Runt of the litter

[Beeb]

In December, I made a few posts regarding some baby Jackson's we got as a late Christmas present from Janet, our breeding female.

The babies are doing fine, eating and in a large enough enclosure so stress is minimal, all except for one, appropriately named Peewee.

Peewee is half the size of his siblings and has been having trouble adjusting to living with his siblings since birth. He is bullied around, stepped on, eats last and continues to eat fruit flies unlike his siblings who are all eating a ranged size of crickets and nymph dubia.

Along side this, he does this strange heavy breathing. Despite his size I can't hear any rasping when he breathes. If you look closely at Peewee's sides he seems very red under his skin, and when he breathes heavily the red can be seen more visibly. My dad said Peewee looks almost fetus like.

Here are some positives about Peewee:

• He eats, drinks and goes to the bathroom fine.
• He is responsive and goes through normal color cycles. (light when sleeping, dark when unhappy, neutral colors, etc)
• He is active and walks around, doesn't appear to be shivering, doesn't fall.

Here is a short video of Peewee moving around:


(The room we are in is not where he is kept, this is my bedroom.)

My dad, who is the care taker of the babies, has tried multiple times to separate Peewee from his rude siblings to give him a more stress-free environment, but this has always ended in Peewee clawing at the enclosure walls in the direction of his siblings as if trying to get back. I can't be certain if this is what Peewee is actually trying to do, but we don't want him to be with the others again out of fear of him getting hurt.

Is there any word or reason why he could be like this, does these things and is there any advice you could give or share a similar experience ? Although it hurts to say we've come to the conclusion that this is just how he is.

I'm sorry if this post is in the wrong spot or isn't very informative. I don't really know what else I can say but if you think of something I can try my best to answer.

 

[alphakenc]

So true,I can absolutely related to Peewee
Peewee is seeking for family love,since his parents are not around anymore...
He is the lost chamy boy in the family,and he never had any parental guidance,the siblings think he is a weird brother,they wont except him inside their circle ,he became by himself,eat and sleep by himself,he is on his own pretty much .....
My suggestion for Peewee is stay strong ,feed him as much as he can eats,nourishing him everything u got....one day he will be a king of his own,then u shall find him a nice female jackson cham,so he will have a family of his own,to make up all the lost that in his lonely childhood,Best luck to Peewee...the king in his own journey.

 

[alphakenc]

This is for Peewee...

When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain
We've been through this
Such a long long time
Just tryin' to kill the pain
Yeahh..
But lovers always come
And lovers always go
And no one's really sure
Who's lettin' go today
Walking away
If we could take the time
To lay it on the line
I could rest my head
Just knowin' that you were mine
All mine
So if you want to love me
Then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin'
In the cold November rain

Do you need some time
On your own
Do you need some time
All alone
Everybody needs some time
On their own
Don't you know you need some time
All alone

I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you
But if you could heal a broken heart
Wouldn't time be out to charm you

Sometimes I need some time
On my own
Sometimes I need some time
All alone
Everybody needs some time
On their own
Don't you know you need some time
All alone

And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain

Don't ya think that you
Need somebody
Don't ya think that you
Need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one

Don't ya think that you
Need somebody
Don't ya think that you
Need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one

Don't ya think that you
Need somebody
Don't ya think that you
Need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one

Don't ya think that you
Need somebody
Don't ya think that you
Need someone
Everybody needs somebody

November rain....Guns N' Roses

 

[alphakenc]

I came back here n I just wana let Peewee know that,yesterday alphakenc I was in a sad weird mood so I play the wrong record song,it all start of with my dog try to steal my ham sandwich,then my cat knock over the glass of milk on my favorite yellow pajamas,she does not know how to do the laundry yet plus I was in the time of month sadness...
I jus want to say,no matter what Peewee will survive especially he has a nice caring owner like u and a cute little pimple on his nose,keep him off any draft source like the AC or Windows jus to be sure his heavy breathing is not a URI related , a vet check up probably will do him good especially he is very healthy like u stated,I will send my love in Peewee way regardless he is a runt of the litter.

 

[Carlton]

In December, I made a few posts regarding some baby Jackson's we got as a late Christmas present from Janet, our breeding female.

The babies are doing fine, eating and in a large enough enclosure so stress is minimal, all except for one, appropriately named Peewee.

Peewee is half the size of his siblings and has been having trouble adjusting to living with his siblings since birth. He is bullied around, stepped on, eats last and continues to eat fruit flies unlike his siblings who are all eating a ranged size of crickets and nymph dubia.

Along side this, he does this strange heavy breathing. Despite his size I can't hear any rasping when he breathes. If you look closely at Peewee's sides he seems very red under his skin, and when he breathes heavily the red can be seen more visibly. My dad said Peewee looks almost fetus like.

Here are some positives about Peewee:

• He eats, drinks and goes to the bathroom fine.
• He is responsive and goes through normal color cycles. (light when sleeping, dark when unhappy, neutral colors, etc)
• He is active and walks around, doesn't appear to be shivering, doesn't fall.

Here is a short video of Peewee moving around:


(The room we are in is not where he is kept, this is my bedroom.)

My dad, who is the care taker of the babies, has tried multiple times to separate Peewee from his rude siblings to give him a more stress-free environment, but this has always ended in Peewee clawing at the enclosure walls in the direction of his siblings as if trying to get back. I can't be certain if this is what Peewee is actually trying to do, but we don't want him to be with the others again out of fear of him getting hurt.

Is there any word or reason why he could be like this, does these things and is there any advice you could give or share a similar experience ? Although it hurts to say we've come to the conclusion that this is just how he is.

I'm sorry if this post is in the wrong spot or isn't very informative. I don't really know what else I can say but if you think of something I can try my best to answer.

I wonder if he would try to "get back to the others" if he can't see their cage? Just put something between the enclosures. Its really doubtful he wants the group. but maybe he wants the familiarity of the enclosure he's used to. I also wonder if his heavy breathing is actually his attempts at hissing (one of several stress responses when a cham feels disturbed).

 

[KLowery88]

Didn't @jajeanpierre see something similar with Runty the quad quad doing the heavy breathing?

 

[jajeanpierre]

Didn't @jajeanpierre see something similar with Runty the quad quad doing the heavy breathing?

Something similar. I separated Runty as soon as there was a problem.

 

[Beeb]

@Carlton I will try this and see how Peewee reacts. Thanks for the suggestion!

I noticed when we let him into a plant to chill out and not be around people, he continued to do the heavy breathing even while getting into a sleeping position. Every once in a while he'd open his mouth, take a few deep breaths then close his mouth. As he got sleepier the heavy breathing lessened. I figured that maybe he was literally out of breath, as if moving was tiresome ? I never considered that he might be trying to hiss. It's a good idea though.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes and thoughts, I'd never met Peewee before yesterday and was sort of overwhelmed with worry at his small size. If runts aren't all that uncommon and generally are fine that's a huge load off my shoulders.