pinkies

[pwargcm]

never fed a pinkie to my beardies ever, but was on another forum and someone was doing it. i would think that its not a good idea as it would be a high possibility of impaction. do any of you do it and is there any benefits to doing it. not saying that im ever gonna, just trying to figure this out. if there were advantages of them eating more meat like stuff i would possibly feed them pinky parts, like a head and legs, maybe cut up the body. thanks for any replies on this topic.

 

[jortiz9758]

There is no reason to feed mice to your Beardie. I know some people who give it to a gravid female to get her protein and weight back up.
Stick to your staple bugs and greens and your beardie will be more than ok.

 

[pwargcm]

yeah, thats what i figured as i would not see them eating many mice in the wild. if they were to eat anything like this in the wild i would say a small lizard would be a possibility. but ill stick to my roaches and supers. they like them the most anyways.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

In the wild a beardie will eat whatever it can catch. So it would eat small lizards, bugs, pinkies if they come accross the nest. If you look at some older literature it was once standard practice to feed a pinkie to your pooper. However as time moves on and we learn more about what we do in this hobby we have learned that this practice is no longer neccisary due to slightly diff husbandry practices. Now in 10 years from now I wonder what it is that we do that others will go no way you will kill your pooper.

 

[seymours]

I feed pinkies to my adults about once a month as a treat, And for my pregnant female.

 

[aoscar]

my dragon gets 2 or 3 pinkies once or twice a month when I do reptile shows. My breeder and several others there also do the same, but only give their dragons under one year, one pinkie. I wouldn't call it a necessary practice by any means, more like an occasional treat that Pyro really enjoys.

 

[lacy_black]

Personally I never did because i'm not willing to risk impaction or fatty liver disease.

 

[Grixxly15]

I agree feeding pinkies are just not necessary. I used to be one of those people that would feed their bearded dragon one pinkie a year as a "treat" I know better now. I'll tell you that anyone that is feeding pinkies are just doing it out of their own enjoyment.

 

[pwargcm]

i wouldnt say they were necessarily doing it for their own enjoyment. different strokes for different folks i guess. some people are older more experienced handlers and know of things back when they used to do it years ago and still up to today. i know now many are leaning from it and a lot of people are feeding like monitors/tegus cooked meat which is good, but id rather stay with a complete food item with all the parts there. not just a turkey breast with no bones or anything. im not one to feed baby food either to my animals, baby food is for human babies, not for bearded dragons. lol. i think maybe a few pinks a year as a whole food item would probably not be detrimental to health and may actually be helpful in someway. i feed all my snakes rodents cause thats what they eat, and i always have enough pinks to go around this time of year. so i was just wondering it the other day when i was thawing out and reading on the other forum. i might try it someday who knows. i like to keep my beardies happy with food diversity. ive seen people only feed their beardies mustard greens and crixs its whole life. what kind of life is that eating a salad and a nasty parasite filled insect. i dont even feed crixs anymore and have never had such clean fecals in my animals. its amazing what those things carry.

 

[DragonsInKansas]

What do you feed then if you don't feed insects??

 

[pwargcm]

What do you feed then if you don't feed insects??

never said i didnt feed insects. i feed roaches, super worms, and sometimes a wax or a silk as a treat when i get a new bigger shipment of supers in if my beetles arent producing as many as my beardies need or theyre not big enough to feed off and be a good meal yet. i feed normal mix of greens and veggies that i would always feed to them. and that changes upon availability. and theyre not picky eaters like a lot of people have because they have always had a very varied diet and dont know just one type of food. i know its hard to not feed crickets when theyre smaller, but i no longer have any small ones to worry about right now.

 

[DragonsInKansas]

I don't do cricket either. I was just curious what you used. With pheonix worms around you can almost get by without crickets for the babies, unless you're feeding a whole clutch......that would get expensive.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

With GREAT prices its about 200 a week to feed 123 poopers.

 

[aoscar]

I'll tell you that anyone that is feeding pinkies are just doing it out of their own enjoyment.

Not true, I throw his pinkies in his dish, then unload from the show. I don't watch him eat them ( i did with the first couple to see if he'd even take them). Entertainment wise, I'd rather watch him eat a dubia or a silkworm, he really goes bonkers for those. I just feel that any carnivore, or omnivore likes a good piece of meat once and a while. I do agree that it is not necessary to feed them pinkies.