Hatchling Feeding

[NJ Balls]

How long does it usually take for a new hatchling to start eating? I have six from my first clutch, two of them have already eaten twice and the other four have no interest in food. It's been about a month. I'm using F/T rat pinkies but I'm thinking about using live.

[StillBP]

Live hopper mice are like candy to a hatchling. I always offer a live hopper and 99% take it first try

[Squirtle44]

+1 for trying live for the first few meals. Should fix the problem.

[Hannahshissyfix]

I start my babies on ft rat pinks. Can you explain your method of offering the food? Sometimes changing that is all it takes. If it's been a month you could always try a mouse hopper but it's not totally unusual for some to take a little longer to get started. Sometimes after getting the first meal in them it's like it finally clicks how to eat and then they go right to the ft. I have a few week old clutch that has 1 that hasn't eaten and I plan to assist later while others are up to meal 4/5. I'd say getting babies started is one of the bigger tests in who will stick around as breeders and who didn't plan for the pickiness and gets frustrated. As a future note, if a baby has a late start eating I keep it a few months longer because I'm overly protective and don't want it to go to a new home unless it's been consistently eating on it's own. I'm not a fan of the people that don't care after it's had 2-3 meals and are willing to stress it with being sold.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

It can take a while 6 to 8 weeks in some cases, the problem is that it is a viscous circle, the later they start eating the less they really want to eat, so getting them started quickly is really important

Generally speaking if something failed 2 weeks in a row you want to try another prey item.

The best prey items for an hatching to get started are hopper mice, you get a much higher success rate when using hoppers as first meal and switching thereafter.

With hoppers my success rate of hatchlings eating first time offered is about 98%