Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I catch fish, frogs, crayfish and so on for my snappers and Ally snappers. I have heard that it is best to freeze wild caught prey items with the possibility of carrying internal parasites for no less then three months? This seems like a long time.

Does anyone else have any ideas on this in regards to how long a parasitic animal must be frozen to kill the hosts and also if there is any documentation etc online to back it up. I feed my herps frozen rats as well but never really give it any thought when ordering and recieving my mice/rats in regards to how long they have been frozen before i recieved them etc. I have been in the game for a while and would be interested in seeing some scientific evidence online along with the opinions of board users.

Thanks in advance,
Dallas

I am being guided by one of the worlds most reknown arborel breeders. He has told me to freeze before use, for at least 24 hours and no longer than 4 months. This is in regards to farmed rodents. I wouldn't think there's a big difference. TJ

Arboreal. Missed that "a" last time. Just to verify that I'm not illiterate.

First though, remember that your rodents are captive bred and not wild caught. The same goes for prey as for pets; parasitism ranges much more in nature then in captivity.

Are your snappers wild caught? Are they healthy? How long have you had them captive? If wild caught, they probably already have a parasite load. If "long-term captives" and healthy, then this is a sustainable load and not of much concern. Optimal husbandry will allow your snappers to fend off any overload of parasites.

Most worms that are of concern will be killed by freezing temperatures. It is important to use a "deep freeze" that will drop temperatures into the -20's celcius instead of your refridgerator that usually only cools to slightly below the freeze point (-4C). The length of time is debateable, and it is likely that every species of parasite will never be killed to 100% certainty. Several weeks should be very sufficient.

The "three month" rule is a length of time that the nutritional value of frozen food begins to deteriorate. Food older than 6 months is still of value, but has a significant decline in nutrients.

Unfortunately I do not have any written references, as I'm recalling this info. from school and continueing education seminars. If you'd really like something hard to look at I could do a search on it...

Ian

Good info... I have been keeping all my feeder animals in my frig freezer, i will start keeping it all in the chest freezer, after what i have read here.

I have a community tank of a 1.5 year old 5 inch Ally snapper, 1.5 year old 4 inch Ally snapper and a 1 year old 4 inch Florida snapper. I keep the three of them in a 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank in which they are doing quite well at the moment. The two Ally snappers are captive bred and the FL snapper was actually taken as an egg, from a mother that was hit by a car and a guy took the only good egg left when she was opened up. So there should be no problem at that end.

I am a long time avid herper but had not owned any pet turtles since i was a kid, until I recieved the Ally snapper hatchlings. Now i am addicted, to Ally's and any sub species of snapper, in particular. I want to have them all in my collection.

Most recently i have realized how much a wild type diet can benefit my animals. I did not feed them various wild prey before because i was in fear that they would get a form of internal parasites but it seems the risk is low if you do it right, and can have many benefits health wise. I think to often, snapper owners dont feed their animals enough whole prey with gut material. Ie, crayfish, fish, frogs, etc etc.

I would like to hear some more thoughts on this, if any. Thanks to all that have replied.

Thanks again,
Dallas

Your direction of thinking with the diet is bang on. I often see them pet crayfish in the store and wonder how easy they are to breed them in captivity. That would solve everything wouldn't it? Frogs are easy to breed, if you have the right kind. And most lay thousands of eggs. Most are discarded by the breeder so they can concentrate on the amount they desire, but if you had a larger setup, you could have an endless frog supply. Fish of course, are easy enough to buy bulk at a petstore or fishstore. Like all feeders, it's best to gutload them first.

It sounds like you have a fine setup for your young snappers. If I am currect, they're are only two species of snappers, and no subspecies.

Ian

Ian, yeah, thanks, i do try to give them the best care i can. I am learning as i go

Ian, on the snappers. I was not sure if i said it right or not when i mentioned sub species. What i mean is the different sub species (if thats what they are) of snappers, ie common, florida, mexican and equidorian. Then there is the Ally snapping turtle but that is a different genus all together isnt it? Or is the ally and various snappers considered two sub species? I think i think to much and confuse msyself. Fill me on this

Thanks,
Dallas