# pinkies



## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

So I've been going back and forth for awhile on whether or not to try pinkies with my boys (jeremiah right now and jakob once he's feeling completely better), but am not the type of guy to kill any animal myself even if it is a pinky (although they are kinda cute at that age and don't get nearly as creepy until they are older lol). 

Anyway, I digress, my question is for those that do feed pinkies. What is a good, healthy, safe food the breeders should be feeding? I just don't want to be feeding my boys something that has eaten something (like raisins or whatever) that is toxic to hedgies. I know its probably a slim chance something like that would affect the hedgie since it would have to be passed through the mother, then the pinky, then on to the hedgie and is probably well digested by then, but I'd rather not take any chances. 

Also what is the max age/size of pinky a hedgie can handle (I know its going to vary with each hedgie, but just in general)? 

Finally anything I need to look for when I go to the breeder other than the obvious signs of illness? 

Thanks


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## Pickle (Sep 11, 2011)

I'm afraid to ask but... what are pinkies?


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

Newborn rats


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

shawnwk1 said:


> Newborn rats


or mice. the term can mean either.


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## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

I've fed Opal pinkies she loves to anoit over them and it's the grossest thing ever. 
Their high in fat with little protein or any other nutritional benefits. 
Its only recommended as a rare treat. You don't have to feed them live. You can do frozen and just thaw them.
Fuzzies would be heathier but it will take a few for him/her to eat it so your going to have to be able to stomach it. o.e


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

ShutUpAndSmile said:


> Their high in fat with little protein or any other nutritional benefits.
> Its only recommended as a rare treat.


i do not think this is true. at least it's certainly not what everyone agrees on. there are very knowledgeable hedgehog people who'd say exactly the opposite. so i'm just sayin' it's not a unanimous opinion.


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## PRINCESSDANGER13 (Aug 17, 2011)

I heard of pinkies but what are fuzzies?... :?:


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## Nebular (Dec 28, 2010)

PRINCESSDANGER13 said:


> I heard of pinkies but what are fuzzies?... :?:


Almost the same thing as pinkies. Newborn mice/rats with a little bit of fur on them to give a slightly fuzzy look, but they're still not very mobile yet.

In any event, there's no way I'm giving Norman a pinkie or fuzzy. I don't want a bag of frozen mice in my freezer, have to thaw them out, watch the little guy try to eat one, or deal with any sort of clean up later. Blech.


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## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

fracturedcircle said:


> ShutUpAndSmile said:
> 
> 
> > Their high in fat with little protein or any other nutritional benefits.
> ...


They have barley developed bones and havent had a chance to take in their mothers milk. From what I understand they are all fat. I'll look this up though when I get to my cpu


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## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

This is what I've found so far...(Tried to edit but by the time I was done typing it wouldn't let me hit submit. I ran out of time lol D: )
"Pinkies are baby mice, and therefore don't yet have a well-developed skeletal system. The bones of a pinkie contain more cartilage and less calcium than the bones of older mice"
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/reptile/snake.html
BUT I also found this
Pinky:12% crude protein, 4.72% crude fat, 0.2% crude fiber, 80% moisture
Fuzzy:14% crude protein, 14% crude fat, 0.2% crude fiber, 69% moisture
Hopper:17% crude protein, 8% crude fat, 0.4% crude fiber, 71% moisture
Adult:17% crude protein, 7% crude fat, 0.3% crude fiber, 70% moisture
So I guess a hopper or an adult would be the best choice as far as a snack. So I admit I was wrong. But I still don't think they should be fed more then once a week or less.

And good choice not feeding. I have a video of Opal eating one. I haven't even uploaded it to youtube due to it's grossness. o.o lol


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

I wouldn't feed them live anyway due to personal beliefs (others might disagree, but that's borderline inhumane to me whether it is a food chain thing or not no animal should have to suffer when being eaten they do enough of that being frozen). Problem is I don't trust any breeders or any one to buy them frozen because as I said I have no idea if they died of some bad disease that could be passed on to my babies and idk if I can go thru with freezing them myself as I also feel that is cruel (don't have a problem once they are frozen though and unthawing them for the boys to eat, it will be gross, but it will be okay they need more variety in their food). That's if they even will touch them. 

And yes it could be newborn mice too sorry just said the rats since its the main pinkies that breeders around here advertise to sell. sorry for any confusion  

Still wondering about what the breeders should be feeding them though that would help to make them the most nutritious for my boys? And anything else I need to watch out for when picking them out? 

And no I don't plan on only feeding them pinkies or anything like that. Its only a trial thing to see if they even like them and if so then MAYBE once a month as a snack. My boys are tiny though so it really wouldn't matter if they had them a little more often. I think its one of those things you have to judge by your hedgies size and activity level just like anything else.


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

so the girlfriend and i were out picking up treats and whatnot for the boys and found frozen pinkies at petsmart  they were a little pricey, but to not have to freeze innocent little babies myself and still let my boys enjoy them was totally worth it. 

and for those that said it was gross when they ate them lol well....there wasn't much blood so that wasn't an issue (and wouldn't have been anyway with many years in the medical field), but the smacking sound they made while eating them was enough to make me wanna hurl lol. 

jeremiah just took the whole thing in his mouth and chomped on it until he got it smushed down enough to swallow it, but jakob decided he was going to eat his back legs first and work his way to the head (that was a little gross). 

got a video if anyone wants to see :lol:  oh and they were a lot smaller than what i figured they would be, but that's a good thing (made it nice and easy for them to eat).


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