Lost both my baby pygs....what did I do wrong?

[EvilLost]

Hey all,

Hatched my first 2 baby pygs recently ......my first hatch was nice and strong and the second was really weak. I expected the second to die as she was very weak from the start, but the first hatch was really strong.

Anyway, #2 passed shortly after hatching (within a day) and ....#1 just passed tonight out of nowhere (he was strong, climbing, moving, etc and 6 days old)


In both cases, they were dead with their tongue out...

I'm really, really trying to figure out what happened as the second death is shocking and really bothering me. I was quite attached to the little guY!!!

 

[susieqff]

I'm so so sorry to hear you lost them. Wish I could help you. I'm sure the guys here can help you . Just wanted to tell you I was feeling for you....:-(

 

[Carlton]

We'll probably never know without a careful necropsy which would be pretty difficult. Could have been some dietary deficiency of the mom that was passed on. The fact that one of them was weak is a flag that something was going on during their development. It may have nothing to do with your care either. But, accidents happen to young inexperienced animals. Ingestion of something in the tank, a spike in temp?

BTW, tongues out is a generalized sign that the cham is dying. As they lose all muscle tone it relaxes. It probably had nothing to do with the cause of death. Sorry you lost them!

 

[brandychams]

so sorry to hear

ive had quite a lot of experience with baby pygs what was your setup like, what did you feed them, dusting schedule? uvb lighting? misting?
and sometimes theres just nothing you can do

 

[hbskeet]

What's up Evil,
As long as I have been breeding pygmies I always lose some babies. I actually lost one two days ago. It was about 12 days old. The other babies in with him are perfectly fine. Most of the time it has to do with dehydration or food deficiency. All you can do is offer them food and water. If they don't drink or eat you really can't do much.

BTW. Did you get my last PM?

 

[EvilLost]

Thanks for the replies.

@hbskeet: just did, responding in a min


As far as their care...

I kept them in a 32oz deli cup (same as I breed my fruit flies in) with a TINY layer of dirt taken from the parents tank (1/2") and leaf cover and then a bunch of varying size twigs sticking at various angles (all taken from the parents tank)

The mom is doing perfectly fine.


I originally offered them D.mela's but the d.mela seemed a tiny bit big (almost as big as their head) so I switched to 3day crickets which were smaller. I only offered them a very light calcium supplement (no multi no d3) and only once (as i put in like 50 cricks so i didn't have to feed him again after that until his death...) in hindsight that was probably not the best move.

water I just misted his cup lightly twice a day. I also occasionally opened the top of the cup just to get it to breathe more, but there was no algae/mold or anything I'm pretty sure it aired out enough with the lid on.

No UVB; none of my pygs have uvb. I kept his cup directly next to his parents tank; he shared their lighting and his temps were basically the same (right around 74-76). There were no spikes that I know of.

@Carlton: thanks for the tongue info, I didn't know that but it does make sense