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leos don't like pinkies?

I'm not going to get into some huge argument with you over this...I'm just telling you what I've learned in school as a pre-vet major and what I've seen from experience. And I am definitely not going to get into it with you about dog diets....b/c I can see that won't go anywhere....
 
Too funny, I didn't think we were arguing, I thought we were having a mature discussion but oh well.

I am only going on my experience and knowledge as well, no need to go into details since that may be considered as arguing. Ive had reptiles since I was a kid, this is nothing new to me and the debates have not changed over the last 25 years about diets.

Feed your leos anything you want, variety, no variety. I just happen to know that they prefer a variety when there is a full dish of mealies sitting there and you throw in some crix and they go for them. If they wanted consistency they would stick to the mealie dish and not make the effort to chase the crix down.

Just my .02
 
I don't want it to get to arguing...which it quickly will if it continues b/c neither of us is going to crack...lol I did say variety is good for them...I just don't believe its b/c they prefer variety. again I wouldn't see that as prefering variety...I would see that as prefering something that moves more. and like I said...prefering consistency was probably not the right way to put it....especially for an opportunistic animal. I've just learned that animals don't get bored with thier food...they dont' care if they eat the same thing day in and day out. If they are seeking other food out (and not just eating it b/c its there and they are opportunistic) its probably b/c they are missing something in their diet and can sense it so are going for variety to find it...or b/c they are looking for something they like better.
 
I guess that the use of the word "FORCE" was a poor choice of words on my part-I certainly did not mean to imply that you are stuffing them down your Leos throat
Perhaps a better way of putting it would have been to say that you insist on offering them when they don't seem to be the least bit interested in them
I do agree that a variety of diet is important for any animal and that some animals do seem to have preferences with one food over another but I have another question regarding the complete absorption/digestion of pinkies in small caged lizards
I have read)(I will have to go and find the source) that it has been found in the course of a necropsy with Bearded Dragons that the skeletons of the pinkies were not completely absorbed-particularly the skull- and led to a blockage problem over time
Maybe this is yet another myth ???
I understand that many people feed their lizards mice-I guess that since I have had such good luck with my Leos on an insect diet that I am loathe to feed mice to them
For those of you that do feed pinkies to you Leos-is there a dramatic difference in their overall health compared to a Leo that has nerver eaten a Pinkie?
Perhaps i need to rethink my Leos diet if they are so beneficial for them
I am always looking to improve my keeping and husbandry for optimum care of my animals
:D
Sandy
 
"Perhaps a better way of putting it would have been to say that you insist on offering them when they don't seem to be the least bit interested in them" ...the reason for that would be if you bought one and they won't eat it you don't want it to starve to death or whatever you'd do it otherwise...

I've never heard of the digestion thing...but I would imagine if that was happening in leos it would be a big problem very quickly since a pinkies skull would be awefully big in a leo's digestive tract...

I don't think leos are necessary in a leos diet...there are other ways of adding variety...pinkies are just one way and a good to beef up breeding females
 
I don't consider it arguing, I consider it a difference of opinion and everyone has an opinion, at least me and you are willing and able to discuss our thoughts on feeding and food varieties.

So what if we disagree, thats what life and learning are all about, I just haev a different view than you do.
 
Ive never heard of the blockage either but I could see that happening if you fed them pinks only and they began to be unable to break down the mass of a pink as every meal.
 
First, let me say I have very little xperience with Beardies, but I have heard that too many mealies can also be difficult for the BDs to digest. Perhaps this is a major difference between the leos and the beardies? I have feeding feeding pinks to my adults (those that like them) for a few years, NOT all the time, and haven't had any problems. I HAVE noticed that the ones who do eat pinks tend to carry more fat, both in the tail and the armpits.
 
Wow, this was an odd thread. Back and forth the whole time. Anyways, I'm with Wendy, and I've seen it in the leo's I keep. I don't keep many, my collection stands at 5 (when the 3 come in Tuesday), but the 2 here love pinkies. Yes, I do plan to breed them, and yes pinkies will bulk them, but I'm not feeding them pinkies just so I can get eggs. They truly do seem to enjoy them.
Plus, Christina, (I'm not saying this to be rude at all either), Frankly, I don't care what you're learning in your pre-vet classes. They cannot teach you the personality, or feeding mentality of every single leopard gecko, or every single specimen of animals you could find. If you are so willing to believe that these animals don't have the mental capacity to differentiate between "I've had this everyday, this is boring" and "hey, what about those other things I get once and awhile" you're underestimating the animal. Animals are usually a lot smarter than we give them credit for.
Plus, in one of your posts, you said something like "they dont like variety, they just like something different, a different kind of food" Isn't getting something different than the norm, also in turn getting a varied diet? Don't the two points of view you used juxtapose themselves equally, not creating a different fact?
Just my 2 cents, and let me reiterate, Im not trying to start any fights, just putting my opinion out there.
 
"...in one of your posts, you said something like they dont like variety, they just like something different, a different kind of food" Isn't getting something different than the norm, also in turn getting a varied diet? Don't the two points of view you used juxtapose themselves equally, not creating a different fact?
Click to expand...
I agree, Michael! Hmmm.... looks like someone yet again feels like arguing over nothing, and needs to get over herself. This thread is about feeding pinkies, not about her being right all the time.

I feed occasional pinkies to my females, especially to keep them in condition towards the end of breeding season. I have some that jump on them immediately, some that are curious but not really interested in eating them, some that won't touch them, and even one female that is so terrified of a pinky that she completely goes psycho when she sees one!

I have also had a couple of geckos that have not done well after eating a pinky. Perhaps it is the bones, or just too much fat being absorbed into their system in one feeding so the liver has a hard time processing it. Very small, day-old pinkies should have very soft bones that can easily be digested, but the skull could be another story. I only recommend feeding pinkies to full-grown, adult geckos.

You can always use a pinkie press if your gecko won't eat one and you really feel a burning desire to feed it one!
 
"they dont like variety, they just like something different, a different kind of food"
Ok first I didn't say that... If I said something that sounded similar I meant that there is a difference between prefering variety and prefering a specific food over other foods....prefering one food over others does not mean that they prefer variety when they hold out for that food.
"They cannot teach you the personality, or feeding mentality of every single leopard gecko, or every single specimen of animals you could find.They cannot teach you the personality, or feeding mentality of every single leopard gecko, or every single specimen of animals you could find. If you are so willing to believe that these animals don't have the mental capacity to differentiate between "I've had this everyday, this is boring" and "hey, what about those other things I get once and awhile" you're underestimating the animal."
I'm fully aware that every animal is different and I'm not learning about every individual when I'm taught things....and again...I wasn't JUST going from my classes...I was also going from EXPERIENCE. As far as the mental capacity to find something boring....I dont' know, no one knows what any animal's mental capacity is. I just believe that they don't get bored with their food....that has nothing to do with their mental capacity...maybe they have it, maybe they dont. I believe it has to do with the consequences of getting bored with food in the wild. It would be a huge disadvantage for a wild animal to get bored with its food. We've had the ability for so long to pick and choose what we want to eat that can afford to get bored with our food and hold out for other things.

Marcia...in case you didn't notice Wendy and I agreed to disagree....how is that about me wanting to be right all the time?...we had our discussion and ended it with our own opinions. There was nothing hostile or argumentative about it. As far as this post, I'm defending myself in that I feel Michael is trying to make me sound like an idiot, and I am elaborating on my opinions....not trying to make anything about me being right all the time....
 
Well, Christina, lets think about their wild habitat, and food availability...
They are from the Middle East, and yes, it would be quite a disadvantage to get bored with a food, if and only if there was only one such item that was available to be consumed.
Buttttttt as we all know, in 98% of every habitat, where there is one species of insect, there will be others. Plus, the rodent population, and if one adult leopard gecko would just by chance come across a nest of rodent pinkies, they would more than likely eat several on the spot, because that is quite a good food item.
They never will get bored with their diet, because in the wild, the chances of them eating a single species of bug, such as a cricket, for 1 straight week, without a catepillar, or ants, or roach, or anything else would be ridiculous.
So, in short, in the wild Leopard Geckos do not get bored with any of their prey items because they have VARIETY!, and I do believe variety was a key point throughout this thread....
 
I wasn't refering to just leopard geckos...I was refering to animals in general. Granted, there usually are lots of "choices"...except there's usually more of one thing than everything else and sometimes things happen where there is pretty much only one or a few things available... At any rate...the point I was making is that from what I have learned and seen animals do not get bored with their food...that is what I believe to be true...if you don't agree, fine.
 
I agree with Michael, in the wild there is no choice but variety and whatever you can get that day so there is no choice to make.

I still think they prefer a varied diet, but like Ive said that is just my honest opinion. I think they are smart enough to say hey, this sucks, Im tired of mealies, give me something different.
 
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Ok then, I won't agree.
I have no reason, nor have you supplied me with any kind of concrete evidence to support such claims, but personal opinion. Then again, we have also expressed personal opinions.
But, to also take into opinion is, we have never stated any such claims that make us seem superior.
In the end, a point which is unarguable, proven by such unanticipated tests as keeping the animals which were originally the subject, to back the hypothesis that a varied diet, including such items as wax worms, meal worms, crickets, super worms, roaches, and pinkie mice, with other such items not listed, in correspondance with any of the such with the exception of the pinkie mice as the staple of the diet, with a varied amount of any of the others as supplements to the diet.
There is really no arguing the fact that there is a general improvement in weight, and overall health, and healthy appearance and behaviors when provided a well balanced, and nutritionally sufficient diet consisting of various, not singular offered food items.
 
Christina did agree that a varied diet is better, our disagreement was more on if they actually prefer it by choice of intelligence.

But I do feel they do prefer it, I do not think that holding out for a different food is anything more than a preference and being bored with the current staple.

We agreed to disagree :)
 
I know, we all have our own opinions...
What just rubbed me the wrong way, intentional or not, was the throwing around of things such as "I learned in my college nutrition class..." and "I'm a pre-vet major in college", as if to improve her own opinion, into a position where ours are rendered less of an educated, or less of an acceptable opinion just because of such things...
Well, I am only 16, but do aspire to do the same thing, I already know which college I want to go to, which program I want to get into, and where I want to work after college. Everything accademically is already in place for me, just some hard work to get me there.
Anyways, however intentional, or not, it just bothers me.
 
Exactly Wendy. I've just never seen or heard of an animal, when offered one type of food for its entire life, or offered one type of food at a time for long periods of time (like switching diet)...decide one day to refuse the food...if they got bored of their food, then you'd think one day it might decide "I'm not going to eat this, I want to wait and see if I get something else." I've just never heard of it happening.

Michael I was not trying to sound superior...I was just trying to provide a source other than my own experiences that was reputable. I don't know about anyone else...but I personally would be more apt to believe a professor specialized in the subject than my own experiences with a few individuals of several species. I'm sorry if I sounded like I was acting superior...it was completely unintentional
 
Oh and thank you for telling me why I sounded obnoxious....it seems like everyone else just jumps down my throat and basically tells me I'm a jerk without telling me why I sound like that... I say those things because I DON'T feel superior to everyone else...I feel the need to back myself up somehow...
 
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