Freshly shed Pastels and a couple questions

[FireStorm]

I woke up to two freshly shed little Pastels this morning, and I thought I'd share a couple pics. I also have a couple questions for you guys.

1)I offered them rat pinks this evening, and they checked them out but decided they weren't interested. Should I try mouse fuzzies in a couple of days? Some people have told me to feed rat pinks and others have suggested mice, so it's a bit of a toss up right now. I kinda think mouse hoppers might be too big since these guys only weigh 52-60g.

2)As you can see, the little normal girl hasn't even gone into shed yet. Should I be worried? She hatched Jul. 8, so I'd like to get her feeding.

3)The two girls are thinner than I was expecting, but I've never seen brand new hatchlings before they started feeding so I don't have much to compare to. What do you guys think of them - am I just worrying too much? (The Pastel with the connected eye stripe and the Normal are the girls).

In case anyone's wondering about my setup, here it is: They're in shoeboxes in a rack on paper towels. Temps are 88-90 hot and 78-80 cool (checked w/tempgun). I gave them little cardboard box hides, but they seem to prefer hiding under crumpled up paper towels. And, of course, they have deli cup water dishes.

Sorry this was so long, but I really appreciate the help.
Thanks,
Shelly

[Pink Lady Exotics]

They look like normal hatchlings to me, and their weights are fine. As for not eating, I had 3 clutches this year and not a single one of them ate right after shedding. They all needed at least 5-7 days after shedding to calm down, settle in, and be willing to eat...some took even longer. I also made sure to offer the prey in complete darkness so they wouldn't stress.

I fed mouse hoppers to all of mine, and all my babies were 55-69g. None of them had any trouble with them. I don't think rat pinks would work well because they aren't big enough to give off much of a heat signature and don't have any fur to retain the rat smell and signal that it's food. Try hoppers in a few days and see how that goes.

[FireStorm]

Thanks Jen! I'll stop worrying now (I'll try, anyways :) ). All the hatchlings I've bought were a few months old, so I was surprised at how tiny these guys were. I'll give them a few more days and try feeding them again.

Thanks again,
Shelly

[NorthernRegius.com]

Hoppers have more movement & aren't all the big. They would be fine BUT wait at least 5 days so you don't have them stressing by offering food too often. I scent my hoppers with soiled rat beding & after the 2nd or 3rd meal, you can then try rat pups which don't move as much. I think the babies need the movement more, along with scent & heat signature.
All The Best- Deb

[DThomas]

All of my hatchlings (6 total) took rat pinks with no problem. I prefer to get them on rats right away so I have no problems in the furture trying to get them off of mice. They hatched at the end of May and are all on rat fuzzies and crawlers now.

[FireStorm]

All of my hatchlings (6 total) took rat pinks with no problem. I prefer to get them on rats right away so I have no problems in the furture trying to get them off of mice. They hatched at the end of May and are all on rat fuzzies and crawlers now.

That's why a breeder I know locally suggested rat pinks. He starts most of his hatchlings that way. Maybe I'll give pinks one more try before I try hoppers. They've been a lot more active since they shed, so hopefully they're getting hungry. I'll probably give them until Thurs. and try feeding them again.

Thanks for the help everybody!