From the sounds of these posts, I probably look like a monster to all of you. I feed my snakes F/T mice and rats. But my beardie every once in a while will get a live pinky and so does the gator. I havent yet given a live pinky to the gliders yet. I prefer to do the prekilled in my own defense lol. sorry. I was just raised that rats, mice, and rabbits were food. I feel bad now. I am thankful to all those rodents that keep my babies alive and well though.

Same here..I feed my snakes rats and mice...I have never known a rat to be a pet just because I always have fed them to my python and cornsnake...but I guess they can b really smart. So sorry everyone that finds that bad but it's what they would do in the wild...I feel bad about the smart rats though sometimes, I'm also thankful that they keep my snakes alive too.

I grew up around reptiles so feeding a snake or lizard a pinkie is just second nature to me. It's just the way the food chain works. I never understand how people can say that mice are so cute and then turn around and eat a cow, pig, chicken, or whatever. It really is hypocritical.

Mice are food. Rats are food. That's their function in the ecosystem, other than despoiling our food reserves.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by stepakapets101</i>
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by SGold</i>
<br />I've seen a video of someone feeding their gliders live mice. them things are as big as the gliders!
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where did you see thaat! lol
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I'll have to find it so I can post it.

so maybe when I first saw it I thought the mice were huge
but now that I watch it again they're not <i>that</i> big.

wow! I never knew they would actually eat the mouse!
I would not mind feeding my gliders mice, the gliders on the video seem to love it! lol.

except I would probably have to buy like 6 mice lol. Someone made a point that older mice are better because there bones add more calcuim? im not sure if they would actually eat the bones though

I just think there are easier ways of getting my gliders the protein they need. I mean, they make a mess enough as it is with just what I give them. I can't imagine what kinds of things will be splattered everywhere if I were to give them a mouse.

does feeding them mice like that make them more agressive??

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by SGold</i>
<br />I just think there are easier ways of getting my gliders the protein they need. I mean, they make a mess enough as it is with just what I give them. I can't imagine what kinds of things will be splattered everywhere if I were to give them a mouse.
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yeah thats true, but they would have "fun" ripping apart a mouse probably lol, even though some people think its horrible they probably enjoy it

I do give mine Rep cal Herbavite and Calcium so they are healthy, I just was thinking about trying something new

Rats and mice are food, for snakes, iguanas, foxes, birds, etc. <i>HOWEVER ...</i>

One of our members recently lost two gliders to a disease carried in mouse droppings. We have to be really careful what we expose them to.

http://www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17079

Miss Doolittle, I'm sorry to bring this up, I know you're still grieving. But I think it's necessary especially for out new members to know the risks.

I'm sure no one will over feed them mice but too many mice is not a good thing to feed your gliders as they are hard for them to break down and digest. I use to have Green Tree Frogs and you can feed them pinkies but they found that if fed too many they end up with liver and kidney failure. I know the old Taronga Zoo Sugar Gliders diet had day old chicks in it so once a week must be ok

We had a pet rat, Templeton, she was a very sweet pet. Actually rats make the best pets, very friendly and social. My kids did 4-H and we had rabbits too, but not market rabbits. Even though the points made about rats being prolific and food source are true, I could not have a pet that required live animals for food to survive. So I just avoid that situation all together. What animals eat in the wild is a different thing and I don't want to see it or assist in the process. Dried meal worms and crickets are going to be as live as it gets for my gliders.

I kinda agree with you nitetimers. What they eat in the wild is totally out of our control.Although rats and mice are in the food chain but watching them suffer and die in front of you is totally a different feeling altogether.

I just watched that video, OMG. I dont know about the US but here in Australia I know its illegal to feed LIVE mice and Rats to snakes, so Im positive it would be the same for gliders. Also feeding live mice carries a lot of risks, bacteria. worms etc, not to mention the risk that the mouse could bite the glider causing either injury or infection. If you were to feed mice they SHOULD be frozen for a minimum of 6 weeks to kill any nasties that the mouse could be carrying.

thats gross... lol
i have hamsters and that videos an eye opener..
can we show this video to people asking the age old question of mixing animals?

Yeah when ppl ask can birds go with gliders just show them this video and tell them this is what will happen to thier precious bird.

why the hell would you want to feel your gliders live pinky mice or rats?? the protein they NORMALLY get in the wild are from insects. Red meat is much different than insect meat... even some cooked chicken breast would be better for them than red meat... omnivores DO NOT have the digestive tract like a cat or a dog has. cats and dogs are carnivores and have a digestive tract made for breaking down red meat. even humans break down red meat less efficiently than carnivores do. Unless you want to shorten the life span of your gliders, i would highly advise against this. No i'm not some animal rights activist, i own several reptiles and feed them live rodents. Though i have done enough research on my gliders to know that they will be much healthier with protein gained from mealworms/pheonix worms, or chicken/turkey baby food. once again, unless you want your gliders to have health problems early in their lifespan, i would highly advise AGAINST feeding gliders any sort of other mammal meat. if you want scientific proof that omnivores aren't supposed to have too much red meat jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/132/11/3522S go there. just buy your gliders worms, chicken/turkey baby food/ or if you're feeling like they need a treat, cook some chicken breast or fish and give it to them. my gliders are perticularly fond of snapper/sea bass (probably because of the lack of fishy flavor)

yea i dont think thats cool. I cant watch an animal that big die/struggling for life and that mouse was moving. my cat dont even eat mice and ive had some along with rats and if they escaped my cat would corner them and meow till either me or my mom got up to see wat she was fussing about. Only live animal ill ever use as food is mealworms and crickets because lord knows we got enough of them lol..but this is my opinion

Just curious, who's going to tell the gliders in the wild that they can't have too many pinkies or chicks?

I do NOT suggest feeding mealworms as part of their regular diet. They are not a good source of protein because they are so fatty. I don't understand how all of these posts that are well over a year old keep coming back from the dead lately??

New members go digging through old archives, I suppose. I'm almost certain that perpetual_mind joined just so that they could respond to this.

wow i just realized dis was a year old...how do you even find posts this old?

Maybe from a specific keyword search up at the top? I'm not really sure. I also thought threads were locked after a certain amount of time. I mean, it's fine if someone wants to comment on something but if you want to dig up an old thread and reply starting with "Why the hell...", first of all, after a year and a half, whoever you're addressing probably won't see your friendly response and second, don't expect anyone to even want to read any further. I believe it had also already been stated by Jett that they are difficult for gliders to digest.

Ugh. That's all I can say.
((I feed frozen pinkies. Brow beat me please?))

I'm sure baby food is on the menu all the time in the wild..

My husband had piranhas once and we had to buy them live feeder Goldfish uggg I couldnt do it I made him....

My turtle eats minnows and goldfish. Live. It's great exercise for him. And the only activity he gets.

It's actually really neat to watch, as morbid as that sounds. lol

I'm glad this old post was brought back. I didn't know. I have no intention of feeding pinky mice but I will do a through house cleaning! I don't think I have mice but you never know!

Well you wouldn't want to feed a mouse you just found.

I buy Arctic Mice. They're monitored, chemical/toxin free, and already dead. They're frozen. So I know it's safe to feed, and I don't have to deal with squeaking, which would make me sad. Even if I hate mice.

Also, my trio never leaves anything behind.

My duo ate HALF a pinky (and they're TINY!) so I had the remains to clean up. They'll never get a pinky from me again.