Down sides of pinkies?

[AloneAsAlways]

I was thinking maybe trying to feed my male and my female a pinky, maybe 1 every few months or so. Would you recomend this?
I like to give my geckos the biggest variety of food that i can and i thought that a pinky here and there might help my breeding female to gain some weight. What do you think?
What are the downsides of frozen pinky mice?

Thankyouz :main_thumbsup:

 

[MSMD]

I feed the occassional pinky to my breeding/laying females when they are losing a little more weight than I am comfortable with. I never offer them to my males as I have heard that they can cause gout. My males never lose as much during the breeding season as the females, though, anyway.

I haven't found any ill effects from giving the girls the occassional pinky. The breeding girls that are losing weight usually get like 1 a month. I did have 1 girl that was really losing weight after 10 clutches and still laying and I did give her 2 in a months time. She is thriving now. (They still eat their Supers, etc, also. )

 

[RampantReptiles]

I havent heard about pinkies causing gout. I figure snakes eat them all the time so why not geckos...
I would only feed them once a month or so, they can get addicted to them just like waxworms.
Ive fed my males pinkies when a female was being stubborn and they love them.

 

[KelliH]

I feed my breeders pinkies at least once a month.

 

[Riyo]

I havent heard about pinkies causing gout. I figure snakes eat them all the time so why not geckos...
I would only feed them once a month or so, they can get addicted to them just like waxworms.
Ive fed my males pinkies when a female was being stubborn and they love them.

Snakes' digestive systems evolved to handle prey like mice and other mammals/reptiles. Leos are insectivores and their digestive tracts are geared toward insectivorous prey - though I do not think an occasional pinkie is harmful. They are very, very fatty, though, so be careful!

 

[Bowsileo]

Snakes' digestive systems evolved to handle prey like mice and other mammals/reptiles. Leos are insectivores and their digestive tracts are geared toward insectivorous prey - though I do not think an occasional pinkie is harmful. They are very, very fatty, though, so be careful!

This makes me feel a bit better. I was feeling bad because I couldn't handle feeding my boys live pinks. When feeding my snakes I always fed frozen pinkies, just because I'm a horrid wuss.
I offered my boys live pinkies for the first time last week and, while one absolutely loved his, I can't do it again.... They SQUEAK when they're being swallowed! Now I'm not saying that a pinkie mouses' live is more important than a cricket or mealie but, oh lord, the squeaking, and the little whiskers... I just can't handle it. Be prepared if it's your first time feeding live pinkies!

 

[Riyo]

I always feed f/t, both for my snake and the occasional leo snack. It doesn't make you a wuss, f/t is safer (well, pinkies are harmless but with most mice f/t is always safer than live.)

 

[RampantReptiles]

Snakes' digestive systems evolved to handle prey like mice and other mammals/reptiles. Leos are insectivores and their digestive tracts are geared toward insectivorous prey - though I do not think an occasional pinkie is harmful. They are very, very fatty, though, so be careful!

Yeah that makes sense... idk what I was thinking lol.
Although some snakes eat bugs too

you can feed f/t, I find that the gecko is more likely to take a live one for their first time. Try f/t next time and see what happens.

 

[Barbel]

This makes me feel a bit better. I was feeling bad because I couldn't handle feeding my boys live pinks. When feeding my snakes I always fed frozen pinkies, just because I'm a horrid wuss.
I offered my boys live pinkies for the first time last week and, while one absolutely loved his, I can't do it again.... They SQUEAK when they're being swallowed! Now I'm not saying that a pinkie mouses' live is more important than a cricket or mealie but, oh lord, the squeaking, and the little whiskers... I just can't handle it. Be prepared if it's your first time feeding live pinkies!

I am exactly the same way! No way will I ever have the stomach to feed live rats or mice to anything! It's just too traumatic. That was the one stipulation when we decided to go into ball pythons, frozen ONLY!
I have been considering feeding some pinkies to my females leos, but I haven't tried it yet. I figured they wouldn't really go for the frozen because they seem to only notice their food when it's moving around. Maybe I'll give it a try over the weekend.

 

[VTHokie]

F/t is way more convenient too, assuming you don't happen to have a colony of breeding mice laying around somewhere. I buy them like 10 at a time and they last for at least a couple weeks. It also helps avoid any parasites, although that isn't too much of a concern with captive bred feeders. Try wiggling them some with a pair of tweezers. Also, you can squeeze the guts from a waxie onto them. Nasty, yes, but it'll get the leo's attention!