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TINY Hatchling :(

Fuzzoodle

Fuzzoodle

New member
On Sunday a friend of mine picked up a lovely opal stripe baby as a gift from an expo for my fiance and I. When we got him from the guy my first thought was "Omigosh D: he's soo tiny!!"

But I figured maybe I just wasn't used to seeing babies cause I haven't had hatchlings for a year now. Got him home and weighed him and...

HE ONLY WEIGHS 3 GRAMS!!

Apparently he's 1-2 months old, and has been feeding well... I don't think so though, there's no way he's been eating well, I don't even think he's been eating at all. Apparently the vendor had 20 or so corns that were all super tiny... The one we got was the best looking of the bunch.
Looked up some reviews online about the vendor and a lot of them were VERY negative.

Offered him a half of a small pink last night (after giving him a little over 24 hours to settle in) and he wanted nothing to do with it :( Left him in the quiet/dark in a cup with it for 3 hours.

So basically I'm curious- has anyone had a hatchling this small survive? Our smallest last year hatched out at 5 grams... But she ate for me and even though she was a slow grower she did grow.

How often should I try feeding him? I'm anxious to try and get some weight on him but know that constant offerings can stress them out and turn them off food even more.

(Attached is a quick, not-great cellphone pic of him I grabbed last night.)
 
wow.... My uncle helped raise up a tiny little guy, about that size. Fed it Pinkie heads. What is your plan? Hopefully you can get him to be a big boy!
 
Wow! That is tiny! I noticed many very tiny corns at the expo I went to as well. Good luck with him and keep us posted.
 
My plan is pinky heads on a 5 day schedule (do you think 4 days would be pushing it?) until he's 6-ish grams, then small pinks until he's about 9 grams then regular pinks and so on... Provided he eats at all =/ I'm really hoping he's not a non-feeder... I'm scared of losing him cause he's so tiny and doesn't seem to want to eat. Hopefully he just needs some more time to settle in... Was thinking of offering food again tomorrow, or do you guys think that would be too soon? (Last offer was Monday evening)
 
Mongo was very tiny when she came out of the egg. However, she never had any issues feeding, but we did have to start her out on pinkie heads. Hopefully in a few more days, after settling in, it will eat for you. :)

Mongo was less than 3 grams when she hatched out.
 
Fleury came home at just under 4 grams. He is tiny. He ate a live pink after putting him in a meal worm container for about 30 mins. He has eaten 3 times now and just shed. I would give him a little bit more time to get use to his new home then try again.
 
Had a set of twins hatch out this season. Both are 3 grams. One has a kinked neck and probably won't be able to eat, but the other one just had two extra small pinkie heads. I plan on feeding it again after it fully digests its first meal.
 
My Nautley was 4 grams when she arrived her. I fed her day-old pinks. If you try a f/t pink cut in half lengthwise and thawed in *really* hot water, it might take it.
 
I would feed pink heads and treat him just like any other hatchling. Carol's Mrs. Buttersworth was 2g when she got her at Daytona last year, and she is well over 200 grams now.
 
I have a hatchling here named worm that size. She eats like a trooper. The smaller ones do make us worry more but with patience and care most will do fine.
 
I had an isty bitsy little guy hatch last year, I think he was a twin because I found a slit egg that had a second tiny baby in it (DIE) still in the membrane. She ate just fine though, she did regurge her first meal from the size of the pinkie but ate the next one just fine (didn't know about all that regurge protocol then! ha). Good luck!
 
Fuzzoodle said:
My plan is pinky heads on a 5 day schedule (do you think 4 days would be pushing it?) until he's 6-ish grams, then small pinks until he's about 9 grams then regular pinks and so on... Provided he eats at all =/ I'm really hoping he's not a non-feeder... I'm scared of losing him cause he's so tiny and doesn't seem to want to eat. Hopefully he just needs some more time to settle in... Was thinking of offering food again tomorrow, or do you guys think that would be too soon? (Last offer was Monday evening)
Click to expand...

Good plan. IME, if they're accepting then 4 days will probably not be an issue, especially with your "size-appropriate" plan.
 
I wouldn't worry about pink heads on a four day schedule. Only if he is active by that time, though! I'd expect to see him active after feeding within 24-48 hours.
 
I've hatched out a few 3-4 gram babies, lavenders seem to be really bad for that -even the eggs are round and tiny. I treat them like any other corn, just offer them what they can handle (heads/parts) until they can take an XS pink. I'd definitely try scenting/braining/deli cupping/you name it before assist feeding.
 
So it's been just over a week since we got him. We've tried feeding him every two days or so and still no go. Tried just a head, tried a brained/slit pink, and last night he spent the night in a cup with a live pinky... Still wants nothing to do with eating :(

How long can a baby this size go without eating?
 
He might be able to go several weeks, depending on how long it's been since he's hatched. It is REALLY simple to feed him a section of mouse tail, though. I'd give him about a 1-2" section. You just get it started and most babies will go ahead and swallow. If not, you can gently coax it down. You can maintain a baby on tails every 3-4 days for quite a long time, and hope the feeding instinct kicks in. I generally leave a pink head with the baby overnight, and if he doesn't eat that, then force feed a tail the next night, and wait three or four days.
 
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