Are pinky mice safe for weight gaining?

[John]

Just don't feed him on them long term. You shouldn't have to use live ones either.

[Greg M]

I use pinkies for bringing frogs up to a healthy weight or during rapid growth phases, when the calories come in handy. As John says, you have to be cautious about using mice as feeders over the long-term. Once frogs are at a healthy weight, I offer mice as a treat once a month or so, and only to frogs that are not overweight.

PS. I strongly agree with John about not using live mice. IMHO I don't see the point of traumatizing the poor mouse or risking injury to the frog through the mouse biting.

[pyxieBob]

i agree using thawed out pinkies is prob the most humane. However a live pinkie isnt able to pysically injure your frog by biting your frog. They have no teeth yet. Wiggling a thawed out pinkie long enough will most likely get a response from your frog.

I use pinkies for bringing frogs up to a healthy weight or during rapid growth phases, when the calories come in handy. As John says, you have to be cautious about using mice as feeders over the long-term. Once frogs are at a healthy weight, I offer mice as a treat once a month or so, and only to frogs that are not overweight.

PS. I strongly agree with John about not using live mice. IMHO I don't see the point of traumatizing the poor mouse or risking injury to the frog through the mouse biting.

[demeteraurion]

Where do you get your pinkie mice? I want to offer one to Rupert but im not sure if my Petco has any or if they sell them

[Lacibeth]

Where do you get your pinkie mice? I want to offer one to Rupert but im not sure if my Petco has any or if they sell them

At work for our frozen feeders we use Layne Labs and RodentPro. The problem with both of those is that shipping is pricey. We also maintain a live colony of mice and that's where I've been getting live pinkies for my baby snake. AFAIK, Petco does not carry pinkies.

[Lacibeth]

I've also heard good things about MiceDirect. Day old pinkies run about $.16 with all three of those companies and shipping runs between $35-$50.

[GrifTheGreat]

Thanks for the posts and advice. I use the Arctic Mice brand frozen pinkies. He seems to like them but he's stubborn and I still have to force his mouth open. Once they're in on the other hand he devours them very quickly. He is gaining weight extremely slow though which is why I'm asking. I'm not sure how long it will take to get him back up to a healthy weight.

[pyxieBob]

Petsmart frozen mice cost a fortune also. Way way over priced

[Greg M]

pyxieBob: you are quite right with respect to pinkies - I was thinking more about larger mice. My bad...

I buy frozen mice at Petsmart. I think Petco carries them as well. My one suggestion is to buy mice grown and humanely euthanized at a clean facility - I've run into problems with mice raised/frozen locally at pet stores...