Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to try to get my fasciata to pinkie. My snake prefer to eat his food from his water bowl... if i rub a pinkie with trout (should go well cause my hand smell trout for an hour after i give him some) and put it in his water bowl ? Do you think its ok ? Is frozen pinkie is dangerous for thiaminase ? Since the freezing destroy the thiamine in the fish ?

Mizar

Nous amis, I have come to beleive that freezing INCREASES the problem of thiaminase!! This from reading the posts below, with the approriate corrections - and before someone shoots you - HEATING may reduce thiaminase. Mice, whether fresh or thawed appear not to present the thiamin deficiency problems.
If you put the pinkie in water, the scent may be diluted. Perhaps your snake would take the food from his dish even if there is no water since that's where he knows to find food.
Michael

Thiaminase grows when fish are froze,
But something that is odd ...
Pinks are fine for your snake to dine,
whether fresh or properly thawed!

Author really wishes to remain anonymous.

Sorry, i havent a clue of what you're meaning...lol...essayez encore ! ok, then i will try pinkie in his bowl at first then if it dont work, i'll try out of his bowl. He dont have a feeding dish ( i try that once but he dont like it) he prefer by far in his water bowl. Well try again your french mon ami !

Mizar

Merci, mais je' parlez englais seulment because my French is so bad and the spelling/grammar is worse! Your English is pas mal. Why are you trying to feed your snake to a bowl of pinkies?

From what I've been led to understand, it's the cyprinid family of fish (goldfish, carp, etc.)that possess the greatest risk to cause thiaminase troubles. Catfish, sunfish and trout for example are not in this category. Pinkies to mice are a "cleaner" food in that there is less odour from the relatively drier stool. Feeding needs be less frequent due to the high food value of this whole animal diet.

However, no-one on this forum has said that the switch to mice must be absolute. In fact it is recommended to vary the diet. So rotating fish to mice (including goldfish for example) is absolutely fine!
Moi, Michelle

Presently he is on a diet of live guppy and frozen trout piece. I alternate between these two. Actually i dont try to feed him a bowl of mice...lol...it,s just that he prefer to get his food from his water bowl. Finding live fresh fish is a problem around here (and i live on a big island !) I find some little fish in a river nearby but they are very small and there is a risk of parasite, aint it ? So for now its guppy and trout...i will try to add some reptivite to his trout.

Mizar

You know, even though the trout is purchased from a store, a trout farm or "wild" caught the potential risk is going to be there for parasites. This goes for guppies as well that come from who knows where? Certainly we try to be as careful as we can, within reason. Pet dogs and cats may get the occassional parasite, etc. and we watch for symptoms then take appropriate action by de-worming for example.
Perhaps direct herp transfer of these things should be avoided such as with frogs but don't beat yourself up! I have no quams with catching some catfish, freezing them and then later feeding them to any of my snakes.
And hey, next time your in a pinch and are about to eat a steak, slice off a lean piece (fish dip it if you like) and offer it. No calcium there (vitamin C is in fresh raw meat), but if taken he'll live to the next meal. My water snakes loved the sausages I made for them!
Michael