Hi, I am relatively new to captive husbandry of reptile and have been doing a lot of reading on this forum. I have come across the debate about whether pinkie rodents or adults have better nutritional value. A lot of people have comments like "show me the proof" or "where is the research/studies to backup your opinions". So i decided to see if i could find any research on the topic.
I found several peer reviewed journal articles, most of which are actually quite old (from the 90's) but it won't have changed in the last 15-20 years. A lot comes from zoos and i think it is all from USA but that doesn't mean the data doesn't apply to us in Australia.
I found this review (not sure where it is published but it uses other literature so i believe it is trustworthy) which compares a whole lot of studies. They found that "neonates have lower body fat concentrations than do older prey animals" and that "Mineral concentrations in whole prey vary considerably, depending upon prey type and, to some extent, age. Neonates often, but not always, contain a lower proportion of total ash(mineral concentrations) compared with adults"
here is the full pdf version if you want to actually look at the values. It covers rabbits, quails and chickens along with a long list of other animals, including wild caught
View attachment Dierenfeld et al; 2002; nutrient composition of whole vertebrate prey (excluding fish) fd in zoo.pdf
i also found several of the papers mentioned in the review particularly the ones relating to mice and rats
View attachment Douglas et al; 1994; Vitamins E and A, and proximate composition of whole mice and rats used as .pdf
View attachment Clum et al; 1996; Effects of diet on nutritional content of whole vertebrate prey.pdf
View attachment Dierenfeld et al; 1996; Mineral concentrations in whole mice and rats used as food.pdf
I hope this helps to settle the debate somewhat, but i doubt it will
Raymonde
I found several peer reviewed journal articles, most of which are actually quite old (from the 90's) but it won't have changed in the last 15-20 years. A lot comes from zoos and i think it is all from USA but that doesn't mean the data doesn't apply to us in Australia.
I found this review (not sure where it is published but it uses other literature so i believe it is trustworthy) which compares a whole lot of studies. They found that "neonates have lower body fat concentrations than do older prey animals" and that "Mineral concentrations in whole prey vary considerably, depending upon prey type and, to some extent, age. Neonates often, but not always, contain a lower proportion of total ash(mineral concentrations) compared with adults"
here is the full pdf version if you want to actually look at the values. It covers rabbits, quails and chickens along with a long list of other animals, including wild caught
View attachment Dierenfeld et al; 2002; nutrient composition of whole vertebrate prey (excluding fish) fd in zoo.pdf
i also found several of the papers mentioned in the review particularly the ones relating to mice and rats
View attachment Douglas et al; 1994; Vitamins E and A, and proximate composition of whole mice and rats used as .pdf
View attachment Clum et al; 1996; Effects of diet on nutritional content of whole vertebrate prey.pdf
View attachment Dierenfeld et al; 1996; Mineral concentrations in whole mice and rats used as food.pdf
I hope this helps to settle the debate somewhat, but i doubt it will
Raymonde