Safe to feed frozen fleas?

[flyingtigress]

So today I trotted on down to my local Petsmart to get 2 frozen rats for Boots. It's the only place within 30 minutes that sells them. Seems the "Arctic Mice" brand has changed their packaging to an environmentally friendlier box instead of the plastic tub which is wonderful. However, both of the rats within have fleas embedded in their fur. Is it safe to feed this to my bp? Would freezing have killed any potential parasites? On the box it says "Free of mites, ticks, and internal parasites."

This really ticks me off. The logo on the box is "Reptile Industries". All it has is an email address. When I go to the website it has this and another email address. We'll see what happens when I email them. I'm going to be talking to Petsmart tomorrow.

[Hock3ymonk3y]

From what I have heard (i feed live), all parasites die from being frozen. That and the fact they cant bite, is why i will probably be changing over sometime soon.
I would say go ahead and feed, but if you really dont feel comfortable dont do it.

[mooingtricycle]

That is disgusting. I would never buy that product again. It would be supporting a company that obviously does not take care of its rats in a humane and CLEAN way. Who knows what else is wrong internally with those feeders.

Meaning, DO NOT FEED THEM TO YOUR SNAKES. And RETURN them to the store you got them from and COMPLAIN. Also, call that company and COMPLAIN. Take photos. That is absolutely FILTHY.

[Tek48]

I had this exact same problem with arctic mice. I had bought 3 boxes of small rats, and every one of them had fleas.

I'm getting feeders online now from the mouse factory. No complaints with them yet.

[nixer]

i would definately be complaing to the manager at the store and calling the company that produced them

[jglass38]

Interesting...Reptile Industries is owned by Kim and Mark (aka Dog The Bounty Hunter) Bell. I would take them back and complain! Stomp your feet if necessary

[flyingtigress]

Just wanted to let y'all know what transpired..

I called Reptile Industries and spoke with Kim Bell. She asked me to take pics and so I did and emailed them to her. She took a few of the stock of frozen rats and found dark brown dots on them, and looked at the dots under a microscope... and told me it was tiny pieces of bedding. She is also shipping me a few more rats just because it was such a hassle. Maybe they will switch to white bedding or something... was just a scare thank goodness. Boots is now fed and a happy snake tonight.