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ARE RATS THAT HAVE BEEN FED FOOD WITH RED DYE SAFE TO FEED TO MY SNAKES????n/p
gone_balls_crazy
Mar 09, 2005 12:05 AM
Replies (12)
Jay_Cassidy
Mar 09, 2005 12:28 PM
Red dye is deadly to snakes, I would wack those rats and toss them in the trash can!!!
Jay Cassidy
Caveman Reptiles
cavemanreptiles.com
Amazonreptile
Mar 09, 2005 01:16 PM
>>Red dye is deadly to snakes
Please provide references.
FWIW: Many snake breeders use dog food to raise mice. Many dog foods have red dyes.
Thanks.
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER
bande-exotics
Mar 09, 2005 03:08 PM
What is the deal with the red dye 40 is it deadly or not. I looked at my rodent feed and sure enough it has red dye 40 in it . All of my snakes have eaten rodents that have eaten this food they seem healthy. Is this just someones opinion or a proven fact that red dye is deadly in snakes. If it is true than how does it affect the snake and should I assume that my whole collection is going to die off soon. THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR ANSWER.
toshamc
Mar 09, 2005 03:41 PM
"Dog Food Feed is Killing our Snakes" says Jim Jackson of Snake Asylum, Cicero, Il.
"The mice are absorbing the large quantities of red dye into their organs. Their metabolism is twice as fast as ours. They can't eliminate it, and must store it in their organs. This red dye, put into the dog food to enhance it's meaty appearance, of course is passed on to the snakes. What happens is that the red dye kills off the snakes kidneys and gaul bladder, and can cause tumors. "
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Tosha 
8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer
bande-exotics
Mar 09, 2005 05:15 PM
So if I immediately dispose of all the rodents and start over with a new feed and new rodents will my snakes be fine. I have thousands and thousands of dollars invested in my balls and I care deeply for them I would be devastated if they all died. Is there any research shows if snakes can survive small amounts of red dye. THANKS.
apython4u
Mar 09, 2005 05:28 PM
I love to see any verifiable research that states that any amount of red dye is harmful to snakes.
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-Dennis
Amazonreptile
Mar 09, 2005 06:09 PM
>>"Dog Food Feed is Killing our Snakes" says Jim Jackson of Snake Asylum, Cicero, Il.
A web search using the search terms "snake asylum" or "Jim Jackson of Snake Asylum" somes up empty except for a reference to this very same quote on the Mice on Ice website. I don't think for a minute Mice on Ice would make up such a statement to boost their own position.
Does anyone know this Jim Jackson??
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER
toshamc
Mar 09, 2005 06:28 PM
Sorry - I don't have information on this particular guy, but I do know that there is a ton of proof out there from very reliable sources of the damages that the dye does to rats and mice. I guess it comes down to whether you want to feed unhealthy feeders to your snake? Do you think a rat with a failing liver and kidney disease (amoung other things) is considered "good" for your snake to eat? Do you want to chance whether or not those dyes and the possible harm they could cause are actually being passed onto your snake? I guess it's up to you, I wouldn't. Why take the chance, for profit of a few cents more per pound of food?
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Tosha
8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer
Brandon Osborne
Mar 09, 2005 08:07 PM
As I've said before, rodent block is cheaper than dog food if you know where to get it. 50 lbs of Purina Dog Chow is about $14-16 at Wal-Mart. 50 lbs of rodent block is $10-16 depending on where you get it. Rodent feed is cheaper than dog food. I don't see why anyone would feed anything else, unless it was unavailable to them.
Brandon Osborne
Amazonreptile
Mar 10, 2005 05:21 PM
>> Rodent feed is cheaper than dog food. I don't see why anyone would feed anything else, unless it was unavailable to them.
>>
>>Brandon Osborne
First: That is regional
Second: check the label, I'll bet it has red dye
Last: Here is a post made by Perky Pet. They use red dye in hummingbird food. The apparently get a lot of call nad have a canned but well thought out response. Here it is:
Thank you for taking the time to express your concerns about the use of food coloring in our instant nectars for hummingbirds. As you can imagine, this is an issue of some concern to us too! Since we are in the hummingbird business, it would be not only wrong, but also foolish for us to do anything detrimental to the health of hummingbirds. If Perky-Pet were to put a harmful substance in hummingbird food, it would be like Gerber putting poison in baby food.
Rumors about red dye being bad for hummers have been around for many years. Each time that rumor surfaces, we do our best to track it down to see if there is any basis in fact. I am most happy to report that in every instance we've found not only no conclusive evidence of harmful effects of coloring, but in every case have found absolutely NO EVIDENCE AT ALL! At one time, we even offered a $100 reward to the first person who could send us a copy of any legitimate research. We still have our $100! Some liquid red dyes contain propylene glycol, a refined alcohol that is sometimes used as antifreeze. That is why Perky-Pet uses dry, USDA approved dyes and discourages the addition of untested red dyes by our customers to color nectar.
One reincarnation of the rumor had its start in an article that appeared in the February 25, 1990 Day Newspaper of New London, Connecticut. This article quoted a study by the San Diego Zoo which was purported to have discovered that "birds which ingested nectar containing red dye produced baby birds which were blind, deformed or had shells which would not open." Someone forwarded a copy of this article to the headquarters of the Wild Birds Unlimited chain which subsequently quoted the article on the front page "Red Food Coloring - Harmful to Hummers" alert in their monthly newsletter which is mailed to all their customers.
One of our good customers and friend of hummers at this point sent a copy of the Wild Bird newsletter to the general manager of Perky-Pet. Imagine his horror! The first thing he did was to get on the phone to the San Diego Zoo and talk to the Animal Care Manager of Birds, Mr. Wayne Schulenburg, to try and find out about the study. What Mr. Schulenburg told him was that the Zoo had never done such a study, that the whole thing was "totally fabricated."
As you can imagine, we are quite upset at the spread of false information that has an impact on both our reputation as a friend of hummingbirds and our business. We continue to spread the truth, but the truth doesn't have the headline impact of the rumor. In the case of the Wild Birds Unlimited newsletter, the printed retraction in the next issue wasn't page one news.
We have been feeding hummingbirds for decades with our nectars, and have found that we have steadily increasing populations of birds. Perky-Pet nectars have only dyes that have passed strict USDA tests for use in foods. Our concern, like yours, is for the long term health of our friends, the hummingbirds.
Ron O'Kane, BTCM ron@perky-pet.com
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER
rwoodyer
Mar 11, 2005 03:04 PM
n/p
ginebig
Mar 11, 2005 05:02 PM
LOLOL lets not go there again!!
