does your snake get the same nutrition from a f/t rat compared to live???

[bp-guy]

i was wondering if any of you knew the answer to that question, i remember reading that if you feed a f/t rat to your snake the rat has __%(cant remember exactly what it said but i think it was somewhere around 20%) less nutrition than a live rat so your snake doesnt get as much nutrition as it would eating a live rat?

[Amon Ra Reptiles]

This has been the topic of debate here a few times. The short answer is yes, the rat loses some of it's value while in the freezer just as any frozen food does but the more accurate answer is not anywhere near 20%. The longer a rat is frozen the more it would lose but the amount lost is negligible. It's not enough to worry about. The only time it would be concerning is once it was past it's proverbial "shelf life". So just don't feed stuff that's been in the freezer for an extended period of time and you should fine.

[jason_ladouceur]

I think as long as you feed off frozen feeders before they have been frozen for 6 months the difference is negligible.

[apeterson2]

I'm no expert but I read somewhere that after 30 days the fat on frozen feeders begins to break down so it loses some nutritional value, so I guess it's best to only stock 1-2 feedings of feeders per snake at a time

[TomC]

If you are going to order frozen and have them delivered I would not get more than 6 months supply at a time. At the same time you do not want to order too small a supply because then shipping costs will make them cost prohibative. I do think the nutritional value does go down over time but we feed our snakes on a schedule so that I don't think it would have much of an adverse effect on your snakes.