Seafood in detail

[nepoez]

Hi all,

I have read a couple threads about feeding seefood to varanids, and savs. I'm not sure I've got a conclusion.

I've read here that it's ok to feed seefood/shellfish regularly so here are my questions:

1.) What exactly is a shellfish or seefood? Are CLAMS you buy at chinese super markets ok? SHRIMPS? FROZEN SMELTS? SQUIDS?

2.) I read that you have to get organic seefood(shrimps), but some posters here omit that. So where does that put the idea of getting seefood from the chinese super markets?

thx!

[smy_749]

sea*

regularly isnt recommended for boscs as a staple due to salt content

orgo shrimp is fine

[formica]

freshwater shrimps are more common in asian cooking than western, there are also freshwater crabs, and of course crayfish - personally i wouldnt use any saltwater foods with the danger of dehydration so high in monitors already

[nepoez]

so no clam? sea snails?

How do you tell if the sea food in the asian super market is organic or not?

[formica]

so no clam? sea snails?

How do you tell if the sea food in the asian super market is organic or not?

not sure what is ment by 'organic' sea food, if it exists my assumption would be non-farmed sea food, but i wasnt really aware that seafood was farmed using artificial foods or pesticides etc

[B_Aller]

Wow, why are you answering these questions formica? you don't have the correct information and are not helping by assuming. You know what they say about assumptions.
Nepoez:
Shellfish is fine to feed as a staple. I feed fresh and sea water whole bodied shrimp, prawn , crab, crayfish and snails. Clams or squid have never been accepted by my guys. I've feed langustines, gohst shrimp, crayfish and some other water bugs never had an issue. Also have feed whole smelt, and a few other types of whole small fish. I don't feed fish anymore because they make a crazy mess of it AND it smells horrible coming out the back end.
Not sure why everyone is so worried about organic, just make sure your food isn't treated with nasty chemicals (they have to say on the package) and you'll be fine.

Some experienced keepers (Eidenmuller) have suggested that an abundance of saltwater prey items COULD be detrimental to exanthematicus, I have not seen any evidence of this. Many varanid species such as dumerilii, salvator, indicus, etc have salt excreting glands. Some of these species are seafood specialists in the wild.

Salt in the diet is NOT the main (or even secondary) cause for dehydration in captive varanids, improper husbandry is.

I am highly skeptical that the tiny amount of salt remaining in seafoods when fed is in anyway detrimental to captive varanids as I have never seen evidence of this, heard a lot of chatter over the years, never seen actual evidence, until I do I will continue to recommend these prey items as they have worked famously for me and my animals.

Again, bad info from formica, they do farm sea foods and in some cases treat with nasty pesticides and fertilizers, wild caught is generally a better bet but some of the seafood farming is done in a sustainable and regulated way, you have to look into the laws of the country of origin if you are overly concerned.

The main thing is that WHEN KEPT PROPERLY these guys can eat and pass anything, little green army men, sticks, sand, salt whatever and be fine, they are known to eat some of the nastiest crap out there in the wild and do just fine. Many species also thrive in garbage dumps and in agricultural areas where pesticide spraying is common. Some are even known to eat the corpses of humans!
Use common sense and you should be fine. The Asian markets are a blast! Go have some fun, check out the food for you too! Just roll down the sauce isle and check out all the fish, clam, oyster sauce and consider an Asian cooking class, then you can get yummy food for you and your critters at the same time.
Best.

[infernalis]

Organic seafood means NO HARSH CHEMICAL preservatives.

Just in case anyone missed it, I wrote a whole web page on the subject.. Frozen seafoods are commonly sprayed with sodium tripolyphosphate to "retain moisture and appearance"

Sodium Tripolyphosphate in food (http://www.savannahmonitor.co/stpp/)

If the package is labeled "organic" then it is NOT sprayed with STPP.

That's all. ;)

[nepoez]

First of all thx for all for helping! I went to the chinese super market yesterday but lots of the frozen seefood doesn't even have text on it. e.g. a bag of frozen smelt simply says smelt fish.

B Aller: you say they have to specify it on the packages, but seems like chinese stores here don't label their stuff like other stores. So now I'm scratching my head again wondering whether I should proceed with the seefood here or not.

Seems like the concern I'm getting in this forum is seafood is fine as regular diet for my sav, as long as not treated with chems, but that's the hard part for me to determine right now.

[infernalis]

I do believe US (FDA) regulations require that any food products sold here (Asian Market or otherwise) must list any chemical agents used in processing.

Anyone PLEASE chime in with a rebuttal or confirmation thank you.

[nepoez]

P.s. I'm in Canada. I'll try to do some research on the laws here too. But never been good with law so not sure how well my search will go.

[nepoez]

Forgot one thing. There are also shrimps that are not frozen and not in a package just sitting on ice. You buy by the pound. I asked them if they are treated but they don't slash English and don't have an answer. They also have snails and other live sea food in aquariums. None of them can tell me if they are treated or not. What are your thoughts on these?

[infernalis]

Live in a tank cannot be treated or it would be dead. ;)

[nepoez]

Live in a tank cannot be treated or it would be dead. ;)

lol... make sense!

[B_Aller]

I do believe US (FDA) regulations require that any food products sold here (Asian Market or otherwise) must list any chemical agents used in processing.

Anyone PLEASE chime in with a rebuttal or confirmation thank you.

Well FDA may require it but there are always some mis-labeled or shady labels going on in the Asian markets. It's true that you will find some questionable products/packaging but again, use common sense you will be fine. The larger markets will carry better labeled food.
Always thaw shellfish with cold water! they thaw super quick in cold water, warm water can cause bacterial growth with shellfish.
Best.