What I'm wondering about, has anyone had any hatchlings that simply would not / possibly could not eat on their own? Despite nothing visibly wrong with them? Despite trying every trick and patience?

What got me discouraged was that this one just would not want anything to do with any kind of food. Right from the start she would panic and try to get away from any food. Esp. live food. Even when I tried "barely moving" live food. She would always do nothing but try to get away. Same with f/t or even pre killed.

The assist feeding was also stressful with her/for her. The ones I assist fed before would give a bit of a struggle, but with the right technique and a lot of calmness and patience it would "click" for them and they would eventually move the food on their own without to much of an issue.

Not this one. She would fight and struggle and keep trying to get rid of the food. The "click" was very difficult to get with her. I'm glad she finally turned the corner, because I'm not sure I would have wanted to continue this. I wasn't sure anymore if I was helping or hurting, whether I should just let it go..