Feeding

[msubigdawg]

I want to know what people think about certain types of foods out on the market.
Can-o-worms
Can-o-crickets
Frozen crickets
Frozen rodents
Just tell me if you think those are good or bad. If one is bad tell me what you think would be better in its place. Thanks

[rwg]

Frozen rodents are excellent if your reptile will take them. Better than live. First of all, they cant fight back. Secondly, freezing kills internal parasites that can be passed to your reptile. I cant comment on the bugs.

rg

[AlexPan]

Frozen rodents are NOT a good idea at all! Yes they cannot fight back if the are frozen. Captive bred anymals (like Lab Mice) are already paracite free. When freezing rodents it destroys all nutretions in meat, bone etc. Feeding frozen rodents all the time is the same as a person would eat noodles for all of his life. The best thing is to kill them like breaking their neck, and then feeding freshly killed you your snakes. If you got a lot of snakes, and can't keep so many rodents, then atleast feed fresh food every 3rd feeding.

[Lrptls]

alex i'v never heard any thing like that in my entire life. herps do absolutly fine on frozen thawd rodents. unless you breed rodents and keep them very clean so they do not have any parasites at all then you should 100% feed them FT so the animals do not get parasites.
you also said feeding them frozen rodents there whole life is just like us eating noodles our whole life, that doesn't really make any sence cause the frozen rodents are still rodents, they didn't change into something else.

as for canned insects, they do lose lots of the good healthy stuff thats in live insects and canned is MUCH much more expensive than live.

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by AlexPan
When freezing rodents it destroys all nutretions in meat, bone etc.
Oh Alex, yet again, you have provided a fountain of misinformation. I will, however, give you the benefit of the doubt and assume "you're still learning", but this information is inaccurate. I don't know where you get your info from :confused:
There are no significant advantages/disadvantages between live, fresh-killed, or frozen (except, of course, that frozen is much safer and more convenient).
Cheers,
Ryan

[AlexPan]

RMBolton, I got my information from this site, and a back up from any meat specialist. Why do you think people say fresh food is better then frozen then?

[Tim and Julie B]

Alex, maybe you could direct us to exactly where you got your information? You know, to clarify what has been said. And what meat "specialist" are you refering to because I'm sure a lot of us here would love to have a conversation with him/her on the subject. Especially since 99% of all meats consumed by people is frozen.
Thanks
Julie

Sry, I forgot to answer the question:D I wouldn't recommend the canned foods so much for insect eaters like geckos and such (they like to hunt thier food), but they are a good addition to the diet of many box turtles and tortoises, beardeds often accept them and perhaps a few other species. The biggest challenge is to get your reptiles to try them!:D

Julie

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by AlexPan
RMBolton, I got my information from this site, and a back up from any meat specialist. Why do you think people say fresh food is better then frozen then?
Not that I take an excess of pride in this, but, since it is fitting for me to bring it up now, I am a certified product consultant at M&M Meat Shops (Canada's largest specialty frozen food chain) - yes, there is a rather long certification process. I wouldn't refer to my self as a "meat specialist" (due to the silliness of that moniker) but that is definitely what I did day in/day out for 7 years during high school and the first few years of University, I specialized in frozen meat :thumbsup:.
There are many food researchers employed by head-office that would always keep us well-informed on this very issue at hand so that we could dispel any of the silly claims that "fresh is better" (as some customers would advocate).
Again, please refer us to any reputable documentation that indicates an overall nutritional loss in meat products during proper freezing techniques.
Alex, I can tell you with confidence that you have been misinformed or you have misinterpreted information. So long as prey items are quickly frozen after being killed, are kept frozen until use, and are offered within a certain amount of time after freezing (we're talking many months here), then there is absolutely no advantage to feeding fresh-killed.
Regards,
Ryan

[V.hb]

Even if it kills nutrients while freezing.. BIG if there...

people still raise tons and tons of animals on frozen rodents, and breed them, and they prosper into healthy adults.... So i dont think thats an issue, even if it is true.

[Cruciform]

Alex: Heck, cooking is more likely to destroy nutrients than freezing is. Take vitamin C for example.

Open a bottle of apple juice and let it sit in the open air for the afternoon. The vitamin C will oxidize fairly quickly. That's just the nature of it. Frying will break down the Vitamin C more quickly, while boiling has less effect, and you can save the broth, provided you use it immediately or store it in an airtight container. (Thank you, grade 9 home ec).

Claiming that freezing robs food of all nutritional content is just silly. Refrigeration and freezing are one of the prime factors in the rapid settlement of North America. Without smoked or frozen food, people would have starved to death in the harsh winters of the new world. They weren't getting any fresh veggies in a North Dakota January.

Ryan: any good specials on this week? :D

[Removed_2815]

Back to the initial query, I have had great success with Can o' Crickets. My Leopard Gecko (http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26506) cannot eat live prey and will only eat from my hands, thus, a product that I can keep in the fridge and that he takes readily has been a real advantage for us. He has been eating them since they came on the market, and, as you can see from his pics, he is very healthy.
Cheers,
Ryan