Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all!! It's been a looong while since I've posted on here but I recently got some snakes which means I now have a freezer full of mice...lol My hubby is dead set on feeding a pinkie to my almost 2yr old dragon.He eats a diet of supers and loves his salad. He takes an occasional feeding of crickets but I think he's too lazy(more like spoiled) to chase the dang things..ha!I've stopped my hubby thus far b/c I don't want my dragon to become obese eating these. My questions are: does anyone feed these to MALE dragons? Are my concerns for him becoming obese valid? or how often would you feed one if it is ok? I'll personally be surprised if he takes one at all since they are dead and he likes his food movin'...lol thanks for any advice!!

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1.0 bearded dragon "Ifrit"
0.1 leopard gecko "Lucy"
0.0.1 frog eyed gecko "Nikki"
1.0 crested gecko "Strider"
0.0.1 ball python "Kaa"
0.1 pueblan milksnake "Scarlett"
1.0 rabbit "Pippin"
1.0 cockatiel "Pretty Bird"
0.1 siberian husky "Sierra"
lots of fish

Well, personally, I feel pinkies are a very nutritious food source...more so than inverts like crickets and superworms. Plus they are easier to digest than inverts since they do not have chitin the exoskeleton that insects do. Chitin is indigestible, but bones are digestible. Anyway, I do feed pinkies and hopper to my 24 inch female occasional. My guess if you feed them pinkies and hoppers I would watch the weight very carefully, making sure he is not obese, but other than that they should be fine. There are myth going around that feeding your bearded dragon pinkies and hoppers will cause fatty liver disease. Fatty liver disease has to do with improper husbandry not what the animals eat really. Here is a good article on fatty liver disease. I recommend you reading it.
http://www.anapsid.org/heplipidosis.html

I know a lot of people do feed pinkies to females mostly when they are laying eggs or after. I guess the biggest thing is that they can become very fat over it. Males do not have as much of a problem with losing weight and the need to gain it back quickly. I would say if you have a male and doesn't need the extra I would not. Now if your husband wants to feed him one I would say it wouldn't hurt but not to do it a lot and make it a once in a while treat. Your cage looks very nice by the way.

The article was interesting but doesn't really exclude excessive high fatty food in a reptiles diet not being a cause of fatty liver disease. Fatty liver disease is a symptom more than a separate disease, usually due to too much food intake, not enough calorie usage then some other ailment kicks in and the reptile stops eating and fat mobilizes to the liver, causing it to become 'fat' which in turn ends up causing more problems, even death.

Proper husbandry is more than just a big cage, it is also correct temperatures, lighting, food, etc. which all must be considered. Feeding too many pinky mice (which do contain a high amount of fat) (contains 17% of crude fat compared to 6% in crickets).

As I mentioned before, feeding an occasional pinky mouse for variety is fine, too much (ie more than once a week, though I recommend less) can cause an increase of weight..especially if your male isn't very active, or lives in a small cage(ie minimum cage size or less (4'x2' floor space is minimum for single adult bearded dragon).

If you find you have alot of pinky mice and your snake is growing too fast to stick with pinkies...great excuse to buy another couple babies.
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PHLdyPayne

There is nothing wrong with feeding an occasional pinky to adult dragons. It should not fed every week. Once or twice a month is fine and this is just a single pinky per offering.

It would be better to offer a more variety of insects than just crickets. Offer silkworms, hornworms, superworms, butterworms and roaches instead of just crickets (this is of course, in addition of his main serving of greens which should be a good 90% of his daily intake of food).
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PHLdyPayne

I don't personally feed my beardies pinkies. Even after a female has laid her eggs. There are other, better, ways to get a females weight up.

Anyways, I do have many people that call and ask about feeding pinkies. It is something that you have to watch closely. First, you want to feed a pre-skelital pinky. Something, where to bones are extremely weak and extremely soft. Then you are going to want to bathe before and after. Finally, for the week that you feed the pinky you are going to want to lower the amount of other protein.

I would never recommend feeding a hopper to a Bearded Dragon. And I have a couple of biggens.

Ernie
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www.midnightdragons.net

Three are some vids on youtube if he just wants to see it done. Also you can see how much work it is and how easily it could be for thigns to go wrong. Check them out when I did I was like he lived? Enjoy

I am not a pinkie for dragons believer. I feel that they are unnecessary and too high in fat. Reptiles magazine published an article on gout in reptiles recently. It discussed the causes which included feeding the wrong type of protein. Animal protein is different from the protein in insects.

BD's should also not be allowed to get obese.

I feel they should only be used in an assist feed situation with a sick or underweight dragon.

Thanks for all the great feedback. I think I'm going to continue to hold off on the pinkies. I'd rather be safe than sorry. It's certainly not something that he HAS to have since he is a big guy anyways and has never had any eating issues. Nice to have something to show the hubby and back me up though...lol once again..thanks!
ps..BDlvr hope everything goes well for your girl!!!
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1.0 bearded dragon "Ifrit"
0.1 leopard gecko "Lucy"
0.0.1 frog eyed gecko "Nikki"
1.0 crested gecko "Strider"
0.0.1 ball python "Kaa"
0.1 pueblan milksnake "Scarlett"
1.0 rabbit "Pippin"
1.0 cockatiel "Pretty Bird"
0.1 siberian husky "Sierra"
lots of fish