A Different Prey Item for the Black Headed Python

[Najakeeper]

Freezing won't kill all parasites or harmful bacteria. Some just go dormant until they get back up to a proper temperature. Only heat would kill them all. That's why you can't just freeze meats for humans and then eat them raw after. Also why it's not good to freeze and thaw and refreeze again. That won't get rid of parasites or bacteria, just make it worse. Humans do have a weaker stomach then most animals though. If it was freshly dead it wouldn't have had the time to really develop any bad parasites anyways. If it was dead a while before he noticed who knows what was on it but it still might not have been harmful enough for a snake.

Thanks for the comment. Being an ex-bacterial geneticist, I kinda know what will kill bacteria and what won't. In fact, I grew bacteria from cultures that were frozen 50 yrs ago. And cold won't destroy bacterial toxins either unfortunately. Yet, freezing has a decent effect on most parasites and that was my main goal there. The bird was dead very recently when I got it so the snake should be perfectly OK. I have seen snakes eat pretty putrid stuff and act like nothing different has happened. They have a very strong gastrointestinal system.