Another lethal batch of Wal Mart fish

[infernalis]

Not sure if anyone remembers but about 18 months ago I purchased a pack of Salmon from Wal Mart and fed a whole slew of snakes, within 12 hours of consuming the fish Snakes began convulsing and throwing up.

The death toll was about 25 percent.

The day before yesterday I fed a group of my snakes some Tilapia from Wal Mart. The very same thing happened all over again, snakes convulsed, puked and died very quickly.

The first time I blamed the Salmon, however many feed salmon with no problems, This time I refuse to blame the tilapia, instead I chose to blame Wal Mart (The common denominator in this sad equation)

Only upon closer inspection did I find that the Tilapia flesh is yellow (not white) and slimy.

This was not apparent while frozen, and since I ground it up with frozen pinkies before it thawed, the mix was blood red, so I never noticed the tilapia was in fact spoiled.

Myself, personally it will be a very cold day in HE double toothpicks before I ever feed my snakes anything from that store ever again.

Lost 4 snakes this time out, Including a trio that I had invested 2 years into.

I'm off to market for some fresh trout......

[gregmonsta]

Sorry to hear this has cropped up again and has caused you some losses. It's hard to trust these big chain supermarkets. I always check the packaging for additives etc but it's always worth going to my local fishmonger. 9/10 the salmon and trout on offer there is cheaper and, at the most, caught the day before.

[guidofatherof5]

Very sorry to hear about your loss.
I worry even when I feed so-called, fresh fish.
Last month I fed some fresh Steel head trout. 3 snakes reacted by puking it back out. Another tried but was unable.
For the next 3 days that snake just laid around but did recover fully from the ordeal.

[zooplan]

Sorry, to read about your loss.
I´m not using any fish from a supermarket.
There are too many supplements in human food, that don´t need to be published.
Hopefully I´ll be able to get all my snake feed from a zoo suplier as long as I´ll keep snakes.

[MoJo]

I am so sorry for your loss. That really is horrible.

[Stefan-A]

Sorry to hear it. A real disaster.

[Stefan-A]

A thought occurs: It wasn't salted by any chance, was it? The symptoms fit.

[fish_4_all]

I guess iw ill be catching the salmon I feed to my snake once it starts eating fish. Maybe that is why mine won't eat the tilapia I bought from the store but it is supposed to be fresh with no additives.

So sorry that you lost any snakes. I am glad that you shared though so that others won't make the same mistake.

[infernalis]

A thought occurs: It wasn't salted by any chance, was it? The symptoms fit.


The package was labeled "frozen fresh tilapia" and I read the ingredients "Tilapia"

If it was salted, it was packaged incorrectly.

Anyhow, I just went to the only place around that kills the fish to order, There is a fresh shipment of rainbow trout arriving Wednesday.

Regardless of cost, I'm picking up a whole rainbow trout packed on ice.

Until then, I'll go net some dace, that's getting fairly difficult now, as the water temps have dropped significantly, the minnows are hiding under rocks.

[kibakiba]

I've never had that happen with the fresh fish here, but at the Albersons, Fred Meyer and Safeway that we get our fish from is really just caught, fresh and never frozen. We buy a kind of large chunk of salmon and tilapia and freeze it right when we get it. 5$ of each feeds 8 garters every 2-3 days for over 2-3 months for me. Of course, they get pinkies and worms when I can afford it.

[RicMartin]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Yet another reason for me to dislike Wal Mart.

I only have one baby that's still on fish, I can't wait for him to eat mice.

Ric

[infernalis]

What really makes me mad is that my Infernalis' were on mice. They were almost 2 years old and ready to breed.

I made the mistake of giving them fish as a "treat"

bet yer arse that won't happen again.

no more treats, if they eat pinks, that's what they get.

[MoJo]

Oh no it was the infernalis? Were those your only ones? That is really very painful....

[infernalis]

Yes my entire Infernalis collection is now dead.

The baby black necks all ate that stuff too, didn't even phase them?? they are pacing already looking for food again.

[justme]

Wow, that is scary about Walmart! Also, very sad as these were your pets' lives lost to bad fish. So sorry to hear.

I have been intimidated to feed my garters anything but mice, although I've heard an all mice diet is unhealthy. ;-(

[Stefan-A]

If I were you, I'd be demanding some answers from Wal-Mart.

I still can't get over how much it sounds like acute salt poisoning. The description of the meat is consistent with it being salted, too.

[infernalis]

If I were you, I'd be demanding some answers from Wal-Mart.

I still can't get over how much it sounds like acute salt poisoning. The description of the meat is consistent with it being salted, too.

When my conversation started at the "customer service" desk, I told them what happened and the mental midget working immediately looked dumbfounded and said "snakes eat fish" & "I don't like snakes"

Long story short Stefan, as my temper flared, the manager of that shift said that the fish was intended for human consumption and the best they could offer was to replace the fish.

Being a realist, it would cost seven times the value of the snakes to send a lawyer after them...

Money I simply cannot afford when I already can predict that a judge would not award me any damages because no humans got sick or died from eating food intended for humans to eat.:mad:

[drache]

Wayne, I'm so sorry for your loss
the fish question is a vexing one, as I once did loose a snake to fresh trout
nothing seems to be reliably safe

[guidofatherof5]

If I were you, I'd be demanding some answers from Wal-Mart.

When I had this exact experience with Walmart fish, the best they could offer to me was buying back or replacing the fish with more bad fish.
They weren't going to test it because no human was made ill by the product.:mad:
The manager was with me on my concerns but said he was bound by corporate policy to handle the situation this way.

[MoJo]

It is so sad that you lost all of your infernalis. I am glad the other snakes do not seem to be harmed.

My husband's response to this story was if the snakes died what is it doing to us!

[infernalis]

Thankfully all four black neck babies are doing fine, they are pacing the cage now looking for food.

My newborns (Radix) are weird, they gobble up the chopped fish, but are afraid of live minnows??

[guidofatherof5]

Radixes aren't afraid of nothin':D

[infernalis]

Some took baby worms tonight. but minnows flopping in the feed box spooks them.

[Hornets23]

It seems slightly odd that the infernalis were affected but not the others..wonder if there is anything to that?

[zooplan]

It seems slightly odd that the infernalis were affected but not the others..wonder if there is anything to that?
As it´s known ´tetrataenia is closely related to amphibian prey, so I would guess ´infernalis is spezialized in the same direction.
I checked the feed sources of Black Necked Garter Snakes but they seem as well closely related to amphibians.

[infernalis]

It seems slightly odd that the infernalis were affected but not the others..wonder if there is anything to that?

One baby radix died, and another convulsed to near death so it affected Radix too.

However odd it may seem, I can only be thankful that no others perished.

On a brighter note, The last runt from the radix litter ate a minnow for me. So now all of the babies are officially eating.

[guidofatherof5]

Sorry to hear you lost a radix. I hope the other one pulls through.
It's good that everyone is eating.

[ConcinusMan]

Wayne, I'm so sorry for your loss
the fish question is a vexing one, as I once did loose a snake to fresh trout
nothing seems to be reliably safe

So far, frozen silversides are.


The package was labeled "frozen fresh tilapia" and I read the ingredients "Tilapia"

If it was salted, it was packaged incorrectly.

Anyhow, I just went to the only place around that kills the fish to order, There is a fresh shipment of rainbow trout arriving Wednesday.

Regardless of cost, I'm picking up a whole rainbow trout packed on ice.

Until then, I'll go net some dace, that's getting fairly difficult now, as the water temps have dropped significantly, the minnows are hiding under rocks.

Farmed rainbow trout I hope. Even then, there's a significant mercury load, just not near as high as wild. With the trout you can kill them slowly instead of overnight.:rolleyes:

I had one adult concinnus have minor convultions after about a month of heavily feeding them wild coho. Then I found out just how much mercury and PCB's are in that stuff. I'll never give it to them again! Farmed steelhead or rainbow trout has much lower levels, but it's still there. Seems tilapia and alaskan salmon has the lowest levels of contaminants. Frozen silversides (arctic pond smelt) has exactly none. And no thiaminase either.

Have you talked to anyone at Walmart about this to find a possible cause? Did you keep some of the fish? I mean, this not only tragic, but bizarre too. I'd want to know what happened.

[guidofatherof5]

Walmart will do nothing because people were not affected. That's their policy.
I've been in this same situation about 2 years ago.
Having it tested on my own was going to cost between $100(test for heavy metals) and $1000 if I had it tested for everything the lab could test for.

[ConcinusMan]

I doubt this was heavy metals. They don't act that fast. But yeah, I guess we'll probably never know.

[infernalis]

I scrapped all of the fish and buy fresh trout now.

Once they start taking pinkies, no fish at all will be fed.

[ConcinusMan]

Due to the cost, I still must feed them fish too. I try to stick to the frozen silversides though.

[Mommy2many]

I still do fresh salmon at my grocery store. I have had no problem there and go to the same store every time. I also tend to buy them the "pricey" stuff:D

[ConcinusMan]

Wild Alaskan pink salmon is the only salmon these days that isn't loaded with mercury and PCB's. :cool: That one tends to only be available seasonally, even as close to alaska as I am. Too rich and fatty to be used very often.

[Hornets23]

I was going to try frozen silversides but the ones I saw at petco were almost 8 bucks...is there a better place to get these?

[ConcinusMan]

That's the only place I know of. How many snakes do you have? I mean, when I buy them even at petco, it's quite a supply and they last a good length of time. Is 8 bucks really all that much? I can feed all my snakes for a month practically.

[infernalis]

8 bucks is nothing, I pay about $100 a month to keep my snakes fed.

[Hornets23]

The package I saw looked pretty small...i'll have to have another look.

[infernalis]

a one pound trout was only $5 here.

[Hornets23]

And btw, no....8 bucks is not all that much. Just wondered if that is how you generally buy them.