Hatchlings eating

[crazytanak]

I was wondering when do hatchllings normally start eating CGD on their own? One is 2 weeks old today and the other is 3 days old. I can get the younger one to lick it a little when i hold him up to the dish, i cant get the other one to lick it.  I havent really noticed any poo, but they are so smale im not sure if i would notice it anyway.

So when should they start eating it on their own, at what point should i worry?

[zuk450]

i usually wait untill they are about 4 days old before i start putting CGD in their containers. my hatchlings that are 8 weeks old are eating/pooping machines, the ones that are 4 weeks old are staring to have little gecko "turds" show up in the containers so I am confident they are eating now too. in my collection the babies never really eat much, but they are usually eating on their own by 2 or 3 weeks. just keep providing fresh food and water for them and they'll get it eventually.

are you keeping them on paper towels or newspaper? I hate the look of paper towels as substrate, but I keep my hatchlings on paper towels until they are 3-4 months old so i can easily monitor their eating /pooping habits, once i think they are doing good i change them to eco earth (i dont feed live insects, so impaction isnt really an issue)

[crazytanak]

I have them on reptile carpet, its kinda like felt. It looks better then paper towels, holds moisture better, but you can still see poo really easy.

I guess ill just keep offering it to them. They are active and look healthy so i guess they are ok

[Heather]

I've never had a hatchling starve itself. But the little guys don't eat much, and the ppops are tiny and dry out fast (becoming even tinier) The repti carpet I've seen would be easy to not see hatchling poo. I always use paper towel for hatchlings but occasionally I have environmental guilt about it.

[crazytanak]

i actually walked in and found one of them laying a rather large sized poo for such a little guy! haha ew. i can actually see the poo on the carpet pretty well just because it is raised off the carpet. Im not bashing paper towels of course.

im not too worried as they both seem healthy and dont look skinny

[crazytanak]

Ive been finding more little poos in the cage so that means the little guys were eating on their own the whole time

[samanthajane13]

Yup!!

If they're pooping, they're eating!!