A few quick baby questions...

[Susann]

My Merauke babies are now a little over a month old, and most of them have about doubled in size from when they were born (from around 30 g. each to about 60 g. each).

I know they were huge when they were born, but are they continuing to grow too fast? Should they be older than a month before they double their birth-weight?
And in that case, am I feeding them too much; should I cut back on portions?

Those of you who have had babies, do you let them eat their fill, or do you feed certain amounts according to size?

And to those of you who feed their babies mostly dog food, do you add calcium even if the C:P rates in the dog food falls within the 1:1 - 2:1 range?

[Richard.C]

i dont supplement much,never hurts to though,they are capable of rapid growth,they put it all into growth,more food faster growth,i dont rush mine,so supplementation may not be as important as in rapid growth,babies are born needing to pack on weight for brumation

[LarissaLurid]

My Merauke started out at around 6 inches at a few weeks old, and he's been growing about 1 inch per month. :] He's 8 months and about 17 inches last time I checked a month ago. They do grow very fast, there's nothing wrong with that. I let mine eat till he's full, they won't over eat as babies. The only time to cut back is if an adult becomes over weight.

[Katrina]

My Merauke started out at around 6 inches at a few weeks old, and he's been growing about 1 inch per month. :] He's 8 months and about 17 inches last time I checked a month ago. They do grow very fast, there's nothing wrong with that. I let mine eat till he's full, they won't over eat as babies. The only time to cut back is if an adult becomes over weight.

It is possible to overfeed them when young. True, they won't become overweight, but it isn't healthy for them to grow to adult size as fast as possible. Feeding a bit less and allowing them to grow slower and giving them time to develop healthy, strong bones etc is better than overfeeding and having them at adult size in a year. Just because they can be large enough to breed in under a year doesn't mean that they should be. In the wild it would take 2-3 years to reach breeding size, not 10-12 months.

The diet chart recommends about what Jeff does with babies as far as feeding and when to switch to every second day, twice per week etc. and I'd recommend that rather than allowing them to eat as much as they want. There is nothing wrong with them taking longer to reach adult size.

[Susann]

when to switch to every second day, twice per week etc. and I'd recommend that rather than allowing them to eat as much as they want. There is nothing wrong with them taking longer to reach adult size.

That's exactly my concern; at this rate they will be grown-size in less than a year. Because they are so large, I have been feeding them every other day almost from birth, and are now, at a little over a month old, only feeding every 3 days or so.
My question about how much to feed is more about portions. I am taking them out of their tanks to feed, and I usually put about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of food on a plate, and let them eat their fill. My question is, should I offer less at each feeding? Not let them eat their fill; only offer a small amount? Even though I'm only feeding them every 2-3 days?
Or, should I scale back on the portions of the guys that tend to be bigger; keep the portion at a tablespoon for those who tend to be slightly smaller?
Thoughts?

[Linnea]

maybe you have managed to get a batch of super size skink babies? what if they grow to be twice the size (lenght) of the parents......

i vote for offering less at every meal, eating a little here and there should be closer to their natural diet when young? of course if they find a nest of insects or a baby marsupial they will eat a lot at the feeding, but.....i get the feeling thats more of a lucky meal when theyre tiny.

when they eat their fill, it could just be their instinct telling them to eat "till they drop". it could be they lack the stop signal they would normally have as an adult (if there is such a thing with skinks......). like a survival technique for young skinks.

[Susann]

when they eat their fill, it could just be their instinct telling them to eat "till they drop". it could be they lack the stop signal they would normally have as an adult (if there is such a thing with skinks......). like a survival technique for young skinks.

That's my fear. And let me tell you, some of them definitely have this instinct stronger than others; it doesn't matter what's going on around them, if there is food in front of them, man, they chow like there's no tomorrow!!! For others, if I move, they stop eating. And some don't start eating again; they are done for that time.

I'm pretty good about not offering them "treats" when they don't eat the healthy stuff I put in front of them, but the hardest thing for me is not putting more on the plate when they snarf down their portion in two seconds flat and then spend the next 5 minutes licking every hint of food off the plate! KILLS me!!!

[Fatal_S]

Any chance you could get some of the Mazuri Insectivore diet to leave in the tank? That way if they're hungry there's something healthy to munch on, but they should still want the other foods when offered? But again, if they just eat non-stop you may have a problem. But then again, Evita grew to adult size in 6 months eating human-meals 3x a day, and just popped out 17 babies...

[Susann]

Any chance you could get some of the Mazuri Insectivore diet to leave in the tank? That way if they're hungry there's something healthy to munch on, but they should still want the other foods when offered? But again, if they just eat non-stop you may have a problem. But then again, Evita grew to adult size in 6 months eating human-meals 3x a day, and just popped out 17 babies...

YOU'RE NOT HELPING!

I do have the Mazuri. And I don't dare keep it available all the time because of their size.
But yeah.... what if getting really big fast isn't a bad thing?

[Susann]

Oh man, oh man, oh man. I haven't been measuring the babies because it's so hard and stresses them out; I've just gotten weights every 2-3 feedings. I measured them this time.
They are just under 6 weeks old. They measure between 11 - 12 inches!!!

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I haven't weighed them for the last couple of feedings, and now I don't know if I dare; last time they were between 50 - 60 grams each...

[Jeff]

I really don't stress too much about how much the babies get. My northerns that are 6-7 weeks old now, get fed every 3rd day on average. Most of the time they eat it all immediately, but sometimes they only take a few bites or don't touch it at all. I leave it in with them overnight at least, and sometimes they will eat it the next day.

They grow their absolute fastest right at the beginning. I don't think it is unreasonable at all for yours to have grown the way they have. I am also not aware of any documented health issues from growing BTS fast, as long as it is on a healthy diet. It makes sense that it would be more healthy to not "rush" them to adult size, and most people I know intentionally grow their babies slowly. I just don't know if there is actually any hard evidence that they suffer from fast growth if it is from a well balanced diet.

[LarissaLurid]

My Merauke started out at around 6 inches at a few weeks old, and he's been growing about 1 inch per month. :] He's 8 months and about 17 inches last time I checked a month ago. They do grow very fast, there's nothing wrong with that. I let mine eat till he's full, they won't over eat as babies. The only time to cut back is if an adult becomes over weight.

It is possible to overfeed them when young. True, they won't become overweight, but it isn't healthy for them to grow to adult size as fast as possible. Feeding a bit less and allowing them to grow slower and giving them time to develop healthy, strong bones etc is better than overfeeding and having them at adult size in a year. Just because they can be large enough to breed in under a year doesn't mean that they should be. In the wild it would take 2-3 years to reach breeding size, not 10-12 months.

The diet chart recommends about what Jeff does with babies as far as feeding and when to switch to every second day, twice per week etc. and I'd recommend that rather than allowing them to eat as much as they want. There is nothing wrong with them taking longer to reach adult size.

Yea, sorry i wasn't really thinking about the people who do "Power-Feeding" like with their snakes too. It's definitely not healthy to overstuff the animal.