jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I really could use some advice.
Pictured is a baby quad quad hatched around December 6th. He is from a clutch that I bred. Fourteen eggs laid to a very young pair of wild caughts, imported the first week of February. Eggs laid June 27th. Female was 21g when I bought her the end of February, 50g when I witnessed a breeding in May. Male was 13g when I bought him at the same time, and around 37g when I witnessed a breeding.
Of the 12 eggs laid, two went bad but 10 developed. Eight babies hatched, one baby was in trouble right out of the shell with a huge egg yolk. He was separated and kept in a safe moist environment. He died after a few days as expected. One egg pipped but died in the shell. A third egg died before pipping or might have possibly made one cut in the egg.
So, 10 eggs developed full term babies, 8 eggs hatched and one died soon after hatch leaving me with 7 babies.
This baby pictured always looked really runty right out of the egg. Don't forget I have only seen this clutch and the gracilior clutch--I don't have any real experience. I separated him from the others into his own Dragonstrand nursery cage within a few days of hatching. I expected him to die. He was barely eating and not growing.
None of them made me happy, so I tried adding a bit of heat and they all seemed to have perked up. The group in the big cage have all started growing and I am starting to be happy with them. I have a thermometer in the runty one's cage away from any lights and near the top. The temps are in the low 70s. The cage is misted more than 8 times a day depending on what I see. I have an automatic mister that runs for at least 15 seconds (up to a minute) 8 times a day, plus I will mist more if I don't like what I see.
I was in to see my vet a long time ago--could it have been a month ago?--and talked to her about this baby. I think at that time he was starting to occasionally breathe with his mouth open. We discussed treating him with antibiotics and whether or not I should even bother. I decided to let nature take its course, expecting the baby to die. He didn't.
He's grown a tiny bit--today's weight was a pathetic 1.;28 grams, and yes, I do have a scale that is that accurate--and moves around as if it is somewhat healthy. He is still not eating a lot and occasionally breathing through its mouth but it is actually looking better. He shed two days ago. An hour ago I took him outside in the afternoon sun to give him a bit of sun and take pictures. I misted him throughout to make sure he didn't dehydrate. I am hoping some real sun will perk him up, although he is reasonably perky, just not growing a lot or eating a lot.
When I started this post, I went to his cage to check the temperature and found him up on the ceiling sunning himself under the lights. He acts healthy except he looks stunted and occasionally breathes through his mouth. He is not overheated.
I expected him to die weeks ago, but he hasn't and is starting to look better--except for the open mouth.
My thoughts are that the wild caught quads were nutritionally challenged after import and the female did not have a great reserve of nutrition to give her eggs. She had grown very fast in my care and nothing I feed can compare to wild caught insects nutritionally.
I would greatly appreciate thoughts on this baby. I really expected him to die weeks ago. I do not want to go to any heroics to try to save him--that does nothing for the gene pool to save weak animals. If he were a gracilior, I might feel differently since there are so few in the US.
From the pictures attached, he doesn't look too bad. He does strike me as not having the right proportions for his age (6 weeks) and could do with more food in his belly. I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions. I think 6 good babies out of 10 eggs that developed to term is a very poor result. Thanks for your feedback.
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This is him breathing with his mouth open.
Pictured is a baby quad quad hatched around December 6th. He is from a clutch that I bred. Fourteen eggs laid to a very young pair of wild caughts, imported the first week of February. Eggs laid June 27th. Female was 21g when I bought her the end of February, 50g when I witnessed a breeding in May. Male was 13g when I bought him at the same time, and around 37g when I witnessed a breeding.
Of the 12 eggs laid, two went bad but 10 developed. Eight babies hatched, one baby was in trouble right out of the shell with a huge egg yolk. He was separated and kept in a safe moist environment. He died after a few days as expected. One egg pipped but died in the shell. A third egg died before pipping or might have possibly made one cut in the egg.
So, 10 eggs developed full term babies, 8 eggs hatched and one died soon after hatch leaving me with 7 babies.
This baby pictured always looked really runty right out of the egg. Don't forget I have only seen this clutch and the gracilior clutch--I don't have any real experience. I separated him from the others into his own Dragonstrand nursery cage within a few days of hatching. I expected him to die. He was barely eating and not growing.
None of them made me happy, so I tried adding a bit of heat and they all seemed to have perked up. The group in the big cage have all started growing and I am starting to be happy with them. I have a thermometer in the runty one's cage away from any lights and near the top. The temps are in the low 70s. The cage is misted more than 8 times a day depending on what I see. I have an automatic mister that runs for at least 15 seconds (up to a minute) 8 times a day, plus I will mist more if I don't like what I see.
I was in to see my vet a long time ago--could it have been a month ago?--and talked to her about this baby. I think at that time he was starting to occasionally breathe with his mouth open. We discussed treating him with antibiotics and whether or not I should even bother. I decided to let nature take its course, expecting the baby to die. He didn't.
He's grown a tiny bit--today's weight was a pathetic 1.;28 grams, and yes, I do have a scale that is that accurate--and moves around as if it is somewhat healthy. He is still not eating a lot and occasionally breathing through its mouth but it is actually looking better. He shed two days ago. An hour ago I took him outside in the afternoon sun to give him a bit of sun and take pictures. I misted him throughout to make sure he didn't dehydrate. I am hoping some real sun will perk him up, although he is reasonably perky, just not growing a lot or eating a lot.
When I started this post, I went to his cage to check the temperature and found him up on the ceiling sunning himself under the lights. He acts healthy except he looks stunted and occasionally breathes through his mouth. He is not overheated.
I expected him to die weeks ago, but he hasn't and is starting to look better--except for the open mouth.
My thoughts are that the wild caught quads were nutritionally challenged after import and the female did not have a great reserve of nutrition to give her eggs. She had grown very fast in my care and nothing I feed can compare to wild caught insects nutritionally.
I would greatly appreciate thoughts on this baby. I really expected him to die weeks ago. I do not want to go to any heroics to try to save him--that does nothing for the gene pool to save weak animals. If he were a gracilior, I might feel differently since there are so few in the US.
From the pictures attached, he doesn't look too bad. He does strike me as not having the right proportions for his age (6 weeks) and could do with more food in his belly. I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions. I think 6 good babies out of 10 eggs that developed to term is a very poor result. Thanks for your feedback.
This is him breathing with his mouth open.
