"different"

[Waterrat]

Skin worms are not a pea size, it takes a long time for them to incist and they usually don't pop up in such numbers. I have seen a diamond with pustules all over but can't remember what caused it or what was it described as.

 

[impulse reptiles]

Feeding wild caught animals to captive snakes :lol:

 

[syeph8]

Skin worms are not a pea size, it takes a long time for them to incist and they usually don't pop up in such numbers. I have seen a diamond with pustules all over but can't remember what caused it or what was it described as.

they can get pretty big, but i do concede not usually in that high a number. I reiterate though, time frame is not conclusive as how do we know the time frame is correct? he may be a terrible judge of time or be lying for some reason or another (not that theres really any reason to that has been identified, people just like to sometimes). but yes i didnt think of the quantity, so unless this has been happening for years it is most definately not skin worms.

 

[AUSHERP]

i don't know what it was but i do think he was lying, either about the time frame or the frequency of wild feeds.
i guess feeding wild birds and that is a bit of a luck of the draw game. works well for some but i'm sure terrible things could go wrong.

 

[butters]

True but I have also heard horror stories from people who have bought frozen rodents from various places as well.
Unless you have bred the food source yourself, and know exactly what has gone on, there is always a risk. Look at the effort Solar puts in to breeding his feeders. Pretty sure he knows exactly what has happened in almost every stage of his food items life and once it was euthanased.

I on the other hand purchase my frozen rodents and quail and really have no idea what has happened with them before they got to me while alive or once dead. To me the risk of feeding a wild caught food item is no less than purchasing a food item.

 

[user 23122]

personally i dunno why you would risk it captive bred animals should eat captive bred prey lets say a coastal in the wild eating wild prey its entire life will have different bacteria in its gut to combat these parasites whereas a captive animal raised in clean sterile environment fed clean frozen bred prey will obviously have less chance of combatting these parasites if all of a sudden fed a wild parasite riddled bird ,or rat. What happens when you go to a foreign third world country and eat their cuisine or drink their water you get sick or at the least upset stomach.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

personally i dunno why you would risk it captive bred animals should eat captive bred prey lets say a coastal in the wild eating wild prey its entire life will have different bacteria in its gut to combat these parasites whereas a captive animal raised in clean sterile environment fed clean frozen bred prey will obviously have less chance of combatting these parasites if all of a sudden fed a wild parasite riddled bird ,or rat. What happens when you go to a foreign third world country and eat their cuisine or drink their water you get sick or at the least upset stomach.

This is pretty much bollocks, and the nervousness people seem to have regarding what their animals eat continues to amaze me. It worries me that there is such a disconnect between the keepers of reptiles and their understanding of the natural lives of these animals. Parasites are part and parcel of everyday life for most species, even humans. Feeding a healthy python on a dove or Mynah, or a fresh-killed (unfrozen) rodent (captive bred or wild) is NOT a recipe for disaster. Our snakes are only several generations (at the most) removed from their wild counterparts, they still have all the means of dealing with the parasite problem you all seem so worried about.

If you want to worm them occasionally (every year or two) that's fine, but an occasional meal, or even a primary diet, of freshly killed wild-caught food will not compromise the health of your snakes.

As far as frozen, or freshly-killed, rodents are concerned, the parasites that seem to cause the most worry for keepers are roundworms, and these can't develop in captive snakes unless the rodent has access to reptile faeces in which the worm eggs have been passed - I suggest this is highly unlikely unless the rodent has snake poo included in it's diet.

Jamie

 

[user 23122]

ok all parasites aside what if someone feeds their pet carpet a wild caught rat thats just chowed on some bait what then? there are people who bait birds as well, not saying wild prey will definetely harm a captive animal but why risk it when you can breed your own rats, chickens ,or quail

This is pretty much bollocks, and the nervousness people seem to have regarding what their animals eat continues to amaze me. It worries me that there is such a disconnect between the keepers of reptiles and their understanding of the natural lives of these animals. Parasites are part and parcel of everyday life for most species, even humans. Feeding a healthy python on a dove or Mynah, or a fresh-killed (unfrozen) rodent (captive bred or wild) is NOT a recipe for disaster. Our snakes are only several generations (at the most) removed from their wild counterparts, they still have all the means of dealing with the parasite problem you all seem so worried about.

If you want to worm them occasionally (every year or two) that's fine, but an occasional meal, or even a primary diet, of freshly killed wild-caught food will not compromise the health of your snakes.

As far as frozen, or freshly-killed, rodents are concerned, the parasites that seem to cause the most worry for keepers are roundworms, and these can't develop in captive snakes unless the rodent has access to reptile faeces in which the worm eggs have been passed - I suggest this is highly unlikely unless the rodent has snake poo included in it's diet.

Jamie

 

[Kenshin]

when i was a kid one of the first snakes i kept was a carpet python i caught in a aviry that i snakeproofed i fed it a staple diet of caught feral birds and the occasional large feed of a galah or similar sized (abundant) bird i had him for many years

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Well, obviously if the animal has been poisoned that's a very different scenario... The thread was about parasite threats, not feeding your snake a poisoned food item...

Jamie.

 

[user 23122]

the thread was about feeding wild caught animals to captive bred animals [deleted] how would you tell if your caught prey was poisoned or not especialy if you where new to the hobby

 

[solar 17]

Me personally, l have never ever, not even once fed frozen rats or mice to my snakes, every one is fresh killed, every snake from Spotteds to Greens including GTP hatchies get fresh killed, l worm-out twice a year twelve days apart to break the parasitic gestation cycle and l am not sure l even have a worm problem its just a precaution l take....cheers solar 17 [Baden]

 

[user 23122]

i feed fresh killed as well cant stand frozen food fresh CAPTIVE bred rodents

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Jolly good!

Jamie

 

[Nick84]

if i were to feed wild caught to my diamond & coastal would i have to euthanise it first or live feed?
and would i have to wait untill a certain age to do this?

 

[Boondocker]

For anyone who thinks breeding and feeding your own food means your animals will not be exposed to parasites then you are dreaming.

The dreaming part is patently untrue. It is certainly within reason to set up a clean colony of feeders and expect exactly those results.

Everything has parasites of some description.Depends on whether those parasites will cause notable harm. Breeding your own just lowers the risk but does not negate it.

No it depends on whether a given parasite taxa is species specific, or not, and most of the metazoan stuff is species specific. This means they are simply passed through and don't reproduce in non relevant hosts.

 

[waruikazi]

I'm not sure about birds but there are some exotic species that are protected, but generally your statemment would be true.

As long as they are not native species

 

[AUSHERP]

I sit on the fence a bit as far as food items go, IMO either way is fine but, captive clean stock must be safer. it comes down to the individual experience, because each feed has a new risk ratio when feeding wild caught food, where as with captive the risk SHOULD always be the same because the rodents have been prepared the same.

 

[Helikaon]

the scary ones are the ones like crypto, which after your snake is infected there is no treatment. infectious to

 

[shellfisch]

if i were to feed wild caught to my diamond & coastal would i have to euthanise it first or live feed?
and would i have to wait untill a certain age to do this?

Don't live feed .... at all.
Sorry, was assuming you were talking about mice and rats? But maybe you meant birds....