Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi... I checked your chart... I had a hard time reading it at first and then relized the non Thiaminase list started at a different place then I thought.

Smelt is listed on both lists. Freshwater smelt is on the thiaminase list and POND (which you would think would be freshwater as well) smelt is on the NON-thiaminase list...

So how do we know what we are getting? I did buy some and am trying them on my snakes... but now that I see the list again I'm not sure... your imput?

- Sharon
PS and anyone else that wants to chime in can do so.

I am not too sure. Now that you point it out I am going to continue using them, but sparingly. I will investigate more, but if they are collected in the great lakes they shouldn't be used as much since they contain some thiaminase. I'll get back to you on this topic as soon as I get some info.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention,

Lu

Hi... I'm answering this here to keep Smelt under this topic

I fished my packaging out of the trash... and these come form Omstead Foods Limited... Ontario Canada. They are listed as Fresh Water... however that doesn't help becaue I don't think there were salt water smelt.
There are no preservatives or additives and they are cleaned.
They are listed as haveing protein , calcium and iron.

I found the companies website, here is a snip of what they have on there:

LAKE SMELT / EPERLAN / SPERLANO

Sweet to taste, with excellent flavour. A food service favourite for top quality and versatility.

Peak production in Spring and Fall.

Available Round, Dressed (H G) or Coated/Battered.

I am going to write them a note and hope they don't think me a loony The person who gets it probally won't even know what I'm talking about... but we will see.

- Sharon
PS I have to go find a post with that "T" word in it... I can't spell it unless I see it.

Ok... I looked closer at that chart... and the smelts listed are two different speices.

Freshwater/lake: Osmerus mordex

Pond: hypomesus olidus

The kinds the company sells? Yep... Osmerus mordex.

Of course we can't be sure of the concentratoin... and the chart said whole fish was teste.d... but the highest could very well be in the head or the other part.. (starts with a v) which I think both were removed (well at least the head was). It bothers me that the chart was dated in the 80's and most of the references were from the 60's.

I also found another page.
http://212.187.155.84/wnv/Subdirectories_for_Search/Chemicals/vitamins/thiaminase.htm

Don't know if this was posted b4.
I'm going to bed now.
- Sharon

You just have to throw other food items in with it.I have had a ton of snakes that have been raised on mostly a rosey red diet.It won't kill them or be harmful unless you restrict them to just the fish.Fish is probally the main food source for most wild garters.

ACctually I have thought this. The big thing is varity.

When I was doing searchs I saw a site the pretty much said that thiam. etc would destroy all b1 that is... even if you used vit sub it would be destroyed. I thought that was dumb because there has to be a saturation point... basicatly where one thing would overwelmb the other... I can't see a substance just roveing through the body getting rid of another substance without loseing some of itself in the process... but maybe that's just me.

I think I saw somewhere that this stuff is a protean too... so wouldn't it be eventaly broken down and used by the body?

- Sharon