Last fall, I came home to see my newest clutch pipping. I'm just a small time breeder/hobbyist, so I was very shocked to see this crazy golddust stripe tessera pipping. At first I thought it must be twins, but quickly realized it was something else.
He came out of the egg on his own and didn't have any kinks or deformities in his body, but he seemed quite lethargic. I figured he would probably die overnight, but I set him up anyway. In the morning, he was still alive!
He continued to survive the next several days and arrived at the next milestone - his first shed. I was worried about how he'd be able to get the shed off from the middle eyes. I waited until all his clutchmates had completed their sheds and then very gently rubbed his face with a damp paper towel. His shed peeled back really easily and he removed the rest of it on his own. Since then, he's had 4 or 5 sheds with zero assistance. They're always complete too, with nothing left on him, and never in pieces.
As for feeding, I didn't really expect much from him and he hasn't eaten completely on his own yet. He does show interest and will readily accept an assist feed where I put the prey in his mouth and then he does the rest. So I'm hopeful that he will eventually be able to eat entirely on his own as well. I supplement his assist feeds with tube feeding, just to make sure he's getting enough calories. Both mouths are able to eat and swallow. It's hard to take a video of him eating, but here's one video of him eating a gecko:
I really hope he continues to do well! I'll post updates here as well.
He came out of the egg on his own and didn't have any kinks or deformities in his body, but he seemed quite lethargic. I figured he would probably die overnight, but I set him up anyway. In the morning, he was still alive!
He continued to survive the next several days and arrived at the next milestone - his first shed. I was worried about how he'd be able to get the shed off from the middle eyes. I waited until all his clutchmates had completed their sheds and then very gently rubbed his face with a damp paper towel. His shed peeled back really easily and he removed the rest of it on his own. Since then, he's had 4 or 5 sheds with zero assistance. They're always complete too, with nothing left on him, and never in pieces.
As for feeding, I didn't really expect much from him and he hasn't eaten completely on his own yet. He does show interest and will readily accept an assist feed where I put the prey in his mouth and then he does the rest. So I'm hopeful that he will eventually be able to eat entirely on his own as well. I supplement his assist feeds with tube feeding, just to make sure he's getting enough calories. Both mouths are able to eat and swallow. It's hard to take a video of him eating, but here's one video of him eating a gecko:
I really hope he continues to do well! I'll post updates here as well.