I have a 3 week old not eating.

[Newbreeder]

Hi. Its been a while.

I had what looks like a bell albino hatch a few weeks ago. Maybe someone on here will know better what it could be?

Worth noting it has red eyes and is clearly light sensitive. Effectively blind if i have the light on in the room. But can see when light is removed.

Anyway as far as i know it still has not ate anything. It had its first little #1/2 but not seen anything since. Starting to get a bit worried as it is not growing.

I have made sure the temperature is accurate and been syringe feeding it little bits of VitiminD/Calcium the past couple of days.

Anything else i can do?



Thanks

 

[acpart]

Just out of curiosity is there any reason why you're not sure whether or not it's Bell?
When I was breeding leopard geckos I had some that took a long time to get started. I was feeding my hatchlings mealworms and with these slow starters I would hold them and gently push a feeder at the mouth. They would usually bite it and eat it. I had a variety of long term outcomes:
--some of them got the idea right away
--some needed to be hand fed for a long time but eventually got it (these were the ones who thought my fingers were giant mealworms and would always bite me when I put my hands in the enclosure!)
--some were very slow growers for a very long time (like 5 grams at 3 months) but eventually figured it out and took off
--a very few just didn't thrive and died. I think there was likely something wrong internally with these guys

I hope things go well.

Aliza

 

[Newbreeder]

Hi Aliza!

I dont know why i said that tbh becuase its mother is high yellow and dad is sht. Thinking about it now, it was a silly thing to think :lol: I think its because when it hatched it was very light in colour and had red eyes. Not had anything like it from that pairing.

Obviously i know it changes a lot as they grow but couldnt find anything like it. It has developed more orange which makes sense but still completely different to any others i have had so far.

So it will be old enough to hand feed? I was wary of how small it is and because i havnt been able to pick it up yet as its still too flighty.

Iv had to feed one by hand before but it was an adult i rescued.

Also in regards to its sight. Like i say it just seems to be more light sensitivity as it acts fine when not in light. But when it is, it acts completely blind.

Obviously this could be affecting feeding. But can its vision improve over time and development?

 

[acpart]

I assume that both of your parent geckos have a gene for albino ("het for albino") so you may get other albino offspring. I was also wondering why you think it's a Bell albino. If anything it looks more like a Tremper though you can't tell these days. At least both parents have the same albino strain gene or else you wouldn't have gotten any albinos.
I have been able to pick up and feed or assist shed even very new hatchlings. I usually have my thumb over their backs and have them resting in the space between my thumb and forefinger. You could also try putting it in a very small container with a mealworm or two for about half an hour and see if it figures it out.

Aliza

 

[Newbreeder]

Yeah i thought the same. Just strange, Iv had quite a few eggs from that pairing and never had anything but sht or high yellow.

I managed to pick it up last night so did make progress. Tonight i will try and feed it. Hopefully can get it eating.

Thanks!

 

[acpart]

Even though the probability says 25% if they're both het for albino, each hatch is an individual roll of the dice. I once had 2 geckos that I knew were het for albino and I don't remember how many hatched non-albino, but I do know that I was starting to worry that maybe I was wrong.

Aliza