New Panther Hatchling feeding

[MegaMatt]

Hi, I have a question of feeding a new panther hatchling. First a little background on myself. I grew up on a small farm caring for various farm animals, this also included honey bees, tortoises, geckos, exotic birds, saltwater reef tanks and various insects. That being said I have some confidence in my ability to put the effort and research into hatching and raising a baby Panther Chameleon.
My wife and I thought it would be a great opportunity to teach our 3 young boys about the circle of life. We spent about a month of research on how to take care of an egg and everything it would need after hatching. Many days of Chameleon Academy have been binged and I felt like we were prepared.
We found a breeder that offered an amazing warranty on eggs and was a TON of help upfront. We purchased 2 eggs in February of this year and followed careful incubation directions. Fast forward to today and one has hatched and the other shows signs of hatching.
I will attach pictures of the setup and pictures of the new baby.
My main concern is getting this new fellow to eat. I have 6 fruit flie colonies going and I have added lots of them into the enclosure hoping he would begin hunting right away.
I even added a small fruit dish in the enclosure that they swarm around. That said, I cannot get this baby off the top screen and eating. I even had to rig a stand up to keep the uvb light away from him. I don't want to stress him by pulling him down but I do worry he needs to eat soon.
Any advice?

 

[BleuSaphir]

I am not sure if their is still remnants of yolk sac inside? Most baby reptiles will have it externally or internally. It extra measure to provide nourishment.

 

[MegaMatt]

I am not sure if their is still remnants of yolk sac inside? Most baby reptiles will have it externally or internally. It extra measure to provide nourishment.

When he first hatched there was something that looked a bit like a ball of goop hanging in front of his rear legs but that fell off on a branch almost immediately when he started walking.

 

[GrannyK]

Same thought, still getting sac nutrients. Keep offering Welcome!! What a cutie!

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I read that you can add a smear of banana in the feeding dish. This will attract the fruit flies to a concentrated area. Your baby will be better able to see his food move and be attracted to the feeding area.

 

[MegaMatt]

I read that you can add a smear of banana in the feeding dish. This will attract the fruit flies to a concentrated area. Your baby will be better able to see his food move and be attracted to the feeding area.

I did add a small dish in with banana last night. The fruit flies swarm around it but the baby just wants to walk around on the ceiling. He even slept up there last night.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I did add a small dish in with banana last night. The fruit flies swarm around it but the baby just wants to walk around on the ceiling. He even slept up there last night.

That's a typical baby response. They screen climb until they weigh too much to hold themselves on the screen top. I wouldn't worry too much about the eating. I haven't read the entire post so I would make sure baby has an all day water dripper. I use a little dripper ( a bucket with a spigot). It sits on top of the cage . I open the spigot to a slow drip and let it drip directly into the cage onto a leaf. It comes with a hose to place in the cage but for me sitting it atop the cage and allow it to drip through the mesh works best.

 

[MegaMatt]

Thanks for everyone's advice! I was a little stressed out about him being in the 24x24x48 so I attempted to build a hatchling setup similar to one I found on here.

 

[Sonny13]

Thanks for everyone's advice! I was a little stressed out about him being in the 24x24x48 so I attempted to build a hatchling setup similar to one I found on here.

That looks better and within a few weeks he’s able to go to that other perfect setup. Such a cutie btw