Shanninigans?!

Soo being my curious self just reading care sheets and viewing some videos of peoples snakes and i happen to run across this video. BP care - feeding. He states at 25 seconds in the video that, "feeding frozen can be bad, if you only feed frozen, as it kills thiamine and B vitamins when the food item is frozen."

Is this complete BS or is there some kind of truth behind this? I planned feeding my snake strictly frozen? :confused:

When freezing any kind of food it will lose some of its vitamins, this is why it's not recommended to leave F/T frozen for too long. Just because something is frozen doesn't mean it absolutely ceases to break down or change, the freezing just slows the process of change, so it just takes a lot longer. Freezer-burn, for example, is what happens when foods are frozen for too long.

Regardless, the amount of vitamin loss shouldn't be too dramatic or detrimental in the long run, just try not to buy in mass and slowly use your F/T. Buy supplies for a smaller chunk of time so that the food isn't frozen too long. :]

(Though I feed pre-killed anyways. Frozen food just seems inherently odd to me, lol..)

Interesting video, did anyone else notice he was talking about ASFs :D.

Thanks for the quick reply! :gj:

I feel i might go pre-killed, as in buy a live mouse and maybe whack it? I've seen people make gas chambers with dry ice and what not which seems humane and safe and easy. But seems kinda silly to go buy dry ice and a mouse every week for just one snake. I almost feel like putting a mouse in a zip-lock bag is kind of like a gas chamber minus the gas... Any way i look at it i feel like i am going to get criticized some how :cool: .

When you say pre-killed how do you go about doing this?

There are plenty of people that feed strictly f/t and their snakes are fine.

And look at that set-up, I wouldn't take any advice from him.

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Originally Posted by AMBiEN22

Thanks for the quick reply! :gj:

I feel i might go pre-killed, as in buy a live mouse and maybe whack it? I've seen people make gas chambers with dry ice and what not which seems humane and safe and easy. But seems kinda silly to go buy dry ice and a mouse every week for just one snake. I almost feel like putting a mouse in a zip-lock bag is kind of like a gas chamber minus the gas... Any way i look at it i feel like i am going to get criticized some how :cool: .

When you say pre-killed how do you go about doing this?

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It would chew out of the bag in a heart beat. If you put some C02 in the bag it might die before it chews out, but I don't know how long it takes. If you don't want to do a C02 chamber or dry ice chamber, waking it is the only thing. I couldn't do myself, but it's acceptable in the snake world. When I've heard/read about it, people put them in a plastic bag and whack it on cement.

I'm going to start pre-killed with my balls, but right now I just have two milksnakes that are reeeaaaally young so they're just eating pinkies. Once they get up there though, I'm either going to build to CO2 (which is definitely the most humane) or whack 'em, which I'm not looking forward to!

Mice are generally pretty okay, it's really rats that are the big worry. :/ But! It's always good to ere on the side of caution, so pre-killing is a good idea if your snake will take it. There's ways other than whacking, like separating the spinal cord in a few different ways... but rats are squirmy, and I'd imagine it'd be easiest to whack. :/

If you don't want to do pre-killed, it's perfectly fine to do frozen. :]

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

There are plenty of people that feed strictly f/t and their snakes are fine.

And look at that set-up, I wouldn't take any advice from him.

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Heh, I didn't even watch the video. :P No sound right now, so I didn't bother. The guy apparently has the right idea in a biological sense though! ...even if it's not as bad as he says it is to feed F/T.

I do P/K now with rats now, and I have thought of making a CO2 chamber, but it's a lot quicker to hold it by the tail, give it a good swift whack on the head, and do a cervical dislocation. it helps to have someone show you how to do it first, and it's not my favorite part of keeping BPs, but it helps keep em safe, and a 2 second stun and cervical dislocation is much quicker than CO2 or death by snake...

in theory it makes sense depleating vitamins when freezing. its like eating forzen vegetables But I am working to feed and switch to F/T so I am pro f/t. just saying it kind of makes sense

I'm going to go F/T all the way but its good to soak in other methods just in case my snake decides he does not like F/T but i intend to ask my local breeder if the snake i am buying has been eating F/T. Also when you say don't buy in bulk or try to stray away from it what are we talking like 40+ meals. I planned on getting them by the tens i believe he sells them in. But still... that's over a month supply if i'm feeding this baby every five days :confused:

Which reminds me i need to set up my mini fridge. Or possible just keep them in the closet freezer in the basement.

It should be fine to buy that much, I'm not really sure how well F/Ts keep in the long run. It's just kind of a good rule of thumb for any frozen foods, for people and snakes, lol. It should be fine to do. :] Maybe buy in batches of 6 months or so? It probably doesn't really matter.. but hey, doesn't hurt to try and make sure the food is best if you go F/T.

Yeah my local breeder has a "barn" dedicated to breeding food for all his ball pythons. He has a large selection of mice and rats lol. Hes been in the business for quite some time now so i am fortunate its just a short 15 minute drive to the store :D

I have heard of this before, there is arguments about frozen killing off various diseases and what not. It is to my mind all so minimal that it makes no difference. Frozen is very easy I keep F/T and buy a month or so at a time (I don't keep more due to a small freezer) I'd try not to keep anything in there longer than 6 months, for me or the snakes.

Don't worry too much that is why you should always check multiple sources, there is a lot of misinformation out there and as many myths.

Alex

I've heard that eating frozen food that is older than a year is not the best idea. I tend to buy 500 rodents per 6 months and all my snakes do just fine. Obviously, there are people out there that have been feeding FT for years and their snakes seem just as healthy as live or PK

The biggest arguement for live I have heard that I tend to care about is exercise! Killing a live rodent takes some muscle. My snakes all "strangle" their FT and get out of their cages frequently and I do my best to let the females cruise around my bed and on me as much as possible. An overfat female can have issues with egg binding, so if you snakes are big FT eaters but do not "kill" them, you may want to have them chase their food if you have time. It's harder to take your snake on a walk the way you can a dog, but in a way they are easier to get moving in a small space. All my females are pretty active girls and don't need to be convinced to coil their prey and I personally have a lot of fun getting them to stalk their mice or rats!