The last hatchling that recently hatched out seems to have some sort of abnormality in his bite/lower jaw and I'm looking to see if anyone can recognize the issue and advise me a little bit.
He hatched September 30th and I hadn't yet observed him trying to eat. It's possible he had before today while still in the incubator or while with his siblings but I feed them in a soak bucket and he refused to eat anything with the group or alone during observation.
So I separated him from the group and offered romaine and grape leaves in a warm peaceful place and he still wouldn't eat. I offered the same food in my palm and suddenly he seemed interested and tried to eat a little. He struggled. He tried and tried to rip and tear at the food and was only able to get a tiny piece free to eat. So I shredded his food and he was alike to successfully eat a significant amount of food. I have since completely separated him from the group and offered more shredded bits of greens and he is eating again.
Here are pictures and a video. Hopefully someone will have an idea of what might be going on with him and if what I'm doing is going to be enough for him to thrive. Thanks in advance.
I noticed right away that something was amiss with his bite. I had hoped it was simply an underbite but the inside of the lower jaw appears to have an issue as well.
In the last couple of pictures you can see what looks like little injuries to the soft tissue in the lower jaw, I assume from the upper jaw cutting into it?
Video:
He hatched September 30th and I hadn't yet observed him trying to eat. It's possible he had before today while still in the incubator or while with his siblings but I feed them in a soak bucket and he refused to eat anything with the group or alone during observation.
So I separated him from the group and offered romaine and grape leaves in a warm peaceful place and he still wouldn't eat. I offered the same food in my palm and suddenly he seemed interested and tried to eat a little. He struggled. He tried and tried to rip and tear at the food and was only able to get a tiny piece free to eat. So I shredded his food and he was alike to successfully eat a significant amount of food. I have since completely separated him from the group and offered more shredded bits of greens and he is eating again.
Here are pictures and a video. Hopefully someone will have an idea of what might be going on with him and if what I'm doing is going to be enough for him to thrive. Thanks in advance.
I noticed right away that something was amiss with his bite. I had hoped it was simply an underbite but the inside of the lower jaw appears to have an issue as well.
In the last couple of pictures you can see what looks like little injuries to the soft tissue in the lower jaw, I assume from the upper jaw cutting into it?
Video: