Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sorry for all the posts lately but have a lot of questions. I had my first egg hatch last Thursday so the little guy is one week old. I have a good set-up. Small tank with UTH so that the warm side is about 92 and the ambient is 82 or so. I have a tiny moist cup, a tiny warm-side hide, a cool side hide and a tiny water dish (bottle cap). I have not seen her shed but she spent the first 3 days this week in the moist hide and is now in the warm not moist hide. She has deficated twice and one was kinda green (they say like after shed). I have about 5 1/4" crickets in there but I don't think she has eaten many if any. Can you offer mealies? They seem too big? Any other suggestions. She seems alright other than that. This is just my first hatchling and I want to make sure I am doing everything right. Thanks
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Jessica

0.1.0 Sharpei-Husky mix...all attitude
0.0.1 Ball Python
2.2.0 Corn Snakes
1.1.0 Leopard Gecko
1.0.0 Blotched Tiger Salamander
...and a saltwater tank!

Okay, you want to take all those crickets out ASAP. They will only stress her out. Some hatchlings (what I read) some hatchlings won't eat until after the first shed.

Mealies come in all sizes and should be okay for her, but if you can find some baby superworms then those would be best because the shells are not as hard as mealies. But that's a longshot.

I think your temps may be like 2 or 3 degrees high, but that shouldn't affect anything, as my temps go from 65-100 on some given days.

If she's a blizzard or albino try to keep her surroundings as dark as possible. Only feed her at night/evening time, thier eyes are extremely light sensitive. Other than that you should be okay.

The smaller mealworms shell isnt as hard, so yes you can feed them that. Don't give them superworms as babies because they have a lot more chitin than baby mealworms.

I'm such an overprotective mother too, so I understand!

"Ideal" temperatures are 72-76 F. cool side and 90-92 maximum on the warm side (I do know a few people who do 92-94, but that's less popular).

But I like to keep my baby leos at slightly more consistent temperatures, a little less variation - 90F for the humid hide (on warm side) And I keep their hides simple (toilet paper rolls) and mist the tank often.

I think leos shed 2-4 days after hatching. They eat the shed and the yolk of their egg also keeps them from getting hungry. Don't feed crickets yet because hatchlings are so delicate. Feed meal worms 1 inch long maximum. Or the small mealies if you like.

I think he/she will be just fine. Its stressful trying to figure out life! Just let him/her be (don't handle) and keep tabs on her daily behaviour (ie, how much eaten, poop quality, etc)
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Too many Leos
1.0 feline "Spot"
0.1 canine "Tika"

Congrats on your baby I too am raising my 1st pair of hatchlings, they are 3 weeks old today. As soon as I realized my Cleo was going to be a momma I started reading everything I could find. Both my babies shed at 5 days old, which is average. A majority of the care sheets & things said to not give them any food items until after they shed. Both my babies started eating at 6 days old. Everything I read said that the small 1/4" crickets (dusted of course) were good to start with, which is what I used. Both my babies went right after them no problem. But it is important to remove any crickets that aren't eaten. I give them about 30 minutes to eat before I remove the extra crickets. At 3 weeks old they each eat between 10-12 crickets a day. I do provide mealies (I dig through the batch & find the smaller ones) but they didn't start eating them right away, in the past week or so they have started eating them at night, I find the bowl empty in the morning LOL Both have at least doubled in size & their tails are fattening up nicely. And Momma just laid another clutch of eggs yesterday !! (one egg is HUGE LOL) Oh yeah, be sure you provide a calcium dish. Good luck