Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First baby just hatched, one of Lupe's from 5-20. Not sure when, but I noticed at about 4AM. I set up the starter tank with paper towels instead of sand and half-toilet-tube caves instead of rock caves, but besides that it's pretty much just a small version of an adult's setup. The basking light isn't on yet, because it's on a 7AM to 10PM timer, but when it does click on I'm worried the warm spots may be too high up (about six inches.) Do they need to work their way up to jumping and climbing, or is it pretty much an imediate skill? Would it be a good idea to put an UTH under one corner of the floor, just in case?
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0.1 2006 Western Hognose (Bebe)
0.1 age unknown Cane Toad (Hengo)
0.1 2005 White-Banded Sheen Skink (Minerva)
1.0 2006 Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Queequeg)
1.0 2006 Madagascan Speckled "Hognose" (Sigmund)
1.0 2008 Bullsnake (Winkle)
1.2 2008 Eastern Collared Lizards (Pancho, Lupe, and Chica)

I took an 18"X18" black slate tile and leaned it in there diagonally. Easy to climb, the part near the light will heat up well, and it's big enough to provide a nice thermal gradient. The area that would be shaded by it gets extra illumination from the parent's tank, and the floor is pretty much unobstructed, just paper towels, half-toilet-tube caves, and a plastic lid with water.
S/he was just sitting in the corner kind of stunned by how big things are outside the egg. So I played with the temp gun for a while and once there was a spot over a hundred I herded him/her up into that vicinity and then backed off. S/he had a little bit of trouble handling the slanted surface, but not all THAT much. Should be okay, I guess.
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0.1 2006 Western Hognose (Bebe)
0.1 age unknown Cane Toad (Hengo)
0.1 2005 White-Banded Sheen Skink (Minerva)
1.0 2006 Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Queequeg)
1.0 2006 Madagascan Speckled "Hognose" (Sigmund)
1.0 2008 Bullsnake (Winkle)
1.2 2008 Eastern Collared Lizards (Pancho, Lupe, and Chica)

I usually keep the overall enclosure temp a little bit warmer for hatchlings than I do for adults, but use the same basking temps. Newborns have floppy legs and are a bit uncoordinated for the first few hours, but it doesn't take long at all for them to be just as agile as an adult. Congrats on your baby, you are going to have a really good time watching it grow up!
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Valerie

We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.--

God bless the USA

Got home last night and found another one. Very, very slightly smaller than the first, but much feistier. Bit me twice, just on the way from the incubator to the baby-tank four feet away.
They seem to like warm ground temperatures a little bit more than they like climbing the slate. They do go on it, but not constantly like an adult would. There's an undertank heater under one end that's set to turn on and off with the lights, so even if they want to hide in a tolet-paper cave they can still choose one at the warm end and get a slight metabolic boost... which encourages them to come out and run around. The bottom edge of the slate stays cool, so thermoregulation doesn't seem to be a problem. One thing they do both seem to like climbing is their little cardboard tunnel-caves. Apparently, when your head's smaller than a dime, that counts as high up.
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0.1 2006 Western Hognose (Bebe)
0.1 age unknown Cane Toad (Hengo)
0.1 2005 White-Banded Sheen Skink (Minerva)
1.0 2006 Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Queequeg)
1.0 2006 Madagascan Speckled "Hognose" (Sigmund)
1.0 2008 Bullsnake (Winkle)
1.2 2008 Eastern Collared Lizards (Pancho, Lupe, and Chica)