Is a wild animal really more risky to feed your pixie than a petstore bought feeder animal? My answer, slightly but not by much.
If the wild animal (bird,frog,snake,worms,bugs,fish) looks healthy before it died, the risk is about the same as a store bought rat of mouse. But if the wild animal is sickly before its death then it is a bigger risk than a store bought feeder.
I like breaking my frogs diet up so if i can get a different animal to feed my frog, i examine it and then deep freeze it for a week. But some wont touch a wild animal as a feeder for there frog.
what do you guys think?
Pet store bought is a lot safer in my opinion. Also freezing doesn't kill all diseases. It can put them into a state of dormancy but then as soon as you defrost the food they multiply again.
Jack,
are you saying that Petstore feeders are perfectly safe?
I'd never feed any of my snakes wild caught because of the viruses and parasites that wild can carry. If rodents are bred for food your much safer, and even then I won't buy just anywhere. I get my stuff at a big frozen food store and know it's the best I can buy
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2.0 Border Collies - Jinky and Chance
3.0 Cats - Monty, Dodger and Crunchie
1.1 Royal Pythons Orlina and Sedrick
0.1 BCI Boa - Aasia
1.0 Western Hognose - Hagrid
0.1 Bearded Dragon - iiara
Just fed Mr. Pickles a fish and put it on youtube "African bullfrog eats a fish" this fish was bought and i guarantee it came from the wild or some outside lake. You can see how fast he nails it even though i had just taken him out of his cage. a healthy pixie dont care if he is handled before he eats he just wants to eat. AWESOME!!!
there are rat breeders who never had a rat die from a disease or parasite? I would call a couple vets around you and ask if anyones pet snake that only fed on store bought rats ever came in and had parasites.
Nice video. He finished that off quick. How long is he? Still risky though feeding him wild caught.
I take it your not interested in anyone's opinion unless it's someone agreeing with you.
No one says rats etc from breeders are 100% safe but they're a hell of a lot safer than wild caught, but if you refuse to see it go ahead I just hope your lucky in what you find in the wild
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2.0 Border Collies - Jinky and Chance
3.0 Cats - Monty, Dodger and Crunchie
1.1 Royal Pythons Orlina and Sedrick
0.1 BCI Boa - Aasia
1.0 Western Hognose - Hagrid
0.1 Bearded Dragon - iiara
There is a certain amount of risk with anything you feed; be it wild-caught or captive bred. Whether or not one chooses to do a particular action depends on how they perceive the risk.
For example, some people ride motorcycles, and some people wouldn't be caught dead on one. Yet there are still others who may only ride with protective gear only, or those who choose to ride without any gear at all.
My point is: Captive-reared feeders are almost always going to be safer to feed than wild-caught. As was pointed out, freezing does little to stop most any serious pathogen... it simply initiates a dormancy state in most microbes and even in some small invertebrates (i.e. mites). The only way to truly be certain that parasites or other pathogens are eradicated is through some kind of intense chemical or high-heat treatment. We use autoclaves in the lab to prevent contamination of microbial DNA and to disinfect materials that have become contaminated (high pressure, high moist heat treatment).
A captive environment is a closed system... and I have a fairly large group of friends who are snake hobbyists that breed their own rodents in pristine conditions. It is not fair to assume that all rodents or captive bred feeders come from a grotesque background. You severely limit the types of organisms that can enter or exit your feeder breeding system in captivity.
To believe that nature does not hold as great a potential for vectoring disease shows ignorance in understanding life histories of parasitic organisms. I conduct research on parasitoids, and believe me, there are parasites and pathogens virtually everywhere in your backyard. Are these all capable of eliciting a disease in a frog? Probably not. But the odds of happening across some nasty fungus, parasites, or microbial pathogen is substantially higher when you enter the real-world where parasitic organisms are entirely dominant. Feed at your own risk, and also understand that feeders who are capable of traveling any distance can also come into contact with various chemical -cides, etc.
-Jeff Howell
ReptileBoards ( Branched from The Reptile Rooms )
"If you give, you begin to live." -DMB
Reading your answers from your other post it says that you use fish as a staple diet for your pyxie and you only dust supplements every couple of months whenever you feed crickets? Oh god....
These frogs can live up to 15-20 years in captivity with the proper care and you only had your frog for a little over a year...Are you sure you want to keep doing these things?
I'm glad Jeff replied to this because quite frankly I'm tired of repeating myself.
I've stated the risks of feeding WC prey to members frogs so many times that you can actually do a search on the forum and find not only my posts, but a few other's as well.
There is a small benefit to WC prey, but the fact of the matter is that the benefit does not outweigh the risks plain and simple.
that is very detailed and i see you take this very seriously. that is why i respect you guys! you are not in this forum for money but because you all care about something. i wish more people would be this way! I also like holding an intelligent conversation with you all because most people know almost nothing about frogs exept they ribit and jump and eat flies. so that is why i take time to share info with all of you.
The main reason why i am broadening my frogs diet it to expand him imunities. Just because there are potental plagues everywhere on this planet doesnt mean everyone will get them. Health has a big part to play against any sickness. I also believe that a diverse diet is necessary for top health. It may be a tiny risk to feed him a healthy wild animal but he is in peek condition now because i do. Plus i have started him out early in life on this stuff so he can adapt. And life always has a way of adapting to anything if its done early enough. I think you guys should stop looking at how aweful this may decome and start thinking of the potential benefits this could turn into.
Thanks Jack!!! I think some may disagree with my theories but time will tell. This is not my first rodeo with exotic species that are tricky to keep. I think everyone likes to know the outcome of someone elses ways. If Mr. Pickels gets violently ill I WILL LET EVERYONE KNOW. I am not trying to kick against the pricks, i am am saying there are no pricks in this area if done properly. Thanks again Jack!!!
You said "Oh god" are you impressed? (:
I think Mr. Pickels will redeffine age limits. 20 years is nothing for well ballanced dieted animals. Fish in a frogs diet is esential for optimum Health. everyone knows that! The oils in fish are even used for almost every living animals diet. ever take fish oil pills? It does make a difference.
It seems to me to be the other way around. I have a way that works and people are saying it cant be done. If you read more of my posts you will find logic behind my thoughts. the only downfall might be parasites or something else that MIGHT cause a problem that any trained vet can and will fix. Big deal. Vets see pet snakes all the time with parasites and other problems that came form their food source. Nothing is 100%safe NOTHING.
Nial where did your posts go? I saw you wrote a lot of info and now it's not showing up. Just a horse being hit.
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