Garter snake food - fish questions.

[drache]

Oh he will take dead but its a pain to thaw one and go to the store for one, not to mention it takes like 3 pinkies to fill him up which is more expensive than 1 live rat pup that fills him up. Are there any advantages to feeding dead nutrionally? I don't mind feeding live I'll get used to it..

not sure I understand this
to me, anything you can keep in a freezer is convenient
don't you have to get the rat pups at the store too?
they don't have them frozen?
the parasite angle is definitely an issue as well
I get my rodents from a breeder
they're flash frozen, they're clean, and they can live in my freezer for about three months, eliminating many trips to the pet shop
not to mention that, even with shipping they cost about half of what the local shop would charge me
so my snakes miss out on the excitement (not that I notice them caring)
I make it up to them by letting them watch our crazy household

[Lee]

not sure I understand this
to me, anything you can keep in a freezer is convenient
don't you have to get the rat pups at the store too?
they don't have them frozen?
the parasite angle is definitely an issue as well
I get my rodents from a breeder
they're flash frozen, they're clean, and they can live in my freezer for about three months, eliminating many trips to the pet shop
not to mention that, even with shipping they cost about half of what the local shop would charge me
so my snakes miss out on the excitement (not that I notice them caring)
I make it up to them by letting them watch our crazy household

I can't keep them in the freezer. For one, I don't want frozen rodents in my freezer, nor does my S/O.
Cazador: This is true and is something to think about, is there a cheap med I can use to make sure they don't have any?

[Stefan-A]

Could you and your S/O be convinced to keep frozen rodents in your freezer? After all, it's just meat.

[adamanteus]

Are there no laws in the US concerning the use of live rodents as food items? In the UK it is an absolute no no. I guess everybody does it occasionally, say to get a reluctant feeder started, but I can't see the point in using live animals if you don't need to. It seems to me more inconvenient...what if the snake isn't hungry? Then you're stuck with a little rat that needs it's Mama!

[Lee]

Are there no laws in the US concerning the use of live rodents as food items? In the UK it is an absolute no no. I guess everybody does it occasionally, say to get a reluctant feeder started, but I can't see the point in using live animals if you don't need to. It seems to me more inconvenient...what if the snake isn't hungry? Then you're stuck with a little rat that needs it's Mama!

Nope not a single law, I know the guy at the petstore feeds them to the store snakes alive. I bought 2 rat pups that are just weaned it seems, he at one and is full, the second is eating hampster food and is being kept alive until next feeding, no problems. However with small pinkies I'll just be out of luck, not to mention... Live pinkies are twice as much as frozen lol.

BTW random question, how many pinkie mice should I feed to a 2 ft 4 in male garter and how often? I see a lot of pictures with bulkier looking snakes, but mine always seems to be a bit slimmer than others I've seen. thoughts?

Stefan: Nope, fear of rodents.... Kinda annoying.

[Cazador]

The cheap and common meds are Flagyl and Panacur for amoeba/protists and worms, respectively. I don't feed pinkies, so I'll let others field that question. If the scales are continually spread apart (even before a meal), and you can see stretched skin between the scales, they're considered to be obese. A little bit of separation between the scales isn't bad, but the stretched skin is a real indicator.

Rick

[drache]

I'm still trying to get around the freezer issue
do you perhaps have a friendly neighbor, friend, relative living near you whose freezer you might rent a tiny piece of real estate in?
it would make things just so much easier
your S/O can't be pacified with brown bagging or opaque containers?
I'd think she'd be much more freaked by you bringing live rodents into the house

[Thamnophis]

I feed my garter snakes only one pinkie every feeding. Next to that they get smelt and chickenheart in the same feeding.