hatchlings

[dcarter]

It has been two years since I have had any hatchlings due to my schedule with school and my two kids, but this year I have started again. I now have three beautiful hatchlings who are in a large critter keeper for now. The problem is one of them is a month older and seems to be stalking the younger two. How worried should I be? Another off topic question is about feeding. A good friend of mine feeds CGD unmixed and has had no problems. Her lizards lap up the dry food happily and though are a little smaller as juvies grow to normal size. Is this dangerous?

[SarahW]

Um... First off, if there's a significant size difference between the older hatchling and the other ones, I would separate them. It could very well start picking on the other ones and bully them around the food dish too.

Secondly, I'm fairly positive that the CGD is meant to be used "as directed", and "as directed" is mixed with water. I would think it would be like eating dehydrated potato flakes without heating it with milk and water. I can't imagine that the amount of concentrated nutrients they are recieving is very good for their bodies, either. The water probably plays a huge part in making sure the nutrients are properly diluted to a safe level for the animal.

[geck123]

the older one will bully the younger ones, which stresses the little ones.stress is bad for reptiles,and can eventually cause a number of illnesses and death.i'd definetly seperate the older one from the others.are the young ones staying hidden?are they eating?my quess is they are not eating and hiding from the bully.cresteds can be kept together if they're relatively the same size up until about 4 months.females are usually compatible after that,but a male will try to mate with the young female,and she may have a calcium crash from laying the eggs at such a young age.

to be on the safe side i'd only feed the cgd mixed with water.i look at it like this;if you eat just the kool-aid powder it is much stronger tasteing,if you add too much water it tastes bland,but the right mixture is good.it's sort of the same thing with the cgd except vital nutrients are involved.too much and to little are both bad in their own respects,and will effect the health of the gecko.

[geck123]

i basically said the same thing as sarahw.i didn't mean to copy you sarahw.there was no replies when i started typing,but when i hit quick reply,yours was there.bottom line from both of us is seperate and follow the directions.congradulations on the hatchlings!

[dcarter]

Thanks guys. I do mix as directed, but had always wondered since my friend has done it this way for so long. The other hatchling is about a month older, and the other two are only two days old but active and not hiding at all. The older one seems to follow them a lot so I think you are right and I will separate them.