A note concerning pre-packaged frozen fish

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Failure to thrive happens regardless of what kinds of food items offered... No matter what kind of keeper you are, you are going to notice if a couple of your snakes die overnight after eating some fish. And you are right, if I were you I wouldn't eat the fish either... In fact avoid any meat at a grocery store! Meats don't belong on a conveyor belt under a series of sprayers. Like I said, if one is really worried about it, I would just avoid feeding filets... Kind of like thiaminase! There are plenty of feeding options that are out there.

[mikem]

yea, just checked my tilapia...it's there. well, looks like i have some fillets for me now! heh...

would there be an issue in purchasing fresh and then freezing it yourself? i'd imagine not, but thought i'd throw it out there..

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I DO fish for my own trout... there are currently quite a few in my freezer!

[infernalis]

yea, just checked my tilapia...it's there. well, looks like i have some fillets for me now! heh...

would there be an issue in purchasing fresh and then freezing it yourself? i'd imagine not, but thought i'd throw it out there..

I buy fresh and then cut up and freeze it.

[Alicia_kay_47]

This is so upsetting. I love my snake, Eden. No pet owner wants to kill their pet, we want what's best, but quite frankly, not all of us all teaming in bait shops where we can easily get worms, or mice. (Mine is too small to eat mice anyhow.) So when the one bait shop near me says they're out of Earth worms( ridiculous, right? I know, wtf? ) I turn to Tilapia. It's in my freezer, I'm going to make it for dinner tonight, and I was planning to give some to Eden. But your revelation describing the horrible death I'd be condemning him to...make's me feel like a bad person for not driving 18 miles to the nearest earthworm breeder. That's scarey. However, Wal-Mart , you say? They're an evil conglomerate who gets their fare from seedy places anyways. So, I'll try my non-Wal-mart Tilapia an cross my fingers until I can get him his real food.

[EasternGirl]

I also buy fresh fish and freeze it, Mike.

[chris-uk]

This is so upsetting. I love my snake, Eden. No pet owner wants to kill their pet, we want what's best, but quite frankly, not all of us all teaming in bait shops where we can easily get worms, or mice. (Mine is too small to eat mice anyhow.) So when the one bait shop near me says they're out of Earth worms( ridiculous, right? I know, wtf? ) I turn to Tilapia. It's in my freezer, I'm going to make it for dinner tonight, and I was planning to give some to Eden. But your revelation describing the horrible death I'd be condemning him to...make's me feel like a bad person for not driving 18 miles to the nearest earthworm breeder. That's scarey. However, Wal-Mart , you say? They're an evil conglomerate who gets their fare from seedy places anyways. So, I'll try my non-Wal-mart Tilapia an cross my fingers until I can get him his real food.

I think for an emergency "bait shop out of worms" feed you'll be absolutely fine with the tilapia from the freezer. You will be extremely unlikely to have a batch in your freezer that has, through a production line failure, been given an instantly lethal dose of preservatives. Over a longer period there is more scope for toxicity to build up, but that won't happen if you generally feed worms.
By the way, do you supplement the worms? Arguably not necessary for some species that specialise in feeding on worms, but best practice seems to be to supplement a worm-only diet with vitamin and calcium.

[ConcinusMan]

I buy fresh and then cut up and freeze it.

The Tilapia I buy says for the ingredients "Tilapia fillet, water". It also says, "all natural, no preservatives" If I "buy fresh" the only difference is the cost. If they don't sell it fresh in one day, they end up vacuum sealing and freezing it and I can then buy it much cheaper in the freezer under the Kroger brand name.

The store is Fred Meyer (which, outside of the Northwest, is called Kroger's) I've never had any issues with their fish. It is farmed and imported from SE Asia.

Checking the label for salt and additives is a given. Tilapia or not.

It may be dehydration Wayne. If the sodium causes an electrolyte imbalance and can't be excreted the chances are that it draws out water.

Which is why excessive sodium, such as added salt, causes rapid kidney failure in snakes. They simply aren't equipped to expell excess salt like mammal kidneys can because they excrete solid urates, not liquid urine. Note that tilapia has sodium naturally, (because fish need to balance sodium too, obviously) but it doesn't appear to be enough to harm the snakes.

[Alicia_kay_47]

No, I don't but I am going to buy some this week. (Supplements) And I will be expanding his diet/feeding times. Thanks for the advi, plus, I noticed my fish packaging did not contain any info on the preservative content.....Either it has none, or it doesn't say.

[EasternGirl]

Your best bet would be to try to buy fresh fish fillet when you can then. If you want some recommendations on supplements, we can give them to you.