I want to give my guys a pinkie.
but will it be a nasty bloody mess?

I heard that they clean up everything...blood,fur,meat,and bones.

I saw a picture posted here once, you do not want to watch your furbutt eat it.

It will be nasty you can also give a anole or house gecko which might make you more comfortable.

I personally have gave mine this and they cleaned it all up I didn't stick around to watch them eat it but by morning it was GONE! All of it not even a hint that it was ever there. I have never heard of giving anole or gecko's to gliders but what exactly would be the difference? The frozen ones aren't really that bad to feed I just dropped it in their bowl one night they ate it and went on their way they were happy little guys! I feed them one about once a month now! Just a little treat ya know!

Has anyone ever studied the relationship of cannabalism of joeys & the feeding of pinkies? I would think that they might assume a joey to be a pinkie & therefore fair game??? I don't even want to start giving mine pinkies! We've had 1 successful joey and want to keep it that way, if it sould arise again! Just my opinion.....

I wouldn't feed them lizards because of the risk of salmonella.

gliderma - that's sort of a myth going around. Gliders are smarter than that, though. They know the difference between a rodent, and their own marsupial joey.

I would think they would know one of their own, but if mama is young, inexperienced or stressed???? I just don't want to add something I'm not sure of. Plus my daughter would be horribly upset, since she recently "rescued" a mama mouse with 3 babies that we discovered in our garage during our recent move!

My mama is young and she has been fed pinkies. Right now she has 2 healthy joeys that are 8 days oop. No cannabalism here!! I think they can tell the difference!

I wouldn't feed my gliders pinkies if the mama mouse was wild and/or lived outdoors. I would buy a pair of mice from a pet store and breed them, for my own peace of mind. Who knows what the wild mice carry and I wouldn't want all that transferred to the gliders.

Jenn, do you plan on feeding your gliders live or frozen pinkies? I hope you don't plan on feeding them live because, well, not to scare you but it has happened to my husband when he fed his gliders live pinkies, that he heard pinkies scream in agony when his gliders ate pinky's butt first. Like I said, I don't want to scare you, but at least you are being forewarned this can happen. As for me, it wouldn't bother me at all if I fed my gliders live pinkies, because I wouldn't be able to hear them. (I am hearing impaired and I can turn off my Cochlear implant device.) I would much rather feed the gliders live pinkies, given my preference between live and frozen.

We do not have to worry about the gliders cannabalizing their own joeys because they can distinguish between a pinky and their joeys. However, first time parents have an increased chance of cannabalizing their joeys, due to lack of experience.

Gliders are all different; some make a bloody mess, and some are neat, cleaning up everything.


Jen

defiantly doing frozen. I can't stand the thought of something dieing like that. I already knew about the screaming...so sad.

I was just wondering about the clean up. If it was gonna be a bloody mess, then I wouldn't do it...but if they clean up after themselves, then I think I'm ready to take the step of live feedings.

Please let us know how the pinky-feeding went! I also would like to know what you think of your gliders eating them, if your gliders make happy chirping sounds while devouring the pinkies, etc. Please share your experience with us!


Jen

ya, now I'm uneasy because she did eat her last joeys...but it was due to the stress of loosing her mate...she's had other litters before and was a great mom..but now she has joeys in pouch......maybe I should hold off till they are oop.

I KNOW they know the difference.....and I want to give her one to help her body produce for the babies.

we'll see if I do it now or not

I feed frozen most of the time but i have given live before, they seem to like em either way, but they love em period. I feed my adult gliders each 1 a week. One of mine likes to eat the head and guts and leave a mess, the other 2 leave no hint of a pinky ever being around. As for the live feeding, try holding the pinky by tail and hitting its head on counter or flicking it. I know that sounds wrong but its more humane than having your glider eat it while its screeming. As for the cannabalizing im sure they know there young much better than that. Ive even had my female each a pinkie while her 2 joeys just outa puch clung to her, and she's a first time mom, of course it was under very close supervision. There much too smart to confuse there babies for a pinky mouse.

There's no question that they know the difference, but I would not do it for several reasons. One is the obvious- even frozen, they are animals so similar to gliders... I don't see how we can be so crazy about one species, and so callous towards another. I mean, I feed them all the bugs they want, because bugs can't feel pain. But those babies are sentient before they are killed, and I'm sure it causes distress for the mother, them being taken away to be food. I would hate to constantly have babies and have them taken away and killed. Wouldn't you?
On another note, healthwise, they are a good source of protein and calcium, but both can be gotten from insects. Phoenix worms have astounding amounts of calcium, and mealies, crickets, and others have sufficient protein.
I wouldn't want to chance desensitizing my animals to eating small mammals. Even if the momma doesn't do it, one of the other cagemates may want to try a bite. I just wouldn't take the chance. To me, it's not worth it.

I have been feeding my gliders pinkie rats for quite some time. I have breeders that I have raised and am comfortable with feeding them live. I wasnt at first, I didnt think I would be able to go through with it. But I didnt have the heart to kill the pinkies first either. After all gliders take care of it themselves in the wild. After seeing how happy my gliders were and how much they enjoyed their pinkies, it doesnt bother me at all. We all do some things for our gliders that we wouldnt normally do for our other pets or even skin family. My gliders happieness and health come first. They LOVE their pinkies and they are very good for them too.

I had a momma that had 2 ip when she started eating pinkies, those babies are very healthy and I wasnt a bit worried about them being cannabalized either. The twins are now 6 weeks old and they will be starting to eat pinkies soon as welll.

Feeding live or frozen pinkies or pinkies at all is a personal choice. I chose live and to breed my own, so I dont have to worry about where they came fom and what they might have to pass onto my gliders. The queasy stomache will go away after a couple of times of seeing how happy your gliders are to get that kind of a treat, and I have noticed that my gliders fur looks better as well. Personally I will always be pushing for people to at least try pinkies a few times before turning their nose up to the idea. Your gliders will love you for it! And a pinkie is done and gone within a matter of minutes. Its not like they play with it or tease it first for a period of time before killing it.

"I mean, I feed them all the bugs they want, because bugs can't feel pain."

They also say that a newborn or day old baby boy cant feel being circumsized either.

I don't know about that... in fact, I seriously doubt it, but insects lack the proper system to feel pain. Look it up.

I've fed pinkies and fuzzies before. Frozen, but still. The first one they ate with gusto, but the second, I had to slice open before they realized it was food. Then they ate it. I never got them to eat it again. I doubt I'd see an improvement in only 2 mice, but I can tell you that I didn't see a change, anyway. And holding the little babies in my hand, I DID feel for them...

please don't tell me that they don't play/tease it... they may not mean to, but they do cause suffering. I've seen videos of the babies screaming their little lungs out as they are eaten alive... if you can desensitize yourself to that, then good for you, but I am a peace loving vegetarian, and I do not like to cause suffering to any animal if I can help it without sacrificing the well-being of my animals. And I believe that I can.