The Littlest Leo

This little sucker hatched partway through day 30. I've never had one that tiny ( or at least don't recall one that small). The other egg in the clutch was a dud. Mom doesn't show signs of any more eggs so this would have been her last clutch - possibly why something went wrong here. The eggs were incubated at 80-82F so it wasn't a matter of excess heat. I have no clue what happened, now I've got to concentrate on getting this little guy eating. He's so tiny and fragile I'm afraid to try and get the incubation medium off him, he might just break. Since it's still sticking to him I'm thinking he hasn't done that initial shed yet, not a good sign. He can see perfectly and runs away when he sees me so at least those parts are working.



(The coin in the picture is a Canadian quarter, the same size as the U.S. version).

I tried to get him (her?) to lick a bit of very diluted yogurt, no luck at all. No licking, no screaming, just no reaction. I don't even know if he is developed enough for the digestive system to be working. It looked like almost the entire yolk was still inside the egg, he couldn't have much reserve to live off. He's so tiny there's no colour other than the white and roughed in patternless splotches. He could be a patternless or patternless albino, I can't tell yet. Any other preemies I've had were at least big enough to eat fruit flies but this guy probably wouldn't be able to catch them, flightless or not.

Tonight I'll dig out the old blender and whip up a batch of bug slurry. Hopefully I can get him to eat it.

Has anyone had a leo hatch that early and survive? Any tips about caring for him? For now I'm keeping him in a delicup in the incubator, at least he'll have even temperature and humidity in there.

Is it just me....or does it seem like a large number of really tiny babies are patties? I can think of maybe 6 leos that were about the same size....and I'm pretty sure more then 1/2 were patty.

I hope your little guy makes it!

I've always said that the patternless are the weakest links. If there is a group of leos and you told me one had a problem, I'd pick the patternless as being the one, no second thoughts. As beautiful as they are (my fave of all the leos), they're just as delicate. Surprisingly, I've found that patternless albinos are tough little troopers, even though they have 2 'genetic flaws' to deal with.

My LVPA seemed to hatch a little small as well. About 2.5 grams (although they spent the full 60 days). Most of my babies are larger (3-3.5 grams). I also noticed that the growth curve is slightly different, the LVPA is slightly slower than the rest. Notice the bottom two on the graph are LVPA, the rest various Hypo / Normal / Tangs.

I think that hatching at 30 days at 80 degrees is bound to have problem (much like a premature baby in humans). She/He's may not be fully developed internally... but you never know! I'd pull him/her out of the incubator and into a little warmer environment, as it may help him/her become more active, and possibly stimulate eating and growth. Keep trying the slurry and let us know!

Here's the graph, sorry for the small spikes, sometimes I measured before, sometimes I measured after eating.

Good luck with that little one. I know little about geckos, but your leo is really pretty, I hope it survives, please keep us updated.

Good luck with the baby, I had a full term albino that hatched at less than 2 grams (my scale goes by 2's) and she shed and starting eating fine, just growing slower than others that hatched at larger weights the same day.

I hope he makes it! He is a cute one!

Thanks for the good wishes, everyone.
He's 2 days old and still alive, no improvement but no decline either. There's no way he's going to lick anything, not even plain water. He might be licking some condensation from the delicup, I try to keep some droplets there in case he's too shy to lick what I offer him. The temperature in that incubator is 85-88F, should be okay for him. I guess as long as he doesn't dehydrate he might just make it until he decides to eat.
Looking at him from the side shows just how thin he is - there's no belly to him, it caves in just behind his ribs. If he had some yolk reserve I would think there'd be a tiny bulge or beer-belly but that's not the case.
Right now I try feeding him 3 times a day, don't want to stress him too often. I just wish he'd start licking some of the slurry.

Hilde, so far everyuthing sounds normal, they normally do not start to eat until the first shed around day 3. I would not stress the baby out from trying to slurry him before he is ready to eat. I have only had a very few eat anything before they shed, its normally after the first shed.

I mist them 6 times a day lightly and place the mealies in at the end of day 2 just in case, and they normally shed day 3 to 3 1/2 and start to eat that evening. Then I cut the mistings back to 4 times a day until they are about 8 weeks old.

With 'normal' hatchlings, I don't worry if they don't eat the first few days, they've absorbed all or most of the yolk. This guy didn't get much, if any of the yolk to see him through the first few days, it looked like almost the whole yolk was still in the shell. That's why I'm in a panic worrying whether to try to get some food into him soon or not. I really don't know if he has any reserves to draw on for the next few days and he's not about to tell me either, stubborn little goof that he already is
On the brighter side, I did see him lick a drop of water a while ago, so his mouth and tongue work and he has some instinct kicking in.