Getting lil hatchling to eat?

Okay, the first lil hatchlinng left it's yoke in the egg when it hatched and it just shed for the first time...how do I get it to start eating on it's own from now on? It doesn't seem interested at all. I don't want to lose this one also since it's kinda skinny since it never had the nutrients that was supossed to be provided by the yoke.

Katie, I don't really know any tricks. What are you trying to feed and how are you doing it.
I always leave a dish of small mealies. I also offer 1/4 inch crickets. If they do not respond right away to the crickets, I try again later. Some take lomger than others, she''ll eat sooner or later.

Katie, Jeremy is right... sometimes they don't catch on for a day or two. They do not see well, so feeding them in the dark seems to work best. Also, they need to develop their eye-strike coordination!

I have small mealies in with my new babies too and they are eating them one less than the others and the one that hatched 2 days before the other 2 took longer to start eating. The first baby just would not eat til day 5 but the 2 that are 2 days younger ate on day 3.

I did put the dry hide right at the meaile dish so that when they come out of their hides the food is right there.
Good luck with the baby!

Also, they need to develop their eye-strike coordination!

This is sooooo true! The are fun to watch at a young age aren't they

Okay thanks! I'm feeding small meallies, I'll try some small crix just to see if it'll notice them more.

With some of my weaker hatchlings that I want to get feeding asap. I'll take a small cricket or mealie, rip off the head and squeeze out some guts. I'll offer it to the baby on forceps. Usually once the baby gets a lick of the guts, it'll grab it immediately.

-Alice

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

I'll take a small cricket or mealie, rip off the head and squeeze out some guts

ruthless...


mine usually eat 2-3 days after they shed, since their bellys are full of shed..

Originally Posted by Manhattan Herps

ruthless...

It works

Some babies, just seem slow to catch on. If they're already thin, from a lost yolk sac you don't necessarily have a lot of time to wait for them to come around. You can also try spraying the enclosure or letting them lick some water off a dropper. Babies can be stupid about the water bowl.

-Alice

Mealies offer a slight disadvantage I feel. Try a few small crickets with the hind legs removed. The extra movement sometimes triggers a feeding response better. Then switch back to mealies. Also you can try lowering the side walls of the mealworm dish so that the small hatchling has a better view point of the mealworms. This will most likely require you to gather up stray mealworms that have climbed out of the dish. Hope this helps.