Rotten Pinkies???

[snakechick]

I have been buying my pinkies from a local pet shop. The cashier asks me why I get the frozen pinkies because you never know if they are rotten inside when they freeze them. Anyone have experience with this? I've have not had any problems so far. Could a rotten pink make them sick?

[Greg'sGarters]

If you buy from a good company, they will not be rotten, they gas them to kill them and then freeze them immediately. It takes about a day for a pinkie to rot. I packs of 50 of them from my friend at the reptile show.

[infernalis]

Could a rotten pink make them sick?

Doubt it.

[guidofatherof5]

I would think you would know they were rotten when you thawed them out.
Garter snakes are opportunistic eaters. A little dead/rotten wouldn't stop them.

[snakechick]

OK . What's to stop them from throwing in the dead ones? I think they get them from a breeder in Los Angeles . I may just make a big order from a good company. Thanks!

[snakechick]

I think you are right Steve...I would probably know a bad one. Thanks

[Greg'sGarters]

The thing stopping them from throwing in the dead ones is that they have about 100 new pinkie every day that are live and only about 15 that are dead, I'm just guessing with those numbers. They're based on when I used to breed mice. Only 1 or 2 would be born for ever 12 that were born.

[guidofatherof5]

Here's a company close to you. Might save you some money on shipping. A number of members have used this company and reported good things.

Snake Food, Reptile Food, Feed Carnivores, Birds of Prey : Layne Labs.com

[snakechick]

Here's a company close to you. Might save you some money on shipping. A number of members have used this company and reported good things.

Snake Food, Reptile Food, Feed Carnivores, Birds of Prey : Layne Labs.com

I grew up there! Very crazy...it's a small town I will definitely buy some when I go to visit my family.

[d_virginiana]

Even if they did throw in dead pinks they shouldn't have been dead long enough to rot, since pinkies are only a day old when they are euthanized and frozen? I may be mistaken on the exact times, but I think after a day they start selling them as fuzzies.
I wouldn't doubt they toss in dead/dying pinkies on occasion though. Just saying When I cut them open (my blind guy eats better when he can smell the guts... lovely, right?) I see a lot with severely enlarged spleens, livers, or other issues that would have been fatal pretty quickly if they hadn't already killed the mice by the time they were frozen.