Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Keeping my California Kingsnake fed is getting a bit expensive. She's voracious to say the least! My yard here in Miami is crawling with brown and green anole lizards. If I freeze them, Will that kill all parasites? I'm sure lizards are a part of her natural diet. But its back to fuzzies if there's any doubt. Thanks for any all replies!

Freezing doesn't kill everything. I say don't do it, it is overall a bad idea and will only cause problems. If cost bugs you, buy mice in bulk from online, they are cheaper that way.

Freezing doesn't kill everything but if done to fast can also cause blood vessels to burst making them dangerouse to feed.

Ed

How fast can a lizard freeze? LOL Really though, please explain how feeding a snake a thawed out frozen lizard is dangerous to the snake because the lizard was frozen too fast.........

I just fed one of my Arizona Black Rattlesnakes a thawed out lizard yesterday..........

Thanks.

Kerby...

Sorry for the confusion. If they are frozen too soon after their demise, the blood vessels can burst causing bruising. The bruising isn't the problem, it's the coagulation of the blood before it freezes that can be harmful. Not saying it happens all the time but it can .

Ed

how freezing a lizard to death, then thawed and fed to a snake can be harmful to the snake. Please explain what can happen to a snake that eats a thawed out lizard that was frozen........

Thanks.

Kerby...

>>Freezing doesn't kill everything but if done to fast can also cause blood vessels to burst making them dangerouse to feed.
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>>Ed

can you give any evidence to support that, or to explain how it could be harmful? wouldn't you think constricting would also burst some blood vessels?
peace
td

I can't see how bursting blood vessels in a prey item would be dangerous. As pointed out above, constricting will burst a lot of blood vessels, and in the case of venomous snakes (crotalids and viperids) most of the blood vessels are liquefied from the venom.

Freezing will kill the bulk of parasites, so if you are feeding lizards to you snakes I would say that frozen/thawed is by far the best way to go.

The only issue I see is in feeding lizards to a neonate snake that you want to eat mice later. It can be tough to get them to switch sometimes.

Agree on not feeding lizards out of habit. I feed some of my crotes (Hopi Rattlesnakes & Arizona Black Rattlesnakes) lizards because they are finicky feeders - some of them. My females take mice readily and often, the males will eat mice, but prefer lizards. I have fed live lizards, but catching them on the day I want to feed is not always practical, so I catch them and freeze them and feed later.

I do not feed my cb snakes lizards, although there are times that I had to lizard scent some stubborn feeders.

And my wc snakes are in a different room.

Kerby...

Oh, yeah...I've had to do it too..plenty of times. Especially with western snakes. Even if you end up having to feed it lizards for years, it's a helluva sight better than letting it starve or having to FF every meal. Just try getting a Coral Snake to eat mice, or even dead lizards. I've had to spend entire weekends doing nothing but looking for feeder snakes and lizards (of course, if you happen to find a Scarlet King or a Brooksi or something in the process, that's a bonus). Sometimes you just have to feed them what they will eat if you want to keep them.

I've just seen too many people give up early on neonate colubrids, like Gray Bands and go ahead and give them a Sceloporus to get them to eat, then find that they can never get them switched over.

Frozen mice are about $.50 each on line. If you get vacuum sealed they keep for a long time (Shelf life 3 years according to some). At $.50 each one kingsnake would cost $1.00 a week to feed at the most. Even if you bought your mice from a pet store (pet store prices around here are $1.00 each), your snake food bill would only be a buck or two a week. $1.00 a week seems like a minimal amount for pet food. There are many pets that would cost a lot more than that, dogs & cats come to mind. I see no reason to round up and freeze lizards. I don't believe freezing will kill reptilian visuses, which could be transmitted to your snake. While rodent viruses are unlikely to harm a snake. IMHO

Tim