Feeding Larger Live Prey Items - Pinkies, Other Geckos, etc.

[MelissaSR]

How many of you offer larger items than crickets or roaches? I am talking things like pinkies, or other reptiles? If you do, at what frequency?

I recently bought mourning geckos for the soul purpose of producing feeders. What sparked that idea was I have a phelsuma hatchling that hatched but it was failing to thrive. After a month it still didn’t fully remove its first shed and kind of hard to help something shed when it’s not even half a gram, I had decided to put it in one of my chahoua enclosures, it was eaten swiftly.

The mournings were bought mostly for the leachies for when they get bigger, but also partly because I like them and think they are cute. But I was wondering if anyone uses vertebrates as a food source on a more regular basis?

 

[Michael]

I actually tried raising mournings for this purpose years ago and found it to be a lot more work than it was worth. When I was at my wit's end with the project, I put like 2-3 mournings into each tank and somehow, they survived for weeks before escaping into my house.

However, with Chahoua's need for higher calcium vs. other New Caledonian species, I still think there is some type of smaller, calcium-rich prey item they get in the wild that they're missing in captivity. Laura Senchuk and I used to hypothesize years ago about what it could be. Thoughts were: small crabs, shrimp, small fish (they're often found near water in the wild, if I recall correctly), other geckos, and possibly newly hatched baby birds, like finches.

I went to Repticon Atlanta a few weeks ago and almost bought a few mournings for this sole purpose, but they were $50 a piece and I wasn't trying to spend $300 on a project that didn't pan out last time I tried it

 

[ArborealsAnonymous]

I have one girl who will eat pinks, but I dont think she particularly likes them- she's just willing to eat literally anything off of tongs for me. Most dont seem to care for anything that doesn't move around a lot or smell like fruit, but I bet small geckos would be a hit!

 

[Dragonborn Exotics (Ryan)]

I have tried many of times to feed pinkies to my chahoua. My personal experience is that they didn't like them. Maybe I didn't have the pinkies warm enough, maybe they just didn't care for them because they were already dead and did not struggle at all when bit. Maybe they just didn't like the flavor.
Usually what happens is the chahoua will strike, grab the pinky and thrash it around. After awhile they just end up spitting it out and then not accept it again if I grab it with the tongs and try to feed it back to them.
When one of my breeder males was still growing up he ate a couple pinkies the first time I ever tried offering them. He was an absolute savage! But after that time, I dont think he ever accepted them again. It might be similar to the dubia roaches in my experience. Seems like once they reach a certain age they are not interested in certain food items.
Anyone else have similar experiences with feeding pinkies?

 

[MelissaSR]

I am just wondering if these guys are a bit more opportunistic feeders, taking down random smaller prey whenever the chance is given to them. Mine go ape over crested tails, but I don’t have many it those to go around! But when I have cresteds pip and die they readily take the hatchlings. I do know of someone who actually gives quail eggs to his geckos in the Pangea as an additional boost to his leachianus and I wondered if people have tried such a thing with these guys. If people have tried more feeder lizard type species and found a good feeding response using them (not that I recommend running out and buying anoles for feeders). I’m just wondering if we are missing out on additional items they may regularly take.

Now I will note I don’t recommend running out and buying goldfish as feeders, I don’t know if chahoua are the same way but I know with snakes and tiger salamanders they can’t process a particular enzyme they can’t break down that is fatal to them. But I do wonder if snails would be a viable source because of their high calcium content.

 

[Michael]

I am just wondering if these guys are a bit more opportunistic feeders, taking down random smaller prey whenever the chance is given to them. Mine go ape over crested tails, but I don’t have many it those to go around! But when I have cresteds pip and die they readily take the hatchlings. I do know of someone who actually gives quail eggs to his geckos in the Pangea as an additional boost to his leachianus and I wondered if people have tried such a thing with these guys. If people have tried more feeder lizard type species and found a good feeding response using them (not that I recommend running out and buying anoles for feeders). I’m just wondering if we are missing out on additional items they may regularly take.

Now I will note I don’t recommend running out and buying goldfish as feeders, I don’t know if chahoua are the same way but I know with snakes and tiger salamanders they can’t process a particular enzyme they can’t break down that is fatal to them. But I do wonder if snails would be a viable source because of their high calcium content.

I did feed snails years ago, and it was hard to tell how many were eaten because they reproduced so quickly. However, I did see my GT female eat two of them on different occasions.

Quail eggs... I have those on hand because I feed my dogs raw, but can reptiles get salmonella...?

 

[MelissaSR]

I would assume their gut would have the correct bacteria in it to suppress salmonella since in the wild they can’t control it. I mean we are taught we can’t have small turtles because they will magically give us salmonella, and all reptiles carry it, just not sure how their gut flora works well enough to know. So who is going to be our tester and start breeding finches to offer them whole eggs via tongs lol

 

[ArborealsAnonymous]

I feed my monitors raw eggs of all varieties and havent had issues... All reptiles carry salmonella its just that turtles are a common pet for children, the 4" shell size was arbitrarily decided on as a size that most small children couldn't fit in their mouths.

 

[Dragonborn Exotics (Ryan)]

I did feed snails years ago, and it was hard to tell how many were eaten because they reproduced so quickly. However, I did see my GT female eat two of them on different occasions.

Quail eggs... I have those on hand because I feed my dogs raw, but can reptiles get salmonella...?

I know people who keep and breed gila monsters and beaded lizards feed them quail eggs. It's a staple of their diet out in the wild. Not sure if that can apply to New Caledonian geckos though. Some of the powder diets have dried egg white in them, so it might be safe?

 

[ET Geckos]

I tried feeding a failing e. vieillardi or agricolae once to a chahoua... (can't remember which). It was deformed so I figured..well, maybe the chahoua would like it?

Yeah, that was a mistake. The viellardi/agri baby decided to squirt that juice out of its tail and that didn't taste good apparently. Chahoua spit it right out and threw its head around trying to get the baby gecko juice off haha.

 

[Michael]

I've never smelled that Eurydactylodes "goo" smell, but I can imagine. Yuck!

I might try some other smaller gecko species later this year. Potentially some of the bavayia species as they would exist in the same range naturally. Has anyone ever tried those?

 

[MelissaSR]

Bavayia...expensive feeders ya got there lol. Them things are stupid fast. I had a couple here for a couple of weeks as I was taking them to Tinley for a friend. The Bf and I had fun trying to catch one of them

 

[Dragonborn Exotics (Ryan)]

Tried to feed my breeder female a pinky tonight, just to see if maybe there was a chance that she would take it. She did! For like 4 minutes. She would thrash it around, banging it into the walls of her enclosure. She had half of it in her mouth and all she had to do was swallow it (that's what he said) lol sorry. I was so happy that she was eating it. Then she decided to spit it out . I don't quite understand. Maybe their throats aren't wide enough?

 

[TracyPD]

I would refrain from feeding quail eggs.
Has anyone noticed increased agressive behavior in breeding pairs when dropped tails are offered? I had a female go ape on a male trying to eat his tail after I offered her a dropped tails the previous week.

 

[MelissaSR]

I would refrain from feeding quail eggs.
Has anyone noticed increased agressive behavior in breeding pairs when dropped tails are offered? I had a female go ape on a male trying to eat his tail after I offered her a dropped tails the previous week.

I see no behavioral changes when I offer dropped tails to the chahoua, however dropped tails are few and far between that I can't make a conclusion since it isnt a staple. Your experience may just be an isolated experience as other people I have talked to who offer dropped tails have not experienced an increase of aggression.

Why would you refrain from quail eggs?

 

[Michael]

Tried to feed my breeder female a pinky tonight, just to see if maybe there was a chance that she would take it. She did! For like 4 minutes. She would thrash it around, banging it into the walls of her enclosure. She had half of it in her mouth and all she had to do was swallow it (that's what he said) lol sorry. I was so happy that she was eating it. Then she decided to spit it out . I don't quite understand. Maybe their throats aren't wide enough?

This happens to me, and @vitog123 was just saying the same thing. They tend to take them.... then spit them out. I'm really not sure why!

 

[Michael]

I would refrain from feeding quail eggs.
Has anyone noticed increased agressive behavior in breeding pairs when dropped tails are offered? I had a female go ape on a male trying to eat his tail after I offered her a dropped tails the previous week.

Like, since being offered a dropped tail, she decided that she wanted more and was going after her tank-mate's? Yikes!

 

[Dragonborn Exotics (Ryan)]

This happens to me, and @vitog123 was just saying the same thing. They tend to take them.... then spit them out. I'm really not sure why!

I have absolutely no evidence to back this up, but my theory is that maybe they prefer live prey over dead prey. Maybe they can taste something in the pinkies or can tell that they are not alive or fresh and they dont like it? I will try to post a picture of how close that female was to finishing it. I feel like it would have been easier for her to finish it than to spit it out.

 

[MelissaSR]

I have absolutely no evidence to back this up, but my theory is that maybe they prefer live prey or dead prey. Maybe they can taste something in the pinkies or can tell that they are not alive or fresh and they dont like it? I will try to post a picture of how close that female was to finishing it. I feel like it would have been easier for her to finish it than to spit it out.

I’ve fed dead geckos to mine with no issues.

 

[Dragonborn Exotics (Ryan)]

I’ve fed dead geckos to mine with no issues.

Maybe my chahoua are just little shits lol