Do gliders fed pinkies, become confused and cannibalize them?

I've seen this concern brought up several times since I got my first glider. I don't feed pinkies because I can't get past the "baby" mouse. It's hard enough for me to feed mealies.

I have heard of glider owners feeding pinkies as a source of calcium and protein, once a month.

My thought is, a glider won't confuse its' own joey with a food source, because in the wild, they naturally eat small rodents.

What are some other thoughts on this?

Personally, I feel that gliders are 'smart' enough to be able to differentiate between food and their own offspring. I do not feed pinkies, because I too cannot get passed the "baby" thing.

Sugar gliders are very scent oriented animals. It is one of their way of communication. They can certainly tell the difference between their own scents and the scent of their joeys and a prey animal.

Connie - I've also heard that myth many times.

It is completely ridiculous! To me, that's like saying a human couldn't tell the difference between their own child and a baby monkey. I just think it is absurd!

I guess I understand why some people could be concerned, but it isn't a valid concern, in my opinion.

Agreed to ALL of the above. I do not breed, have not bred, and have zero interest in ever breeding. But I feel I've done enough research to say that gliders most certainly can tell the difference between a pinkie and a joey. I believe that if a joey is cannibalized, it's because something is seriously wrong.

no, Gliders know the difference between their own joeys and pinkies.

I HIGHLY doubt a glider would get confused for one major reason. Pinkies are mice, mice are rodents. Rodents don't smell like gliders. Ever. Trust me I know. I used to have snakes and the mice always had this.... not unpleasant, but certainly not nice smell. I didn't breed the mice, so I only had them for about 20 minutes, and I could still smell it.

Gliders can smell even better then a human, so it's safe to assume that they'd be able to smell the difference. I don't feed pinkies... not because they're baby mice... my young snakes got those, but mostly because I don't like having frozen rodents in my freezer >_>

I can actually say for certain that this is just a myth. I know of several that actually do go and purchase the frozen pinkies for their babies. And neither person has had any problems with the parents canabalizing the joeys due to them feeding the mice to them.

No. Gliders know their joeys over mice. They are all about the smell.

They eat small rodents in the wild, so it's natural for them to eat pinkies or even full sized mice and even small birds.

I'd have to agree with everyone else..

Not only will scent alone tell them it's their baby and not a pinky but I couldn't see them not knowing the difference. They may be animals but like what was said they eat rodents in the wild.

On my post about if pinkies are ok to feed someone stated (not sure if it was you lol) that it could've been started from someone feeding pinkies and a chance encounter with cannibalism.

BTW: Thanks to everyone for the help you've given me! I'll put it all to work once I pick up my sugar gliders this weekend. Weather better work with us here lol!

I also own syrian hamsters as well as a mouse as pets, I cant imagine feeding babies to the gliders, I am going to do the PD (Pricilla diet) when I get my suggies, so I expect I don't have to feed them "pinkies" right? I am totally fine with mealworms and superworms though.

I don't know of any diet that requires pinkies. I believe Priscilla's diet calls for either so many mealies or so many super worms.

That's an odd question... but I'd agree with the majority here that they can definitely tell the difference between their own babies and a pinkie mouse. IDK if I'd be able to feed them to my gliders, just for the baby mouse thing, but maybe...

I don't know if it does. And I don't want to find out. My husband buys live mice for his snake and it just makes me want to cry. They are such cute little things and the noises they make just make my heart bleed. As for pinky's I just don't allow my husband to buy them. I can not imagine feeding baby anythings to any of our pets.

I know someone that has or still does this. When ask why he feed his glider pinkies he said, " They eat small live animals in the wild." Needless to say I didn't want to hear anymore.

I used to feed pups (pinkie rats) to my gliders when I was breeding rats for my snake. I never had a problem with my gliders mistaking their joeys for pups. They DO know the difference. My gliders loved them and they were only fed as a treat NOT part of their regular diet.

I have since rehomed the snake and no longer feed pinkies or pups. But would if I had to do it over again.

never knew u could feed them pinkies. do u just dethaw nd serve? weird. haha I don't mind serving them if they r prepackaged ones, but def not killing any animl or baby even if it is a rodent. I hate beetles....so I don't mind feeding mealies: )

Stacie, yes. I buy Arctic Mice from T-Rex, which you can find at basically any pet shop. I feed them as treats, once every few months. I bought a dozen about a month and a half ago and still have not fed them, so you can see just how often they're fed in my house.
They're frozen, and you keep them frozen. When you want to serve, take a pinkie out, which is packaged in it's own individual little baggie, and place the bag (don't take the pinkie out) in a glass or bowl of hot water. About five minutes later it should be ready. I pop it into a foraging toy so they have to find it to get it.

I was in a pet shop a few weeks ago and saw the tiny baby pinkie mice and my heart broke to think of gliders eating them. I couldn't stand seeing them in a cage full of about 30 mice and getting walked all over...they were sooo tiny and cute. Needless to say my gliders are gonna have to stick with mealies and their normal diet.

It's really nasty but they love them. I'm sure it varys from glider to glider just like some of them love mealies and some turn their nose up at them. We have only let them eat pinkys a couple times, I can't stomach it to give them regularly. So for us it was only ever as a treat for them, not a staple to the diet. And like has been said, they do not confuse the pinkys and their own babies.

Not to go OT, but... out of sheer curiosity... How big are pinkies? O.o I've never seen one. I'm sure it would creep me out to feed 'em to a glider, but just curious.

The ones I fed tonight were about an inch one was closer to a half inch.

Of topic also, I've heard that gliders will eat pet mice/rats, so does that mean they can also eat the later stages of mice? I know that they Have several stages of baby mice after pinky, so would a slightly older baby mouse be good for them?

I may feed pinkies later on, I can not stand meal worms at all. So I figure if my boyfriend ever goes out of town we'll switch to pinkies until he gets back, but only if they're frozen.

I also do not plan on feeding older mice, that question is just out of curiosity. I figure things like bone and fur would cause a problem, but that they may also like the chase. I'd break down and save the mouse though, lol.

This is from my iPhone, apologies for any mistakes.

Let's get this back on topic guys. The original topic is to discuss if feeding pinkies causes cannibalization.

If you have any questions other than relating to this topic, please post them in the appropriate forum.

I feed pinkies to mine on occasion, more so when mom is carrying joeys IP and I don't have any other source of protein around. I don't have a problem feeding them to my gliders, they love them!!!

All I do is put them in some warm water to thaw them out and put them somewhere in the cage. It's the only food that our gliders will fight over so we better have one for each on hand! But most of the ones we pick up are a inch long and are frozen individually.