pinky care?

[martinez2828]

:main_yes:i got a pinky today for my adult female leo and she has shown no signs of interest in it at all and she usally eats EVERYTHING. but i feel so bad for it i dont want it just laying in a plastic container until it dies. (if my geckos never eats it) so i was woner what should i do with it? like how do i keep him/her alive? she is like 1 or 2 days old so she cant see it pretty much just rolls around but like how long til it can move and see normaly and how do i take care of it now? thank you

 

[katie_]

If I were you I would humanely euthanize it.

Keeping it alive would be extrememly difficult and it may die as a result. Some people say you can soak pieces of bread in warm milk and they can 'nurse' from that, but you would have to do that quite often. It would need to stay warm and you would have to stimuate its genitals to help it deficate/urinate.

Next time, buy a frozen pinky. That way if you gecko refuses it, you don't have this moral issue on your hands.

 

[Beastws6]

Freeze it and try again later. Pinkys have no nerve endings most feeders get put in freezer instead of c02.

 

[Scales And Whiskers]

http://www.alysion.org/euthanasia/
CO2 it yourself. Skip the bits about the pet-thing, and get down to the how-to. It's pretty easy and you should already have all the necessary items in your house.

"Most feeders get put in freezer"
False. That's unethical and inhumane.

If you've got the heart, call around local rescue centers. Someone might have a surrogate mum and be able to take the pinky - it happens all the time.

 

[katie_]

Freeze it and try again later. Pinkys have no nerve endings most feeders get put in freezer instead of c02.

Disgusting comment.

 

[RampantReptiles]

I would freeze the pinky. They loose body heat very quickly and this is a faster, more humane method than CO2 for mice under 2 weeks of age.

 

[JordanAng420]

This euthanasia subject has always been a debated issue. Even with my years of small animal anesthesia, I'm embarrassed to admit I don't even know the answer to this one. I guess I'm lucky enough to have other animals that will always eat extra stuff. Do you have any friends with Savannah Monitors?

 

[katie_]

Wouldnt severing its spinal cord be a faster death?
Freezing to death, even if it doesn't take long - sounds horrible

 

[Klogue1]

Wouldnt severing its spinal cord be a faster death?
Freezing to death, even if it doesn't take long - sounds horrible

Both are adequate forms of euthanasia (there technically is no humane way), but many people freeze babies/pinkies because they are immune to hypoxia, so CO2 is not an option to euthanize babies, it's just generally easier to freeze multiple pinkies instead of killing them one at a time which is why people choose it... Just thought I'd let you know

I feed live but I've killed some mice by snapping the neck, and it's not as easy as it looks. It's rather difficult actually. First you have to get the mouse to stay still long enough, then actually have to jerk HARD or you won't sever the spinal cord all the way, leaving a poor mouse gasping for air I've had it happen a couple times and I hated knowing it was my fault...

 

[Klogue1]

Oh and to the OP, if you really want to keep it alive as long as you can, you can use goat milk formula; it's sold in most pet stores and used for nursing kittens and puppies, but baby mice and rats take it too when it works. It would be rather hard though I think with such a tiny mouth. You'd have to feed it every other hour until it has more fur or starts opening it's eyes. If you decide to do it, when you feed it look for a white line on it's tummy, that's the milk and when it's full and visible it means they've had enough for a while.

Edit: Oh, and mice/rats are lactose intolerant, don't trust those cute pictures of them eating cheese regular milk on bread might be fine, I've heard of it as a healthy treat for nursing mothers, but I honestly think goats milk would be better. As a two day old pinky, it won't be eating solid food for a while.