Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay so the cats brought in a squirrel.It wasnt dead but it was dying so I put it down, put it in a plastic bag and tossed it in the freezer.Well today I fed it to my boa.Now Im having second thoughts if that was such a good idea.A bit late now I know.
Anyways my cats have been hunting and eating rats,mice and baby rabbits for the last 10yrs and Ive only had one bout of tapeworms in that time.At that time the vet informed me that people could not get tapeworms from cats....So what are the chances that my boa could get some parasite from that squirrel?

I know that freezing helps kills some parasites so that would bring the chances down.
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Cee,

You run a risk of parasite transfer with any wild animal regardless if it was frozen or not. Freezing doesn’t always kill the parasite or the eggs. Long term freezing definitely limits the possibility of parasite survival. But parasites are designed to survive.

Most outside animals (cats & dogs) get worms from fleas and not necessarily the small animals and insects they eat. Fleas are part of the cycle of transfer from one host to another. Fecal matter holding eggs and larva are another way of transfer but it has to be ingested by the next host.

I would wait a month or so and have a fecal checked on the Boa if you’re in question about it.

Tell your Vet what happened and see what he/she thinks….Also your Vet can explain the life cycle of most common parasites. It’s kind of interesting and gross at the same time.

Good Luck

We have been feeding squirrels we have caught in our back yard for 2 and a half years now. We have yearly fecals done and have had no problems. There is a guy on the bob clark forum that has fed his snake many different wild caught prey(squirrel,racoon,opposum etc.) he has done if for many more years than us still with no ill effect. So you really have nothing to worry about. We always freeze our squireels for at least 2 weeks.

"Most outside animals (cats & dogs) get worms from fleas and not necessarily the small animals and insects they eat. Fleas are part of the cycle of transfer from one host to another."

To the best of my knowledge, having just finished the flea part of our veterinary parasitology class, fleas only transfer one or two types of tape worms(after the dog eats the flea, not transferred by biting), and nothing else. Most dogs/cats will pick up worms by eating something infected with them, particularly cats, since mice and other favourite prey items are intermediate or paratenic hosts for a ton of little nasties. Or, they can just get the eggs or (some types of) larva directly from the environment.

Freezing does kill a lot of stuff, but there're still plenty that will survive for years in the environment, including overwintering. Best to just not feed anything wild to your critters! Good luck,

-P
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1.0.0 Normal corn snake (Frito)
1.0.0 Creamsicle corn (Tang)
0.1.0 Ghost corn (Raynham)
1.1.2 Bay of LA rosy boas (Rivet, Cali, and Cali's unnamed babies)
0.1.0 Cape Gopher (Mole)
0.0.1 African House Snake (Casa)