HELP! Milli hatchling not eating!!!!! Advice needed!!!!!

[Saz]

Hi everyone,

I recently aquired five beautiful little Milli hatchlings. Four of them are ravenous
eaters but one, the smallest and youngest, doesn't want to eat, She hasn't
touched anything for the two weeks that I have had her and I'm afraid that I will
lose her :0(

Have posted some pics of the animal and her enclosure taken today.
She is kept at 25-27 degrees, and I recently put a very low wattage heat cord
under one end, thinking it might aid with her digestion. It doesn't raise the ambient
temp and is only luke warm.

She is about 3-4 weeks old, and was eating fine before she arrived. I have tried
giving her different sized crickets, dusted and undusted. It's not that she can't
catch them, she can definitely get a wriggle on, she's just not interested.

One side of her enclosure is misted every other day, including the substrate,
and I also mist her gently, she licks the droplets off her face and also off the
sides.

Do you think it would be a good idea to get some chicken or beef baby food and
put it on her face so she will lick it off? I can always water it down a bit so it isn't
too sludgy. It might kick start her appetite again.

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated. I've never had this problem before
and I'm terrified I'm going to lose her.

:0(

 

[Dicco]

I've had tiny barbata that refused to eat, in the end I had to assist feed it by gently opening the mouth, and placing half the cricket in there and it would do the rest.

 

[Kingii]

If your worried about loosing her, you may wanna try force feeding till she picks up again.. Keep us posted and good luck!

 

[Dicco]

Oh, maybe give it some more hiding places tro make it feel secure like bits of tussock grass ect.

 

[Kingii]

Have you tried putting them all together for a feed? It might spark the little fella on!!

 

[Saz]

Hi guys,

She's about an inch total length, so very tiny. I might try to force feed her, but I'd be worried about squashing her in
the process.

I wanted to keep the enclosure simple so she has the best opportunity to see her pray, but if you think more hide sites would
be better I'll put some more in.

I haven't tried putting them all in together yet. She is a lot smaller than the rest so she would probably find herself
becoming dinner for one of the others, but it's a good idea for future reference.

What do you think about the baby food idea? A waste of time or worth giving it a go?

Thanks for your help guys. Much appreciated :0)

 

[Nephrurus]

I'm not a huge fan of force feeding, so I wouldn't force feed. They really don't enjoy it at all. If she is already weak, the added stress of restraint and the unpleasant jamming of food in the mouth may well kill her.

That said, i don't have much to suggest, other than placing a few crickets in their with her. If you're patient (and i am) you can incapacitate the crickets my clipping their back legs with some fine scissors. This makes them far easier to catch. Leave them in overnight, then remove them.

Theres another trick to give them some energy, which i'll post as soon as i can remember the name of the product!

-H

 

[Tristis]

try a smaller hide somthing almost flat on the sand and let the gecko dig under it. you have big hides so when they are under it they still feel like they are in the open. also my millis are kept hot, the hot end/basking end is 35 degrees my gecko tubs sit in my snake rack so the room its self is also hot. they eat and breed like crazy. the only problem with turning up the heat is it will cause the milli to loose condition quicker if its not eating. my hatchings from last year are just over 10cm now. hope this helps

 

[Saz]

Thanks guys, every little bit helps. I have a few ideas to try now. Will let you know how it goes.

:0)

 

[Magpie]

Was she definately eating crickets before you got her?
I have found my levi's cannot say no to moths with one wing removed, they just go nuts over them.
A few small meal worms in a milk bottle lid may also stimulate her, I found found a lot of geckoes and small dragons cannot resist anything that wiggles.

PS. how was she sexed? I thought geckoes you could not tell till they were older?

 

[Saz]

She's not sexed, I just hate refering to animals as 'it'. Could be either, won't know for another five or so months!!

I have been told that meal worms are dangerous to geckos as they can eat right through the intestine if not crunched
up adequately to kill them. Is this true? Do you feed meal worms to your geckos? I actually got some meal worms yesterday,
but they are almost as big as she is, they didn't have any smaller. I haven't fed them to anything yet as was told not to.

Yes, definitely eating crickets before I got her. I trust the breeder, and that is what he advised when I asked him.

I'll try and catch a few months tonight. Maybe that will do the trick. If not, I'll try the baby food option.

I don't think my Levis would say no to any sort of food! They a real pigs, and probably a little overweight if I'm honest, hehehe!

:0)

 

[shamous1]

Hi Saz,

I'm no expert but I would'nt give mealworms to her. I have a few Central Bearded Dragons that are approx 2 months old and I thought that I would give them a few mealworms. I squashed the heads on the mealworms (which obviously stops them biting). The beardies loved them. The only problem is the shells are hard and every beardy regurgitated them back up and I had chewed mealworms all over the enclosure.

Hope everything works out for you and her. I never realised that they could be so nice looking.

 

[mistymtn]

Best of luck Saz,
keep us posted

 

[Magpie]

If you've only got large mealworms, then no, don't do it.
shamous1, regurging like that is usually because they have overfed.

 

[Shimarah]

I had a hatchy that was a little stubborn to get feeding. I got one small mealworm and placed it in front of him. The wriggling of it was enough to get him stimulated. It was only a tiny young mealworm and after he ate it he has been on little roaches every since without problem. I just found with him that the first few times I tried the crix and roaches he missed when he went for them. Being able to grab that one mealworm seemed to give him a bit more confidence and he hasnt looked back since.

 

[Saz]

Thanks guys, you were right!!! She ate one cricket last night. I cut the back legs off (ughhhhh...felt very very mean indeed) but it worked.
The wriggling got her attention and she came shooting out of her hide, although it took her a while to get up the confidence to go for it. I missed the actual event.
I put another two in after the I noticed the first one had gone but she didn't take them. I took them out this morning and will try again
tonight with just one. At least she has eaten something now. Hopefully she keeps going!!

:0)

 

[mistymtn]

Great news, you must be relieved

 

[jordo]

No to meal worms for they would disappear into the sand.
I would put it in a smaller container/cage (maybe even a cricket tub size) so it can contact prey more easily and more often and have a sense of security. Release a known amount of small crickets in the cage put the cage in a quiet area of the house (no music, dogs, footsteps and other distractions), and then check the next morning and count the crickets left. Keep heat and lighting the same as the hatchlings which are eating.
Hope you get "it" eating!