Frozen pinkies

[rob.r]

My local pet store only has frozen pinkies, are these good once thawed ? just move it around infront of my gecko ?
Thanks

 

[Dog Shrink]

You shouldn't feed a leo pinkies. They are insectavors and lack the digestive ability to break down bone. It is advised against feeding your leo mammals.

 

[TokayKeeper]

Huh...my females and occasional males seem to digest them just fine. Even offered smaller fuzzies to some of my larger males.

Rob, you should be fine doing so, but not very often; maybe once a month tops. I typically only do so if I have young snakes that happen to be in shed and aren't willing to take the pinkie. At that, many snake breeders will either dip the pinkies into a calcium supplement due to their limitedly developed skeletal structure or power feed their hatchling snakes to get them up to more calcified, less fatty prey. If anything that'll be difficult to digest within the pinkie it'll be any milk that may have been suckled before the pinkie was humanely euthanized. Milk, or more specifically lactose, is a neonatal mammalian enegery source and tends to be difficult to break down even for mammals after a certain age.

Additionally, I'd be willing to wager that in the wild, should a leopard gecko happen upon a rodent nest with mom or pops away they'd feed upon the young if small enough. Man, makes me want to go bust out the animal behavior text and re-read about mathematical equations regarding calculation of prey to cost/benefit ratios.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

I used to offer a fresh pinky to some of the girls shortly after they laid eggs. No issues.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Everything I've read has stated it is not recommended. I can see where it could... could be beneficial to a female that had just laid but aside of that why would you need to?

 

[TokayKeeper]

I'm in the moving process and have all the REPTILES mags packed already, BUT I do have a few, dated, books available for quoting.

DIET SELECTION

Currently the best procedure for leopard geckos consists of feeding a varied diet including of commercially raised crickets of appropriate sizes with mealworms and "pink" mice being added as part of the adult and subadult diet and occasional feedings of waxworms. The latter are optional and used by some breeders as a means to fatten up animals.

DIET SELECTION

Currently the best diet for leopard geckos consists of feeding commercially-raised crickets of appropriate size and/or mealworms (Tenebrio molitor), "Pink" mice, wax worms, and king mealworms (Zophobas morio) can be included in small amounts as part of a varied adult diet. The latter are optional and used by some breeders as a means to fatten up animals. Some of the larger commercial breeders have been quite successful at maintaining their animals exclusively on mealworms raised on a high quality diet combined with vitamin/mineral supplements.

PINKIES

Pinkies are hairless baby mice. Mice? But leopard geckos are insectivores, right? In general, yes, but we will make this one exception, because pinkies are an excellent food for adult geckos, especially geckos you want to breed. If you asked a randomly selected group of leopard gecko breeders to name one secret to getting theit geckos into breeding condition, I'll be most would say "Pinkies!"

The reason pinkies are such a good food is that they are a self-contained package of good nutrition. The liver and other internal organs of the small mice are very nourishing for your lizard. You don't have to "load" them as you do insects, though it does help if you dip their rumps in the vitamin supplement.

Pinkies are best fed live, at least until your gecko becomes accustomed to this food item. Their squirming motion is very attractive to a gecko. Some lizards will eventually learn to take thawed frozen pinkies from your fingers, but until then, feed live ones if possible.

Keeping: As a group, eublepharine geckos are found in both North and Latin America, Asia, and tropical Africa. Wild eublepharines feed on insects and other invertebrates. Some of the larger species are capable of overpowering and eating small nestlings of ground-nesting birds and rodents. Similar diets are accepted by captives. These geckos adapt well to a captive diet of crickets, common and giant mealworms, a very few waxworms (these have an unhealthy calcium/phosphorus ratio), butterworms, spiders, and other commonly available arthropods. Newly born (pinky) mice are also eagerly accepted by many, if not most of the larger geckos. Offer a varied diet when possible. Although eublepharines are capable of eating comparatively large prey items, food offered should be kept within reason.

That's from some older readings I have, sans my REPTILES mag articles written by various authors. Obviously, what we know now versus then regarding reptile care is vastly different, there are still some aspects that haven't mostly changed.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

A while back I took in a couple of 6year old male leos from someone we know. They had been on a diet of only pinky mice, he said once a week.......... no idea how long he had been doing this. They were starving, each immediately inhaled 3 supers and regurged. I kept them for a few months, feeding 2 supers a night, 5 times a week. They recovered nicely, both very sweet boys, and went on to new homes.

A few things have changed in diet for leos over the years, like the addition of roach feeders. Feeding too many superworms at each feeding will make a gecko fat. I don't understand why so many people want to give waxworms, known for poor nutritional values, instead of being patient with the gecko and let them settle in and have a good solid diet.

None of my girls have been interested in a pinky for almost a year so I don't bother with them anymore.

 

[roger]

You shouldn't feed a leo pinkies. They are insectavors and lack the digestive ability to break down bone. It is advised against feeding your leo mammals.

Their is nothing wrong with feeding pinkies to a leo.i believe pinkies are mostly cartlidge If im not mistaken.All my gravid females love them

 

[Baoh]

I feed my breeding females pinkies every so often.