Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a small frozen pinky from the pet store. I thawed it out but my geckos wouldn't eat it. How do i make him eat it?

Firstly, are you sure the gecko is big enough to eat a pinky? (I have found most geckos will at least inspect anything about the right size to eat, lick it and such, but if it is the wrong size they will just watch it move around.)

Are you holding it in feeding tongs and moving it like an insect? (They're not going to eat something dead.)

In the end, there are some geckos that just will not eat pinkies no matter what. (I do not condone force feeding unless it is for health reasons.)
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

She is definitely big enough, i moved it around a little bit. But i used my fingers and a pencil.

A wood pencil? What if the gecko attacked the pencil? Graphite and splinters are not good for them, not to mention the paint.

Feeding tongs are availible everywhere pets are, in a pinch real bamboo chopsticks can work as well if you are careful.

Have you picked up a book on gecko care? The breeding section would tell you the proper size to feed pinkies and the feeding section would give you details on how to feed them properly. I would strongly suggest it since I'm guessing you are thinking about breeding, because that would be the only reason to give pinkies.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

She's not going to attack the pencil. Even if she did, she wouldn' be able to take a chunk out of the pencil. Chill out.

I've never even attempted to feed frozen pinks to geckos. About 85% of my adults will take live pinks though.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is... If you want to fed her a pinky every now and then try a live one.
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Only about 33% of my adults will eat a pinky, live or F/T. Yours may just not be a pinky eater. The good news is that they don't really need them. It just helps to keep egg production up.

My pinky eaters put out almost 2x the eggs of a non pinky eaters.