Milk?

[cml3.0]

Lactose is a disaccharide where as fructose is a simple sugar also know as a monosaccharide.

This is from wikipedia in reference to lactose intolerance:

Disaccharides cannot be absorbed through the wall of the small intestine into the bloodstream, so in the absence of lactase, lactose present in ingested dairy products remains uncleaved and passes intact into the colon. The operons of enteric bacteria quickly switch over to lactose metabolism, and the resultant in vivo fermentation produces copious amounts of gas (a mixture of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane). This, in turn, may cause a range of abdominal symptoms, including stomach cramps, bloating, and flatulence.

[cml3.0]

Originally Posted by Talkenlate04

So how does everyone know they would hate it or get sick if they have never done it?
I get the reasons presented so far, and they make perfect sense, but how does anyone know how they would react? Just educated guesses?
Lol its late maybe I better quit while I am behind.

Yes we are making educated guesses but like I said earlier cresteds are reptiles not mammals so they don't have the natural enzymes to break down the lactose in the milk.

[Talkenlate04]

Dang maybe I am lactose intolerant.

So with the smaller body of a geckos and relatively short digestive tract do you think the same reaction would have time to take place? Or is it all a matter of proportional size and it does not matter?

[wuukiee]

Originally Posted by Talkenlate04

So how does everyone know they would hate it or get sick if they have never done it?
I get the reasons presented so far, and they make perfect sense, but how does anyone know how they would react? Just educated guesses?
Lol its late maybe I better quit while I am behind.

To my knowledge, it hasn't been done with crested geckos, but I have heard of people giving other reptiles, including other primarily fruit-eaters, milk with ill results. (You hear a LOT of... questionable decisions working in the pet business.)

While some of them seem to enjoy it, it generally has... explosive results in terms of a large stomach upset and runny stool.

Also, do you need to jump off a bridge into traffic to know it's a bad idea? A basic understanding of biology goes a long way in caring for animals, and "non-mammals would not encounter milk in their diet, and thus not produce appropriate enzymes to digest it" is... pretty basic.

[Talkenlate04]

Yes I jump all the time just for kicks.
You are starting to misinterpret the reason I started this thread.
It was merely a though in my mind that I felt like talking through.

[cml3.0]

Originally Posted by Talkenlate04

Dang maybe I am lactose intolerant.

So with the smaller body of a geckos and relatively short digestive tract do you think the same reaction would have time to take place? Or is it all a matter of proportional size and it does not matter?

That is a good question and I don't know if having a smaller digestive tract would lessen the reaction, but they would still have some kind of reaction because of the inability to digest the lactose be it little or big.
That is a chance I wouldn't take.

[wuukiee]

Originally Posted by Talkenlate04

Yes I jump all the time just for kicks.
You are starting to misinterpret the reason I started this thread.
It was merely a though in my mind that I felt like talking through, that's pretty basic too.

I do understand that you started the thread with a genuine question.

However, it seems kind of... something... to continue arguing it after you've been given good, sound, scientific, reasons as to why it would not be a good idea for the health of your animal.

"Well, how do you know, you haven't tried it?" sounds petty. It's not worth risking the health of my animals just to experiment. There are some points beyond which it's not worth playing devil's advocate, and this would fit my definition of one of those.

[Saille]

Its also possible that there are not just sugars but also proteins in milk that would be undigestable and/or useless for a reptile/gecko.
I have to say that while its an interesting discussion and I understand playing "devil's advocate", I would simply not feed a reptile milk or milk products like cheese, etc.

[wuukiee]

Originally Posted by cml3.0

That is a good question and I don't know if having a smaller digestive tract would lessen the reaction, but they would still have some kind of reaction because of the inability to digest the lactose be it little or big.
That is a chance I wouldn't take.

At least, with the lactose-intolerant humans I know, the reaction is apparently based on the stomach, and is very quick. They will start feeling ill within an hour (often less) of consuming dairy, and lasts up to several hours. By the time the item has had a chance to enter the other parts of the digestive tract, it seems to have less, uh, influence.

[Talkenlate04]

Originally Posted by wuukiee

It's not worth risking the health of my animals just to experiment.

How do you think your cgd came to be? Ohhhh thats right snap, experiments.