[wildvet]

Hello everyone.

Last week I had discovered a hatchling in a vivaria where I keep my adult U. phantasticus during the summer. Obviously I had overlooked some eggs. I have no idea how long it was there since it has hatched, but it looked good to me. I moved it to a smaller vivaria nevertheless. While I had observed it climbing around yesterday night, the precious little thing was dead this morning.

I'm devastated.

I have no idea what went wrong. The tail looks normal (not shrunk and dehydrated), the live food had always been fed with veggies and bananas, and was covered in Vitamin powder. Temperatures where 24°C during the day and 18°C at night. I looked into its mouth too to see if maybe it had choked on something, but it was unobstructed.
The parents show no signs of malnutrition, shed their skin well and the female produces regularly a couple of eggs. I've got 5 more "incubating" on my window sill.

So where did I do wrong?
Or how often does it happen with you guys that hatchlings of U. phantasticus die with no previous signs of distress?

Berit

[rdj52785]

I haven't bred any og these. I'm hoping to breed my new pair of Henkeli and my two pairs of Lieanatus I've been acclimating since last year this summer. I hear that mortality of the young is the toughest part, especially in the smaller species.

[Lordoftheswarms]

Near me, the only guy with babies had his die on him for indeterminable reasons as well.

[mat.si]

Hi!
Phantasticus babies incubated at around 20 to 23 C hatched in about 90 days, but were always very weak and most died within days or couple of weeks at most.
But when eggs were incubated at 16 to 20 C, babies hatched in about 6 months and were all very strong and easily survived and grew very well.
Low temperatures are very important for long term keeping and breeding of this species.

Check my old post for some more info:
My experiences with phantasticus

Regards, Matjaz

[wildvet]

Hello Matjas.
Thanks alot for your reply. I guess high temperatures were the case in my failure. Since the eggs had been incubating in the terra where I keep the adults during the summer (for higher temps and humidity), the ground must have been around 20-22°C in the last past months.
I just need to search better for eggs next year. It doesn't matter so much in the mesh cages they are now, because the temperatures sink well down to 10°C and maybe even lower in the coldest months to come.

The other eggs had 15°C this morning, so I hope those hatchlings will get a better start in life...

Berit