Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm trying to find a store that sells pinky mice. But all i'm finding are frozen Pinky Mice. What does everybody feed their leos? DeadThawed Pinkies or Live? I'm not even sure if live pinkies exist.
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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Fred & Wilma)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

Never tried frozen pinkies on a Leo. Live would be better because they don't see very well unless they move. Are you just using these as a treat? I wouldn't feed pinkys to them all of the time. I like to give the females pinks after they lay their eggs to put some weight back on but other than that I don't feed pinks very often.

I have a skinny leo that I'm trying to beef up. I'd like to feed it 1 - 2 pinkies this month to help it put on weight. I've tried Petcos and Petsmart stores and some local reptile stores, but nobody has them alive, just frozen.
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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Fred & Wilma)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

Unless you breed mice yourself or know a breeder, you will only get frozen pinkies. I would imagine live ones would be very hard to keep alive. Not to mention, very disturbing to feed IMHO (I know, I know, where do you draw the line between insects and baby mice). I know live mice can do alot of damage reptiles and amphibians, although pinkies are pretty helpless. Also I have been told that freezing the mice gets rid of most of the parasites one may be carrying, but I'm not sure about this. If your gecko isn't full grown I don't think it should get pinkies anyways. Pinkies are generally only fed to breeding females or as treats, even then in most cases they are not needed.

Have you narrowed out all other possible causes for the weight of the gecko? Is your gecko eating at all? "Beefing" up your gecko is not the best way to go. There are much healthier ways to get your gecko to an ideal weight.

Lisa
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0.1 Hypo Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Blizzard Leopard Gecko
1.0 Albino Pacman Frog
1.0 Lovebird (Tony)
1.0 Elkhound Cross (Otto)
0.1 Malamute Cross (Paris)
6.0 Bettas

Finding a live source is incredibly easy. Just look for any snake hobbyists in your area. They'll either breed feeders themselves or know where to get them.

I've been able to get leos to take thawed pinkies just by dangling them from a pair of chopsticks whereas some leos will leave a live pinky sitting in the corner. Some leos will take pinkies and some won't. I don't think having the pinkies be live or thawed has much to do with it. By the way, live pinkies scream while they're being swallowed, so make sure you can handle it.
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chickabowwow