Pinky Question!!!!!

I have 5 leopard geckos not one will eat a pinky mouse, well I was wondering, could I open the leos mouth and kind or put a portion of the pinky in his/her mouth? Thank you.\





From:Brent Allen email leosrule182@yahoo.com AIM albinoleodotcom

No, you should never try to force your gecko to eat. I have one leo that is absolutely terrified of pinkies, and goes ballistic whenever he sees one! Try dropping one right in front of them to get their attention. You may have to do this a few times.

I personally have never fed my leos pinkies and they do fine without them. I feed them on a diet of mealworms, superworms, and crickets. Do not force your leo to eat them!!! It will just cause undue stress.

i feed pinkies to all of my adult leos. i have a female that would eat a whole litter if i let her. the bones contain calcium and thiers lots of nutrients in them...talk about gutloading.... they have mouse milk in thier gut.

if your gecko wont eat pinkies... than dont feed it pinkies. whats the point of force feeding a gecko unless it absolutely wont eat ( and it becomes malnurished and on the verge of starvation) and in that case if you insist on feeding pinkies....use a pinky pump. *squish* ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

speaking of pinkies, is there a problem with Fatty Liver Disease among leopard geckos? if so maybe i should reconsider feeding pinkies at all.... i know that there was alot of debate around weather or not pinkies were related to fatty liver disease in hognose (mainly eastern because in the wild they eat mostly toads). i just wonder if this is a risk with leopard geckos.

I agree with the people above, don't feed pinkies unless they will readily take them. My breeder females will even eat frozen thawed ones put in front of them! I only feed them after they lay a clutch of eggs though. The rest of the time its mealworms/crix. I have one male gecko that eats pinkies also, and one that won't pay any attention to one. As for the fatty liver disease, I'm not sure if it would be a danger unless our Leos are fed pinkies as a staple? But I could be wrong.

Feeding pinkies to leos has been linked to fatty liver disease as well as blindness and ultimately death. This is not to say that the occassional pinky would do harm, but under no circumstances should they be a frequent or staple diet.

Also understand that pinkies are not nearly as nutritionally complete as older rodents. They do not have fully formed bones and as such are not a significant source of calcium, about 1% by mass versus 3% for adult mice.