Ackie and pinkies

[arenton]

I have an ackie - apparently around 9 months old. The person it was bought from said it was eating pinkies once a week, no problems.

I have had the ackie for about 3 months now, and even today, I can't get him interested in trying a pinkie.

The only thing it likes to eat are crickets. Unfortunately there has been a shortage in supply of crickets from sellers near me of late, so I wanted to see if I could get 'him' to eat a pinkie.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can encourage the ackie to try it? The ackie seems more afraid of the pinkie than interested in it.

Thanks.

 

[saximus]

It sounds like you?re trying to feed off tongs? If it?s skittish, then it?s probably got more to do with your presence than the food item. Try just leaving it outside its favourite hide spot for a few hours and see if it takes it

 

[arenton]

It sounds like you?re trying to feed off tongs? If it?s skittish, then it?s probably got more to do with your presence than the food item. Try just leaving it outside its favourite hide spot for a few hours and see if it takes it

Thanks Saximus - but, no, I am not using tongs to feed him.

I will leave it until the afternoon and see if anything happens - if the pinkie isn't gone then I will throw it out.

 

[Native_EWD]

Are you offering them cold? My ackie wouldn't eat cold pinkies, I had to heat them up in the microwave for a few seconds before he would take them, just enough to increase the smell

 

[Planky]

Did you ask if they where defrosted pinkys or live ?

 

[GBWhite]

Hi,

Sounds to me that it might not be hot enough. From experience when young Ackies are left alone and provided with a suitably warm environment they accept food readily and are usually quite ferocious feeders. I don't think pinkies once a week are very nutritious either for a 9 month old lizard.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to offer it something different and see how that goes. Along with fuzzies ours gets chicken mince, puppy food, woodies and crickets on the odd occasion.

George.

 

[arenton]

Hi,

Sounds to me that it might not be hot enough. From experience when young Ackies are left alone and provided with a suitably warm environment they accept food readily and are usually quite ferocious feeders. I don't think pinkies once a week are very nutritious either for a 9 month old lizard.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to offer it something different and see how that goes. Along with fuzzies ours gets chicken mince, puppy food, woodies and crickets on the odd occasion.

George.

Thanks GBWhite. Today I went out and got a 150W basking globe. Ambient temp in the enclosure is now 32.5 degrees C. Basking spot is 57 degrees C. I have always fed him crickets daily, and was just really looking to feed him pinkies to vary the diet. Do you find yours gets loose bowel movements with the puppy food - I have heard mixed opinions on feeding this to them.

I might head to Woolworths and get some chicken mince. We have a pet store near us that has kangaroo mince - any thoughts on feeding that?

Cheers.

- - - Updated - - -

yeah mate - mine was warmed to around 26 degrees (per the instructions on the sealed pack).

- - - Updated - - -

they were defrosted. I was told they just left it in there until it was eaten.

I left one in the enclosure all day yesterday and no interest whatsoever!

- - - Updated - - -

should the basking lamp (150W basking globe) be on a thermostat or left on all the time (except at night)?

 

[GBWhite]

Hi again,

Lets hope you have some luck with the higher temps. I don't have any problems feeding puppy food. I've been using it as a staple for all my lizards for years and they are all doing fine.

Roo meat is fine and I think you might find there's roo in the puppy food anyway. I've got heaps of mates where I live that shoot roos for a bit extra income and they sell the carcases to blokes that sell it on to manufacturers of canned pet food. If you decide to use it make sure that it's puppy food and not dog food and that it doesn't have any fish product and then you won't have any problems.

Cheers.

 

[arenton]

Hi again,

Lets hope you have some luck with the higher temps. I don't have any problems feeding puppy food. I've been using it as a staple for all my lizards for years and they are all doing fine.

Roo meat is fine and I think you might find there's roo in the puppy food anyway. I've got heaps of mates where I live that shoot roos for a bit extra income and they sell the carcases to blokes that sell it on to manufacturers of canned pet food. If you decide to use it make sure that it's puppy food and not dog food and that it doesn't have any fish product and then you won't have any problems.

Cheers.

Thanks mate. I think I will forget the idea of pinkies at the moment. Stick to crickets, woodies etc.

 

[kitten_pheonix]

I wait until about lunch time to feed mine a pinkie in the mornings and late in the arvo theres usually zero luck with it. Shes eaten it both off the tweasers with a bit of movement then off her rock under the lamp.

 

[MrSpike]

Try braining the pinky. Use twezers to crush the skull, break the skin and expose some blood/brain. Leave it in a bowl and see how you go. Works a treat for hatchling snakes yet to begin feeding.

Also maybe try some raw meat.

 

[pinefamily]

Get chicken mince from a pet food supplier; it usually has bones minced in with the meat, so is more nutritious for the ackies.