Good morning, everyone! As some of you may already know, I had a set of twins pip for me on Labor Day (first image), and just found that one decided to venture from the egg. Pretty sure it’s the smaller of the two, clocking in at a measly 16 grams and seeming quite scrawny and a little lethargic - I think the little one may have detached a bit early from the umbilical (whether on its own or because of the larger sibling) as it’s also lacking that nice belly you see on babies full of yolk.
Seemed a bit dried out as well, despite the humidity being good in the egg box - enough that there’s plenty of condensation IN the box and nothing else seems dry.
At this time I’m keeping the little one in the egg box with the others, warm and humid. If anyone has some advice or tips to suggest for helping this little one along, I’m more than grateful for it! I know that runty babies can be rough to get established, and I plan to do what I can to give this little one the best chance I can.
The skin can get that way with little hatchlings. You can do a little rinse to get the egg gunk off to see if that helps.
If they already seem lethargic and didn’t fully absorb, that sounds a lot like my runty hatchling a couple years back. I would try to assist feed something for right now, just to get a little calories and strength in there.
If you don’t have any tiny pinkies, a tail cut from a frozen rodent is an okay second to assist feed.
This is all up to you though. If you want to try to let things run it’s course and see, there’s really no guarantee with babies that small. Even with 2 assist feedings for my little 32g baby, she took almost 3 months to get started and eating.
Oh, that makes sense since the goop probably dries funny, I’ll give that a go! Do you suggest leaving the baby in the incubator for now still, or should I move him into his own setup on damp paper towel?
I’ll give that a go this evening. The pinkies I have for my corn snakes should suffice just fine, or I can chop a head off.
I definitely want to try to give this one a fighting chance. 3 months is a drop in the bucket if it means getting them eating and on the way to thriving! Ty for your advice.
I moved my little one to her own little tub in the incubator until she shed. That was just to keep her from being pushed around by the big siblings. If anything you can maybe set them up with their twin once they climb out too.
For sure! It’s even more obvious in person, and Twin 2 is so much chunkier as well! I think I was spot on that Twin 1 got disconnected a little early, I found a clump of something in the bottom of the egg that I haven’t seen with the others.
Noticed while assisting in feeding that the neck right here, while able to bend out straighter, is consistently held at this curve/angle, and when running my fingers over the spot I’m pretty sure I’m feeling a kink. The rest of the spine down to the tail feels fine.
As if the poor little thing didn’t have enough stacked against them. Checked over the other twin, who seems perfectly fine in every way aside from only being 35 grams - the little bugger even tried to chomp me. I’ll be looking over the others thoroughly as well, once they’re out.
I realize that kinks are never good news but that doesn’t mean that this little one cannot live a full and healthy life as a pet. The fact that you have successfully assist fed already is absolutely fantastic! You will have all the support/advice you need here to ensure this little one thrives. We are all pulling for you!
More or less had the same thought - the fact that we got the pinky head down makes me believe that the kink likely wouldn’t be a problem long term, if the baby pulls through! I’ll just have to be mindful and stick to giving smaller meals for now, and it really may be a long road ahead of us, but as long as their QOL isn’t impacted too much and the little one is showing the will to live, I’ll do whatever I need to. Even if I’m stuck assist feeding for several months and making accommodations to ensure the baby is comfortable, this is what I signed up for when I chose to breed.
I do so wish this attitude was universal in the world of reptile breeding, or breeding of any kind…. God bless you for that attitude Elijah! But you need to go ahead and name this little one now…. Fighters need to be recognized…..
Poor little thing. On the positive side of things it does look pretty minor as far as kinks go.
I currently have a noodle with a nasty kink that’s actually doing really well at the moment … But it really is just a waiting game to see if they do okay.
Another one I had as a rescue before also had a neck kink but it was a little further down the neck. He did really well with smaller meals. He just needed food a little more often than others his size. Otherwise did really well.
Thank you, Caron! And you’re absolutely right, both babies deserve to be named. I was thinking Edward for the tiny baby and Alphonse for the bigger one!
For sure, I’m thankful that it isn’t worse and may explain some of the odd/lethargic movement. Hoping after getting some calories digested the baby will perk up, I’m trying to leave him alone for now though since the poor thing has had such a busy and probably stressful first day alive.
It is an unfortunate spot for a kink, though it appears very minor.
If they were able to swallow down a pinky head no issue that’s a good sign. Give the little one a few days, maybe 5, and then try another meal if they haven’t entered blue yet. The most important thing for right now is to ensure the baby is getting some sort of nutrients to battle the lack of yolk they needed to absorb.
They may need to eat smaller meals for the entirety of their lives due to the placement of the kink.
It’s an uphill battle from here, and if the baby fails to thrive just know what you did to help the baby was the best you could do and that it was not your fault that their circumstances landed where they did. Nature is indifferent and these things don’t always go in the favor of the little ones, as sad as it is.
Definitely not my favorite placement for sure, though yeah, little thing was able to work the head past that point more or less on its own, so here’s hoping!
I’ll definitely get more food in them by Monday. The head wasn’t very incredibly large and hardly left a lump, so I’m going to see if I can’t get down a little more soon after there’s a bit of time for the poor thing to decompress from the experience. And sticking with smaller meals for sure, especially for as long as assist feeding is still necessary. I’d hate to accidentally aggravate or worsen the kink while trying to help get a meal down, and the tiny size makes it so much more delicate.
I’m pretty iffy on how I feel the odds look right now, but I’m comforted in knowing that either way the leaf falls, I’m doing what I can to give the baby their best shot at thriving. Thank you so much for your kind words, and hopefully any consequent updates will be more good news!
It’s been a couple days and the lil dude is holding strong! Seems to have more energy today and is moving a bit better, kink be damned! We’ll see if he goes into blue before Monday, when I plan to feed him next!
I also noticed something interesting - both twins seem to have a smattering of white scales down their spines;
It’s less intense on the bigger baby, but he definitely has a few and close inspection makes it seem less like some sort of damage and more like the scales are actually just white. Anyone seen this before? Do we think it’ll go away once they shed for the first time?
EDIT - their sister, the only other pastel in the clutch, also seems to have a few of these.
And you’re absolutely right, both babies deserve to be named. I was thinking Edward for the tiny baby and Alphonse for the bigger one! 
