Need help with hatchling electric blue geckos- 3 died

[sarahjaynek]

Hi i posted awhile back bout vivs to keep hatchlings in. Well i managed to get hold of a small fish tank set it up with heatmat n canopy, i had alittle problem finding mesh that was fine enough so babies wouldnt escape from viv so i got some tall plastic containers drilled lots of little holes round the top on container and all around lid and pub layer of pea gravel, coco fiber and spragnum moss in bottom(Like adults have) and them placed them inside the fish tank so that the babies were secure but still had access to canopy.
3 of my eggs hatched I placed each of them into separate contained, unfortunately 1st one to hatch died after 7 days (He was very skinny), 2nd one to hatch died after 8 days and ive just looked in viv this morn and the 3rd ones dead after being really active late last night. I did notice though that the last two to hatch were from the same clutch and were having problems with moving their feet sometimes.
IM REALLY CONFUSED.....My questions are:
.is it normal to get alot of hatchlings dieing in 1st breeding season in dwarf geckos
.do you think i would be better puting all the hatchlings together in small fish tank instead of in separate containers-(If so where has every1 else got very fine mesh from)

Ow i fed my hatchling on hatchling crickets (ALthought they died very quickly) so i put alittle baby food in there aswell (thought they might like it seen as adults love it).I misted the containers once a day aswell.
My females being rested now.

Any advice apreciated.x

[naz_pixie]

as you said that one was very skinny and the other two had problems walking, you might want to list your incubation infomation/temps/lenghts ect, and the diet and suplimentaion of your adult females?

[sarahjaynek]

Adults are having a diet of Mini Meal Worms, 1st or 2nd Crickets and Organic Fruit Baby Food (Alternated day to day) and Suppliments they are having 5 days of Calci Dust and the other 2 days NutriBol.

Temp is usually around 25c during the day, first egg hatched after 88 days, 2nd egg hatched after 71 days and 3rd egg hatched after 74 days (Would the long incubation periods be due to lower temp because I've read it should be around 55 days average?)
They seemed to all hatch after I started leaving the Canopy Light on 24 Hours (I used to switch it off over night).

Thanks.

[suez]

the babies desicate very easily so humidity is very important.i would house babies together at room temp with only the uv lights for gentle heat untill they are a little older.dusted fruit fly fire brats micr crix and cgd are all good to feed

[sarahjaynek]

Hi, have since had 3 more Geckos Hatch which have been kept in the small tank (with pea gravel, coco fiber and spragnum moss in bottom) together as found a butchered pair of tights stretches nicely over the top of the tank so they can't escape. The Heat Mat switched off with just the Canopy on, They were fed on the powder Gecko Food and were mysted in the morning and evening. But they all eventually died aswell, and they all seemed to have troubles with their feet sticking on the glass and not being able to unstick them sometimes, I don't know if this is odd or it's just like everything else that they just gotta learn to walk?

Also the female is still in a seperate viv from the male resting but is still laying eggs, the 2 latest ones were laid today, this must be the 15th clutch and about the 5th clutch since she was seperated from the male. Is this normal? and surely having this many can't be too good for her?

[Paul P]

The trick to keeping babies alive is dont pamper them, put them in a smallish tank with a screen lid. Mist once in the morning and allow to dry out during the day.At this time of the year they dont need a heat source, place a uv bulb ontop so touching the mesh and that will suffice.

Yes they are tiny and skinny upon hatching but very adept at taking fruit flies and green fly when available. Avoid crickets if you can as they soon become to large for the baby willamsi and can then stress them out. Cgd is offered buy putting into small coke bottle tops and stuck to the sides of the viv at various heights by means of blue tack.
Avoid keep going into the viv to cause as little disturbance as you can.

Ive raised absolutly no end this way and they do grow rather quickly. No need to seperate them untill signs of sexes is obvious.