Abstract. The explicit formula for the hyperbolic metric λ α, β, γ (z)|dz| on the thrice-punctured sphere P\{0, 1, ∞} with singularities of order 0 < α, β < 1, γ ≤ 1, α + β + γ > 2 at 0, 1, ∞ was given by Kraus, Roth and Sugawa in [9]. In this article we investigate the asymptotic properties of the higher order derivatives of λ α, β, γ (z) near the origin and give more precise descriptions for the asymptotic behavior of λ α, β, γ (z).