Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Until I can get my water snakes eating mice, what if I add a thimane solution to their water. I have this readily available. Any opinions?
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International Snakes Meetup

I doubt adding thiamine to their drinking water is an effective way to supplement their diet. Will your snakes take dead fish? I'd suggest injecting a modest amount of thiamine supplement into a dead fish once a month or so.

-Pierson
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Pierson Hill

Herpetology and Herpetoculture

I have some captive born ribbon snakes that have been eating nothing but live fish (ruby reds and bait minnows or "shiners" since they were born last August. Earlier this month one of them started showing the distincive signs of Thiaminase poisoning. Her head kept curling back up and over her body as she tried to crawl forward. She was able to eat (barely) so I lightly sprinkled a vitamin supplement on the fish she was eating - (Herptivite Multivitamins). This seemed to do the trick, as she was back to normal in a few days. I'm sprinkling all the ribbon and water snakes' food every few feedings now.

From what I understand, live fish of certain species have a high amount of Thiaminase in them, an amino acid that destroys thiamin (Vitamin B), which produces a vitamin B (thiamin) deficiency which must be important to nerve development or maintenance. Freezing destroys much of the thiaminase in the feeder fish.

Joe

I would like to note that everything I have ever read on thiaminase has stated that freezing fish INCREASES the levels of thiaminase in their tissues (but decreases risk of parasites). Thiaminase decomposes at higher temperatures and Rossi actually suggests boiling f/t feeder fish in his book. As such, I would be very leary of feeding too many frozen/thawed fish to your snakes as you'll run into problems much sooner. Hope this clears things up.

-Pierson
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Pierson Hill

Herpetology and Herpetoculture

Try nightcrawlers...if they'll accept those rather than fish, you'll be a lot better off.