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frozen vs live

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I was just wondering if the nutrients and stuff that a live would offer still be in a frozen. How long do the companies that sell frozen keep the frozen feeders actually frozen before they are sold?
 
As far as I can tell, right now frozen comppanies are barely keeping up with demand, if they can keep up at all. My usual supplier is _always_ out of nearly all sizes of mice unless I get my order in at the first of the month.

There is a discussion on VMS Herp (Google it) about live vs frozen which discusses nutritional value.

That being said, I pretty much never eat something that has not been frozen, and I am not wasting away...
 
Nanci, you crack me up! Agree with you. There may be some loss of nutrients but its safer than having an eye ripped out. You can always do fresh kill. Spinal seperation, gas or the thump method and then feed them right away if your concerned about the loss. Personally I have to watch a few of mine's intake because they are looking more sausage like than snake like.
 
cool thanks for the replies! My baby is on hold for me until the rest o fmy set up gets to me in the mail. Can't wait !!
 
Yeah, some vitamins are lessened in the freezing process but it's not enough to negatively effect your snake.
 
Live would be better, but I don't recommend it because if your snake is old enough to eat hoppers then a live hopper would chew your snake up and maybe take off its reproductive parts in the tail so I would feed it frozen. Frozen mice doesn't give as much nutrients as live because frozen mice are not as fresh as live mice, but frozen mice are much much safer to feed to your snake.
 
Day old pinkies are only day old for one day. Think about that for a minute. It is hard to inventory day old pinkies.

I have been living on frozen burritos for 15 years and am now under 300 pounds, I am concerned.
 
Day old pinkies are only day old for one day. Think about that for a minute. It is hard to inventory day old pinkies.

I have been living on frozen burritos for 15 years and am now under 300 pounds, I am concerned.

Hey Leew,

I have been living on frozen burritos for 25 years and am now under 400 pounds. So frozen food must have good nutrients.

Love the Fatman
 
Yeah, some vitamins are lessened in the freezing process but it's not enough to negatively effect your snake.

Exactly. I want to tell everyone who says on BP.net that feeding frozen is bad for the snake that they're an absolute idiot because of that. YEAH! Food isn't AS nutritious as it is when you kill it yourself, but it's not enough to matter! If I eat 1/4 of a pound of frozen broccoli that's been in Walmart for a month, I'm on the pot all the next day because of fiber overload. If I eat 1/4 of a pound of broccoli that's a week old from the farmer's market, I'm on the pot all the next day because of fiber overload.

Not the prettiest of pictures, but you get the idea. Unless it's been in the freezer for a year, I doubt nutrients of any food is significantly diminished. And if it's been in the freezer for a year, no matter how cold or warm it was in there, I'm throwing that out!


Okay, done whining.
 
Something often quoted by popular experts in the UK, is that frozen peas have more nutrients than fresh peas. They're frozen so soon after picking, that their nutrient content is preserved immediately. Fresh peas deteriorate from the moment they're picked, to the point that by the the time they reach the consumer, they actually have fewer nutrients than their frozen compatriots.

Not quite the same as the live/frozen debate, but we may have to get used to the idea that frozen isn't automatically worse for us than fresh. Even tinned veg is now being pushed here, as so few people are eating the "right" amount of any type of veg. Principle being that something is better than nothing.
 
That's definitely another thing. Fruits and veggies sort of start decomposing as soon as they are detached from the vine/tree/root/whatever. People don't mind that, but it explains why frozen/canned is better than fresh.

With meat, either you ship it never quickly, or you get rotting/rancid meat. I don't think that's good for anyone or most animals, so canned and frozen is best (well, not so much CANNED meat, but probably frozen or well fridged).
 
I'd like to add here that it depends on the species of snake and what they eat. Not exactly on topic, but I don't think I'm too far off :)
If you have any fish-eaters the frozen part apparantly can matter.
I recently added a Natrix to my collection, (collegues mother found it in her garage) and when I inquired about the food I was told from different sources that I should be carefull should I only feed frozen fish, as the snake can get problems with vitamin deficiency (I believe it was B).
Not a problem her yet as he only eats live, but should I succeed in changing that, I'll have to add the vitamin to his food.

Apparantly this is not an issue with corns and other mouse/rat/... -eaters. Just thought I'd mention it as people are comparing it with humans (seems strange to me to compare a mammal to a reptile foodwise...?)
 
I buy all my feeders live then kill/freeze, that I know how long they've been frozen(and haven't been re-frozen).
I only buy enough to last 1 month.
 
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