them.

i was also wondering what temp to keep the babies at on the basking end. I kept the adult female's basking area at 95-100 and the cooler end at an ambient temp(79)should i supply him with a water dish? all the imformation you can give me about newborns would be awesome!
thnx,
Ashley

I have had these drink from a dish but it is better to try an eye dropper. Put a drop on their nose. And they won't like it at first, but if you keep doing it they will drink. Eventually they'll really take to it. The water should be the same temp as their cage. And your temps sound fine.
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How are those HL's doing for you? Eating well?
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Phrynosoma.Com

Also you have a few days as when they are first born they may not eat right away anyway, and they often have an some strength to sustain them for a day or two after birth. You may have others burried in the sand as well. Something that is painstaking but may work, is to open your grarge and attact some flies inot the garage and then get a fly swater and knock them down but not kill them and put them in. Usually flies are different sizes and a small fly may be platible or if you can find some very tiny spiders or other insects, again if they are too big they can choke on them. As a ruke I would think soimething about a 1/4 to 3/8 the size of their heads would be o.k.(stick to the 1/4 to be safe) When you feed the crickets just put one or two in at a time so they don't stress out. I know this sounds gross, but I have taken a broom stick from a broom and stuck a cricket or fly on it and they have eaten off of that, as long as they kick thier legs and move a little to attract the HL to the insect. Just slip it up to them. This has worked for me with babies before..Might try it.
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Phrynosoma.com

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signature file edited. [phw 11/14/04]

The more active of the two is not eating and now appears lathargic. He does not open his eyes and runs blindly. He also runs with his head down trying to burrow. It appears that his eyes are sealed shut. This is perplexing because yesterday he was alert and active with his eyes open. The larger of the two is eating well and is very active. We are feeding fruit flies.
PLEASE HELP

I've never heard of this kind of behavior before. Perhaps someone else can chime in.

Can I ask what general area these were collected in?
Thanks
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The female that gave birth was collected in the White mountains of Arizona

Any possibility that the little blind one has some of the egg sack material dried on the eyes? You might take a q-tip wet it and see if you can gently clean the eye on both side and see if you get some results. I would hate to think this is a birth defect issue. Usually this is rare. Obviously they depend on sight, and wanting to bury probably is a protective reponse to it's own insecurity if it can't see.
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Phrynosoma.com

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signature file edited. [phw 11/14/04]

He was acting normally the first day. This behavior started when he was two days old. He can use one of his eyes now that we swabebd it, We got him to feed on ants. The other is growing and has started feeding on fruit flies and crickets as well as the ants. Though the blind one is very small do you think if he gets to feeding well that he will make it?

while he is little you might help him by either putting the feeders in the fridge for 10 minutes to slow them down, or pull thier legs off, or use the broom straw thing, if he can see through one of the eyes he should do o.k., I just don't understand the other eye though. If they were both bad then I want to think birth defect, but since he can see throuigh one, I wonder still if there is some other explanation. Nothing you can observe? YOu might get a big magnifying glass and take another look at that bad eye. You might take a forcep and gently try and open that eye, he won't like that but maybe you can observe something else. But for all intensive purpose, as long as the one eye is good, I believe he has a very good chance of making it, but you might need to help him from time to time just to be sure he's getting what he needs. As cable pointed out earlier, keep him well hydrated as best as you can also. The short horns usually take more water than others....Sounds like your doing a good job so far. The only other thing I am going to throw out on the table is this--what kind of substrate do you have in your cage? I ask this because I know some people use a real fine sand called reptile sand or something like that and it is very fine and comes in colors, if your using that, I would recommend that you buy playsand from home depot. It is cleaned and very cheap and comes in a 50lb bag and makes excellent HL substrate as opposed to other. Another possibility but very remote--shooting in the dark here---IF your female is Wild Caught, then check her closely to see if she has any mites. There is a mite that is grey in color and congregates around the eyes and looks like a fine grey crust and usually is in the corners of the eyes if such was there they could possibly have hitched a ride on the little one as they are opportunists. It is good always if you have a wild caught to spray it with a mite spray, just a long shot thought but probably not likely..................
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Phrynosoma.com

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signature file edited. [phw 11/14/04]

We cant see any debris or mites on the eye. We sprayed the mother with mite relief when we got her home so i dont think it's mites.
We are collecting ants from a large hill in the desert between queen creek and florence. We feed the female harvester ants, but im not sure what kind the smaller ones are they are black and are smaller than an eighth of an inch. They love them.
The larger one is feeding readily and is not fearful of us unless we touch him. But the smaller one burrows as soon as the cage is opened.
We are using calcium sand it is alot coarser than the fine repti-sand.

Another thing i wanted to ask you is...are they territorial? They exchange pushups the the larger one will stalk up to the little one and bite his rear.

This isn't related to the eye issue, but what kind of ants are you feeding them and how many are they eating each day?
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