Help with an early bird crestie

[shimmer]

Ok I just had an egg hatch at 45 days and need to know how to get the little one to start eating crested gecko diet.

[BallPythons9]

I only have one crested that I bought as an adult, so I don't know much about the care of babies, but maybe you could try letting him sit in your hand and have some diet in a spoon or lid, then gently put some of the diet on his nose. Usually they will lick it off and maybe when he is licking it off you can hold his mouth up to the food and see if he licks it and then starts eating it from there. Mine was hard to switch over to diet at first, but this worked. I'm guessing that as a baby he may be a bit timid, just try not to grab onto him or threaten him in any way. Just be still and quiet and let him sit on your hand. Also it may help not to stare directly at him. Hope this helps

[blackcrystal22]

Put a bit on the nose.
They eat very little remember, so you may not notice if the eat the diet or not. Just keep putting it out and putting a bit on the nose every once in a while.

[mlededee]

What temperature are you incubating at? 45 days is extremely early for a crested to hatch out.

Does it seem ok structurally and developmentally? You don't need to worry about feeding it for the first few days as it should still be getting nutrition from absorbing the yolk sack (hopefully that all happened correctly in this case). After that, start it on very thin and soupy CGD as this is easier for babies to eat than thicker diet. Use a very shallow feeding dish--something that the gecko can practically walk into (I use deli cup lids). You can also do as mentioned above and place a tiny bit on the gecko's nose for it to lick off, but sometimes babies are very skittish about this right after they hatch out so it may take several feedings for it to be comfortable with you doing that. Make sure to handle this one as little as possible though for the first few weeks--it is likely more delicate than the normal hatchling and the less stress the better.

I would also keep the enclosure very humid for the first few weeks for this little one. Not only do hatchlings need higher humidity, but in my experience hatchlings that are a little early or on the small side do better with a more humid environment while they get started.

[shimmer]

I had my incubator on 80F. The baby seems fine but it's sibling was pretty messed up. The egg deveoped a yellow spot that same night and found the hatchling this morning. The okay one is being keep very humid with twice a day mistings and moss clumps. The hum stays around 90-95% and the temps are 78-80. I planed on keeping this one under a close eye and a warm, humid environment.

[mlededee]

Turn the temps down in your incubator, as 80 is too hot for cresteds. 78 should be about the max temp for incubation. Higher temps cause them to develop and hatch too quickly which can cause serious problems. Lower temps let them develop at a more regular pace and hatch out as larger and healthier babies. Even a few degrees will make a huge difference.

Generally speaking, room temperature is fine for incubating cresteds, so you don't need a heated incubator at all. Even if your temps get into the mid to upper 60s during the cooler months the eggs will be fine--they will just take longer to hatch (which is not a bad thing at all).

[Mettle]

I totally agree with Emily.

No one that I know who breeds rhacs uses incubators. It is simply not needed. Anything below 50 days is far too soon for a crestie to be hatching. I've had babies take over 100 days and have heard of ones taking up to 150. These babies, however, all come out huge and healthy which is really nice.

[DavidG]

My room hit periods of mid-high 60s during incubation. It also get in the high 70s when the AC was goofing up. My eggs for both extremes. The baby hatched out fine. They are quite tough. I know a guy who dropped several eggs from different parents as he was carrying them to incubate. All hatched.

[bad-one]

I agree 100% with the incubation at room temperature, 80F is no good.

A good rule is that if you start seeing poop, you know it's eating! Can't have one without the other