Feeding Garters Shrimp? Possible?

[ConcinusMan]

I have to agree with Steve. I don't trust much from out of country, especially not when it's going to be fed to my snakes. You don't really know how it was caught or where.

Most tilapia in stores is from foreign countries, mostly China. And it's not caught, its farmed. Still less of a risk than Salmon, even from Canada or Alaska. Once in a great while one of my snakes will puke up a piece but not so often I feel like it's a significant problem and I don't think it's the fish or anything in it. I don't know where you guys get the idea that it's not safe.

Now salmon is much more likely to give your snakes problems. You have to know what species it is, and exactly where it comes from to assess the risk. "from Canada" doesn't say much. Bottom line is, I wouldn't feed them Salmon unless it specifically says it's wild alaskan.

[kibakiba]

Well, I get mine "fresh", but they said it was caught in America. I prefer buying salmon, mostly because I eat it, too, and it's cheaper to get a large amount of it and just cut an ounce or two off for the snakes. It's a bit of a treat for all of my snakes.

[RedSidedSPR]

Yeah, I go with Petsmarts fish section. Little freezer. Flat bag of Sallys Frozen Silversides! They work great, and don't worry about cutting any if you need to, (you prolly won't) there's no guts or anything. Its like cutting up the fish on your dinner plate.

EDIT, didn't realize there was another page, I'm answering the last pages last post. Opps

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, I go with Petsmarts fish section. Little freezer. Flat bag of Sallys Frozen Silversides! They work great, and don't worry about cutting any if you need to, (you prolly won't) there's no guts or anything. Its like cutting up the fish on your dinner plate.

EDIT, didn't realize there was another page, I'm answering the last pages last post. Opps

Sally's are great, and safe. Pretty expensive since they jacked up the price recently. It's 10 bucks for that flat but you can rest assured it's quality and safe and nutritious for your snakes. They are whole. The guts are there. They are fatty though, when compared to say, tilapia so I wouldn't feed them too much of them. Don't rely on them as a main food source. They're very high in fat.

Well, I get mine "fresh", but they said it was caught in America. I prefer buying salmon, mostly because I eat it, too, and it's cheaper to get a large amount of it and just cut an ounce or two off for the snakes. It's a bit of a treat for all of my snakes.

That would be WA salmon you're buying. Coho is the cheapest of several salmon species caught in WA but all of them have significant levels of PCB's and Mercury. I try to stay away from it. If I am going to feed them salmon, which I rarely do anyway, it's going to have to be the most expensive kind. Wild Alaskan. It's lowest in contaminants. I don't know if you know this but I've said it before. The lower priced salmon is low for a reason. It's contaminated and it's not safe to eat much of it.

And don't even think about feeding them Atlantic salmon. it's filthy. I wouldn't eat a bite of that myself.

If you're going to feed them fish, the Sally's silversides should be first choice, tilapia fillet second choice, Wild alaskan salmon third choice. I've done a lot of research on this. Those are the best choices. Everything else is risky. It's really better to just wash a frozen pinky in water very well, then scent it with fish. You can get any garter that likes fish, to eat that.

[RedSidedSPR]

It's expensive, but for some of us who only have one or two snakes, it lasts a pretty long time.

[J@50n]

I just bought some of those today !!

[Hornets23]

I'm not QUITE certain, but haven't there been a couple people lately who had snakes DIE from walmart tilapia? Wayne?

[Didymus20X6]

Little Dude had been gobbling up Wal-Mart tilapia earlier this summer, and so far, no ill effects from it.

[ConcinusMan]

I don't get mine from walmart but I don't see how that makes any difference. I think what happened is definitely an isolated incident and we have no idea what the true cause was.

My snakes get plenty of tilapia. No apparent issues. Just make sure it's only part of a varied diet. I think you should still give them plenty of pinkies. Tilapia fillet is high in protein and a few other nutrients and rather low in fat but deficient in other areas. I don't like to supplement (use vitamins) but if you're feeding them heavily on fish fillet and not giving them pinkies and/or worms, you're going to need to supplement, especially very young snakes.

[kibakiba]

I was talking about the tilapia, Richard. They said it was caught in America.

I buy sockeye, mainly because, yes I eat it. Alaskan salmonis the cheapest at the store we go to, but the meat on it has an extremely liquid consistancy, and you cant even cut it or pick chunks of it up. The 3 or 4 times I've gotten it, it was like that. I though the first 2 times, I just got a bad batch, but it's not worth wasting my money on when I can't pick it up with the hemostats, and my snakes wont go near it.