(Frozen) Feeder lizards?

[Pyxiefan001]

I searched first and I couldn't find anything quite like this covered in detail here. It has come to my attention that lllreptile (great company IMO) sells anoles and house geckos as feeders. They are sold by the boxload and live. But I read, while searching the matter elsewhere on the web, on a snake/herp forum that someone used to use them as food for certain snakes, especially ones that that were stubborn about feeding at first. He would place them once he got them, live, in the fridge and leave there for 6+ hours, at which point they'd all die. Anoles especially die quickly once chilled. Then he'd place em in the freezer.

Obviously the lizards are collected live which there's a good chance they'd be harboring parasites. But if frozen, would or wouldn't that problem be eliminated? I know that a lizard would be a nutritionally better treat than any mouse, so with that in mind how often could I feed them to my adult pyxie? For long should I thaw them after they've been frozen?

[Bombina Bob]

Usually freezing the lizards would kill most parasites but some would go into a "Hibernation mode".
Usually you can scent your food with any sort of lizard (frozen or live) Ive never had to scent but i
know people who use this technique. For prey items, try Roaches.

they are much easier and dont smell, they keep nutrients in their bodies longer and breed like crazy. if
you are worried about them escaping, they can only thrive in temps around 78-82 degrees (if you live
in a hotter area, secure the feeder box!) i find that they are much cheaper than feeding anoles. if you
are feeding anoles to an adult pixie, feed as many as he will eat in four to five minutes (most likely a lot
of lizards!) once or twice a week, with roaches, the same applies.

[demon amphibians]

Usually freezing the lizards would kill most parasites but some would go into a "Hibernation mode".
Usually you can scent your food with any sort of lizard (frozen or live) Ive never had to scent but i
know people who use this technique. For prey items, try Roaches.

they are much easier and dont smell, they keep nutrients in their bodies longer and breed like crazy. if
you are worried about them escaping, they can only thrive in temps around 78-82 degrees (if you live
in a hotter area, secure the feeder box!) i find that they are much cheaper than feeding anoles. if you
are feeding anoles to an adult pixie, feed as many as he will eat in four to five minutes (most likely a lot
of lizards!) once or twice a week, with roaches, the same applies.

I agree with Ryan no need to freeze the anoles most likely they are CB. And they are an excellent feeder you can even staple. Roaches are cheaper and easy to breed and can be pretty sizable. But if you have the lizards feed them off. Your frogs will love them.

[Pyxiefan001]

Thanks for the answers, but for the record I wasn't talking about "scenting" anything. I already know my pyxie wouldn't care if any food was alive or dead. She'd eat it no problem. And I certainly have no plans of breeding the lizards, and do in fact, have my own Dubia colony. I was just considering adding a bit more variety to Frog's diet, in addition to the roaches and nightcrawlers she gets. But I wanted to make sure if I could feed them as regularly as insects, or if they would've been better as occasional treats. I knew they would be nutritionally much better than mice in any case.

Looking again at lllreptile's website, they don't specify if the feeder lizards (anoles and house geckos) they sell are CB or wild caught. I don't know of course, but I would suspect wild. If that's the case then I'd be nervous about feeding them off.

[CJ PELCHER]

Just call them...they have those answers....

[Pyxiefan001]

I sent them an email a day ago, and here's the reply I got:

"The feeder lizards are not captive bred. It is always possible that they have some type of parasite, but typically snakes and frogs that ingest lizards naturally are not prone to parasite transference when they eat feeders."

So, does that mean I should reframe from them? Unless of course I freeze them (more for convience sake; like I'm gonna house a dozen or so live lizards lol no thanks)

[CJ PELCHER]

I would go for it... I wouldn't staple it..but i would use as a treat. I dont see it causing any short term or long term damage to your frog.... even captive bred animals are prone to parasites and disease ...its all in the husbandry of the sales person / breeder. GOOD LUCK! =)