Hi Gang! Not sure if this should have gone in the feeding forums but since it's leo specific I thought I'd try here first
My two are happy and healthy and growing nicely...male must be around 8" stretched out and my female is 6-7"... they're eating mostly crickets, the odd mealworm (which they pretty much ignore unless really really hungry). I was treating them to a wax worm or two once a month or so but often I can't get any. So the last time I was out I got a couple of the smallest pinkies I could find to give them a try (I'd been told by many leo owners and petshop staff to go for it).
So I offered the smaller pinkie to my female, she licked it, then took hold, manoevered it around and in about 8 seconds had it down her throat (I saw her twist her neck this way and that..I assume this was to help get it down). Offered the slightly larger one to the male, and he was too busy trying to climb onto me (yay! they're both finally coming for attention and the chance to explore my apartment whenever I get my hands in the enclosure!!). Put the pinkie down on top of the hollow log (Krown, the female was over on the other side basking lazily with a full belly). I took Kermit out for a few minutes, and when I went to put him back in, the other pinkie was gone! My gal had that mischievous lizard grin on her and two lumps in her gut! I couldn't believe that 1) she'd have room for more, cuz she IS the smaller of the two and doesn't normally eat half as much as the male and 2) I didn't think she'd even try to swallow the larger pinkie.
So, my question after all that hype, (and I know about the no larger than it's head across rule) is should I start giving them each a pinkie more often? I know their staple diet is primarily crix, and I'm gutloading them nicely.. but if I can give them pinkies to fill them up for a couple of days that would be awesome. Is there a rule of thumb? How many? How often? Any advice will be appreciated!

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In the terrarium :
1.1.0 leopard geckos

In the aquarium:
0.0.2 silver dollars
0.0.4 glass catfish
0.0.3 red tetras
0.0.1 silver hatchet
0.0.1 african butterfly
0.0.1 albino cory
0.0.1 std. pleco
0.0.1 bristlenose pleco
0.0.3 kuhli loaches

Hey

We too tried our Leopard Geckos with pinkies for the first time the other week, one of them wasn't so keen but the other two jumped on them and then grinned up at me as if asking for more

It's fine to give them pinkies, but don't feed them too often - like wax worms, they are quite fatty, and are especially good for gravid females, to get their fat content back up and to increase their calcium intake. If you want to, I would suggest you could give them a pinkie each perhaps once every couple of weeks, but maybe someone like Rich could suggest other? Maybe even feed as little as once a month as a treat, I certainly wouldn't feed them every week, but every now and then.

Aint it great when they'll eat a variety?? I just can't get our adult Bearded Dragons to eat them, although our younger ones think they're great!

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

Hello,
The only time I feed pinkies is during breeding season. I don't worry about my males so much as my females. If a female refuses a pinkie, I give it to the male. I will offer a pinky after every laying, which is every 4 weeks during season. Off season, I offer crix, mealworms,waxworms, superworms, butterworms, and I have offered baby goliath worms.

I stick with the crix,mealies,supers,and waxworms as the rotating regular diet. There is no need to feed pinkies to Leopard Geckos if they are well fed and the diet consists of more than one insect. Breeding is the only reason that pinkies are even part of my rotations. If I wasn't breeding, there would be no need for all those added calories.

If you still want to feed them as a treat, I would go with 1 a month or every 2 months.

Thanks for the info, folks! I had an intuition that no more than every few weeks as a treat. Tried the male again this weekend and he couldn't be bothered, but my female devoured one and wanted more... mind you, my male ate some of the sphagnum moss from the moist hide and was busy getting that out of his system (are we supposed to break up the moss into small bits? some of it comes in few inch stems).

Also I was at the store where I bought my leo's and the owner was in so we were talking and he suggested I not even bother (aside from treats like wax worms and, like it was mentioned, after egg laying for the female). Since she's the one that likes them, I'll go with that...offering one if she lays eggs.

Thanks y'all :-)

__________________
In the terrarium :
1.1.0 leopard geckos

In the aquarium:
0.0.2 silver dollars
0.0.4 glass catfish
0.0.3 red tetras
0.0.1 silver hatchet
0.0.1 african butterfly
0.0.1 albino cory
0.0.1 std. pleco
0.0.1 bristlenose pleco
0.0.3 kuhli loaches

Hello,
Leopard Geckos don't normally eat sphagnum moss. I use the stem type sphagnum moss. I have never seen a leo eat it before. When leopard geckos are eating things that are in the enclosure, they are normally trying to supplement themselves with something that they don't have enough of. With sphagnum moss, I can only think of a few things.

1. You don't feed him enough or frequent enough.
2. He was looking for a moisture source as water wasn't available.
3. Vitamins/Minerals - Do you supplement the insects?

If he is eating the sphagnum moss, you need to look at those things. That could readily cause an impaction if he eats enough. I wouldn't break up the sphagnum as he would be able to ingest even more, which potentially would cause an impaction.

If his belly is full and he is receiving all the nutrients and water that he requires, he would have no reason to ingest the moss. Monitor the things I listed and see if his sphagnum fetish ceases.

**Just for the record, most petstores are more concerned with selling merchandise than they are the well being of the reptile. In many instances, they give inaccurate info. I wouldn't consider your local petstore as a valued opinion when you are concerned about the care of your animal. Its safer to speak with those that have previous experience owning reptiles. They are more apt to give accurate info than someone that learned about the animal while working at a petstore. This is just my opinion and experience.**

I whole heartedly agree with Rich! Many petstore workers experience with a given species is a quick glance at a care sheet, if even THAT! Some of their husbandry knowledge is limited to the "if the customer asks something sell them THIS!" attitude. Take anything they say with a grain of salt! Granted there are some good responsible shops around but they seem to be far outnumbered by the "Take the money and run" type.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Yep, I agree with Rich's comments. Also, do you have a bowl of calcium in the enclosure so that the geckos can control their intake of calcium? The eating of the moss poses a risk of impaction and needs to be avoided at all costs. If you are feeding enough/often enough, supplying a supplement and water then perhaps you should think about changing the medium in the moist box - we use vermiculite, but paper towels and soil can also be used, however the safest would be paper towels in your case. Although, as Rich said, he really shouldn't be eating the moss if his diet and conditions are accurate.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

Thanks for all the feedback folks! For now I'm going to use the rest of my moss to cover all my potted plants, and I'm going with vermiculite instead..it's so much easier to use anyhow and both my leo's seem to like it. I have a hunch (correct me if it sounds tooooo stupid) that a cricket got into the moist hide (I've found a few in there) and my male, who is an eating machine, may have lunged for it and got a piece of moss with it and took it along with the cricket. I'd surmise that he would have let go of the sphagnum, but perhaps he got enough with the cricket, or do they have an instinct once something is in their grasp, to gobble it down?
As for the other suggestions, all seems proper... capfull of calcium in there, plenty of food (like I say, he eats regularly and is a terrific hunter), plenty of water changed daily and I see both of them lapping it up regularly. My thought is it was just a mistake but I've stopped using it anyhow. I'll keep you informed guys....

__________________
In the terrarium :
1.1.0 leopard geckos

In the aquarium:
0.0.2 silver dollars
0.0.4 glass catfish
0.0.3 red tetras
0.0.1 silver hatchet
0.0.1 african butterfly
0.0.1 albino cory
0.0.1 std. pleco
0.0.1 bristlenose pleco
0.0.3 kuhli loaches

Also, forgot to add this earlier, I agree with all who complain about the typical store which couldn't care less about the pet but just wants to sell sell sell.... I tend to go to the large chain to buy things that I can save a bundle on and not lose on quality, or if it's convenient because I'm right near one. But in general I try to go to the smaller pet shops where staff are friendlier, more knowledgeable and they actually care about you and your pets. Mind you, the prices are usually much much higher. Of course, each store has some newbie who loves pets and wants to help but truly is clueless...I've taught them a thing or two on occasion and they have this surprised look of awe like some doe in headlights and usually go "wow, sweeeeeet, that's like, awesome, dude...I didn't have a clue!"
But I wrote in another thread, I live near the downtown core and my favourite store is a tiny little nook with very cool caring folks who actually study science and are naturalists or have tons of experience with their reptiles...they have on so many occasions told me not to waste my money buying this or that from them either because you can get it cheaper somewhere else or I (or my pets) don't need it.. they are "real" people who chat forever with me on all kinds of issues and care about how my little friends are doing and want to answer all my questions and I get neat tips from them. They're just down to earth people who work there more because they love animals than to bring home a paycheque. Even the owner is an awesome guy who is so approachable and actually shows he cares..that's why I ended up sticking with them when I was researching and pricing and deciding where I'd get my herps.

__________________
In the terrarium :
1.1.0 leopard geckos

In the aquarium:
0.0.2 silver dollars
0.0.4 glass catfish
0.0.3 red tetras
0.0.1 silver hatchet
0.0.1 african butterfly
0.0.1 albino cory
0.0.1 std. pleco
0.0.1 bristlenose pleco
0.0.3 kuhli loaches