A note concerning pre-packaged frozen fish

[kerensa]

How many of those "questionable" keepers pay attention.

We have had plenty of those "oh my snake just died" threads, "I don't know why"...

I agree with the human scum statement, but I'm quite sure there are MANY unreported deaths, and many "I don't know what happened" deaths.

Further, if the preservatives are prayed on with nozzles at the packaging plant, a dribble, a sputter or a clogged up spray nozzle suddenly clearing could (and will) deposit higher concentrations of the chemical on the fish being packaged.

One calibration at the plant goes out of spec, and suddenly a whole batch or just a few inches of a batch of fish gets a larger dose of detergent than the rest of the line.

Heck, after reading the material safety data sheets Stefan posted up, I'm not sure I would want to eat that fish myself.

When many of us feed babies, we tend to chop up fish, how many of those "failure to thrive" babies actually fell victim to the chemical preservatives in the fish??

I used to manage a pet store and I obviously got in plenty of reptiles in the beginning. After all I adore them, why wouldn't I carry them? I switched to stocking large quantities of gold fish and hamsters and pushing them. the reason they are easy, and most people will come in saying "my son wants an iguana? isn't that a lizard?" and leave with the hamster and be fine, the son may not be thrilled, but he isn't likely to be the one buying the food and not caring if its healthy. I had tons of people who came in to replace reptiles. (we were the closest place for a 4 hour drive to buy reptiles at the time) and tell me that their iguana (they were the rage at the time) had died, they didn't know why. "It had been doing so well and lived a really long time. oh at least a year." I quickly decided that since for every owner that cared and actually did even minimal research, I saw over a hundred who didn't, that the average person shouldn't be trusted with anything more then a feeder goldfish- and then that only because its gonna die within a couple years anyway (they've horrible genetics)

so yeah I can easily believe there are a lot people feeding their snakes whatever comes to hand, even if that looks like obvious poison to us.

anyone here is much more likely to avoid something that *might* hurt their precious pets, then say the budget conscious mother of three buying cheap food for a snake she never really wanted in the house anyway...

I try to see the point of view of the parents etc. but really I still feel in the end that a gold fish is the most they should be trusted with, and that a hamster (horrible little monsters) is an acceptable substitute if it looks like the kid in question will give a crap and wants something to handle. (although a hamster might cure that fast enough)

[Sonya610]

I only buy fish at the counter but virtually all of it is frozen and then thawed and sold as fresh. Does anyone know if the "fresh pre-frozen" counter fish also contains this? Or only fish that was packaged for long term freezing in the frozen foods section? I backed off fish a while ago and stuck with pinkies, just reintroduced a bit of tilapia the other night.

[guidofatherof5]

I live in Iowa and the only way I'm getting any fresh, never frozen fish is to go catch it myself.
I'm hoping the tilapia I purchase is as close to fresh as I can get. I'm not sure any of use really know what we are getting when we buy fish.
I think that tilapia offer a lower risk of problems then some of the other fish. Since I switched to tilapia only(unless I catch some bluegill) I have had zero problems with my snakes(fingers crossed)

[Steveo]

Steve, most commercial tilapia is farmed so it may be fairly fresh.

[Sonya610]

I live in Iowa and the only way I'm getting any fresh, never frozen fish is to go catch it myself.
I'm hoping the tilapia I purchase is as close to fresh as I can get.

Aside from the preservative problem, "fresh frozen" fish is much safer if it will be eaten raw. Those industrial freezers kill all of the parasites (which is why most sushi is pre-frozen for safety). I would watch where it comes from too, I saw frog legs from CHINA at our seafood counter the other day, I have to remember to read the small print and double check where the fish is coming from. I wish companies had to list the source of the ingredients, it scares me to think food products from China are added to foods labeled as manufactured elsewhere.

[xStatic]

Well now I'm really worried. I was advised to feed my garter tilapia but never told not to use frozen fillets... She literally just ate a meal of packaged tilapia fillets from Costco. Should she not be fed these? If I have to go out and buy fresh, never frozen, tilapia every week then I would rather just continue feeding pinkies and worms... I don't understand why I was encouraged to feed fish at all of there is such a great danger? Some advice would be helpful...

Thank you

[guidofatherof5]

I would say don't feed it any more. Fresh is what you should be using. Sorry for any misunderstanding or failure to define what to use.

[xStatic]

I would say don't feed it any more. Fresh is what you should be using. Sorry for any misunderstanding or failure to define what to use.

Thank you for your help. Hopefully my post doesn't sound too rude. I'm just becoming stressed because I've read many garter snake care sheets and am trying my best to insure my snake is healthy but I am constantly making mistakes. Garter snakes are much different animals than other genres of snakes and I'm finding out my experience with these other reptiles hardly applies to the care of garters. I just want to make sure my animals are healthy

[Sonya610]

If I have to go out and buy fresh, never frozen, tilapia every week then I would rather just continue feeding pinkies and worms...

Understand that freezing is not the problem, the chemical added to some (or most) frozen fish so it stays fresher looking is the problem. I just bought some fresh/frozen Tilapia and cut it up and threw it in my freezer, I am not worried about freezing it. I am worried that it was treated with Sodium Tripolyphosphate though, that is listed as a neuro-toxin and is limited in most countries (but not the US).

I just called my grocery store and got the name of their supplier, some company called Rain Forest Aquaculture that farms tilapia in Costa Rica and ships it to the US. I am going to call their Florida office tomorrow to ask if they are using that chemical (I kind of suspect they probably are, it makes thawed fish look fresh and pretty). I also got the name of the Trout supplier which is based in Idaho and maybe they aren't using it.

[xStatic]

I understood the added chemical was causing the problem but it doesn't seem worth it to me to risk feeding any pre-packaged fish if there's a risk of the fish being treated with harmful substances. From my understanding my snake can get full nutrition from eating only mice and worms. I can see the need to feed fish if snakes refuse to eat mice. Are silversides safe from these chemicals? Can I buy silversides at petsmart? My snake seemed to like the fish and accepted it immediately, so I would be willing to feed silversides if I knew they were safe. If not I will probably just be avoiding fish in the future