Pinkys

[Necromantica]

I just wanted to make a small point here, which is totally not in regards to pinkies because I do not feed pinkies.

But not ALL leopard geckos are only stimulated by movement. About half of my heard enjoys snacking on a bowl of dried fruit flies, while still receiving the usual live diet.

It really depends on the geckos.

 

[T-ReXx]

I'm not trying to add fuel to fire or anything but the fact is pinkies aren't necessary for leopards. They do perfectly fine on a diet of quality, properly gut-loaded/supplemented, invertebrate prey. Just because they WILL eat something doesn't mean they SHOULD eat it. Leopard geckos are not omnivores. They aren't monitors who eat anything and everything that smells like meat. Nor are they specialists like King Cobras or Caiman Lizards who prefer to stick to species/family specific prey. King Cobras will eat rats occasionally, that doesn't mean they prefer them. And yes, they will eat them in the wild. But they prefer snakes. Caiman lizards will sometimes eat canned cat food, but that doesn't mean it's an adequate diet for them. Leopard geckos are insectivores, feed them insects. If you need them to gain weight, use wax worms, super worms, butter worms, or other invertebrate prey with a high fat content(just be careful with waxies, they're addictive). You can avoid the entire issue of frozen vs. live by doing this, and your animals will likely be healthier. As far as my personal preference, for my own carnivorous reptiles(snakes, specifically) I prefer freshly killed prey that comes from my own rodent breeding stock. This has nothing to do with frozen prey quality, but because I prefer to know exactly what my feeders were raised on and where they come from. I do the same thing concerning meal worms, roaches, and crickets for my insectivores. The only food item I buy is CGD for my cresteds. And everything is gut loaded, and properly supplemented. Ok, I'm going to end my rant here because I'm getting off topic. Just my 2 cents.

 

[malt_geckos]

Scorpions? Now that's hard core haha. And people get worried about supers eating through their geckos. Darn right these guys are tougher than they look! lol

But yes, the "natural diet" thing is just silly. King Cobras don't have their natural diet anywhere near them in the Everglades, but there they are. Thriving, unfortunately lol. Animals (except perhaps Pandas, and other peculiar creatures) will eat whatever they find because they never know when they'll find food again.

Lived in Fl my ENTIRE life and have NEVER heard of any king cobras found in the glades. lol You think that would be a published story.

 

[ILoveGeckos14]

Lived in Fl my ENTIRE life and have NEVER heard of any king cobras found in the glades. lol You think that would be a published story.

I think they have a new show on animal planet about hunting tegus and monitors in the glades! Ya, I haven't heard of king cobras.....yet haha:uhoh2:

 

[malt_geckos]

lol, That's crazy. m

 

[adam&nikki]

the only time i feed pinkies to my leos is to the females and its only one after the lay a clutch of eggs to help her gain some weight

 

[Samantha]

When you freeze meat products there is an average of 19 to 25% loss of vitamins and minerals due to the damage done to cell walls during the freezing process once the meat is thawed out... This is a fact that can be easily researched...

Give me one example of a reptile getting sick or dieing from a bacterial infection from a live or freshly killed prey item... I can not come up with one situation...

I can tell you that there have been numerous cases of reptiles getting sick from frozen prey...

I would go as far as to say that there is virtually no risk when feedin reptiles fresh killed prey items...

I personally have fed off thousands of fresh killed rodents to hundreds of snakes without even one ever dieing as a result...

yeppers i totaly agree with this its been proven in humans fresh i better then frozen so its the same in animals

 

[loulovespat]

hi, how old does your gecko have to be to have a pinky?..i fed my gecko hes first ever pinky five days ago..how often do i feed him them??

 

[ILoveGeckos14]

It's mostly for laying females to gain some weight and a treat like once every 3 months if that. You dont want them to be used to pinkies at all bc then they get fat and spoiled.

 

[loulovespat]

so is it bad 2 feed pinkys to my gecko? Coz i give him waxworms twice a week.. Do pinkys cause any harm??

 

[calabarpythonlover2]

what makes no sense is there is no difference with snakes health whenever they eat frozen compared to live and anyway its not like pinkies are the main diet of leopard geckos they are only once in a few months

 

[loulovespat]

how often should i give my gecko a pinkie? Once a month?? Do frozen pinkies go out of date and go off??

 

[ElapidSVT]

i don't feed pinkies to my leos.

 

[Tkohlbre]

As far as reptiles getting sick from frozen/live/freshly killed rodents, i think it's a case by case situation, every reptile is different, and every prey item is different. its just a matter of being unfortunate or fortunate. i dont plan in ever feeding my leo a pinky, but that's just me, i even get a little bad when i feed invertebrates to my leo, lol, but a gecko has to eat!

one question i have is, how do you do freshly killed prey for feeding?

 

[loulovespat]

lol i get like dat to, i feel so bad when i feed my gecko waxworms cause there so cute lol, what do you mean by this question?

one question i have is, how do you do freshly killed prey for feeding?[/QUOTE]

 

[RampantReptiles]

I know how to freshly kill a mouse but I dont know if those methods would work for a pinkie mouse.

Anytime I have fed live pinkies I havent killed them. Pinkies are pretty defenseless and I have watched my leos eating them... they crush their skulls and by the time the pink is in their mouth its dead.

I usually take the pink, dip it in calcium powder, and hold it face first infront of the leo by the skin on its back with tweezers.

I only feed pinkie mice to leos that I think need a boost(once every month or two) or laying females. I may also feed one to a male if another leo refuses so that it doesnt go to waste.

I have fed both live and f/t and it doesnt make a lot of difference on whether the leo will eat it or not. With any prey item I usually try to wiggle them a little and make them move a little to catch the leos attention. (when I wiggle the mice I think of it as the little mouse zombie dance). Once the leo sees it moving they get interested and then they grab and consume(most of the time).

 

[loulovespat]

is it true that geckos bark when feeding pinkies? Because mine dont

 

[JordanAng420]

No, geckos don't bark. Dogs bark.
Geckos squeak. At the VERY loudest, they'll growl and it sounds kinda like when you're phone gets staticy.

 

[cryptid_hunter]

I use live because of the movement that attracts and stimulates my AFT's, and also because I believe the live are more nutritious. I've heard different theories, but it makes sense to me that freezing the pinkies diminishes their nutritional value greatly, just like anything else frozen, veggies being an example.

 

[M_surinamensis]

To whoever it was that added a vote and bumped this to the front page this morning, where I got to see it in the new posts... Thank you. This thread is hilarious and I always appreciate a chuckle.