# Is it okay to feed my reds, frozen rodents? (snake food)



## shocker45 (Jun 23, 2005)

my friend has a snake, and she gave me a bunch of rat pups. (baby rats) they are all frozen and bred just for feeders. so i imgaine they are healthy if snakes are meant to eat them. anyways i thawed them out. dropped 3 in my tank, my reds went phsyco. within 5 seocnds they were gone. they just mowed them down.

is it okay to feed them these? i have about a dozen left. thanks.


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

I personally wouldnt feed them. But, you CAN feed them rodents on occassion. Meaning as a treat, maybe once a month or so.


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## shocker45 (Jun 23, 2005)

yea, i dont mean on a regular basis. it would cost a fortune. these things are $1 each. and my p's easily could eat 4 every feeding.

i just meant like whenever she gives me some for free cuz her snake wont eat em.


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## shocker45 (Jun 23, 2005)

yea, i dont mean on a regular basis. it would cost a fortune. these things are $1 each. and my p's easily could eat 4 every feeding.

i just meant like whenever she gives me some for free cuz her snake wont eat em.


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

These are basically like a few day old rats right? No hair? 
Like i said earlier, feeding them soly as a treat in itself isnt bad. I believe pirahna (most fish for that matter) have a problem processing foods high in fat. Hence why mammal meat if fed, is only suggested to do so as a treat.

btw - doesnt that stuff make the tank nasty??


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## shocker45 (Jun 23, 2005)

yes they are hairless, it makes it pretty nasty. chunks floatin around everywhere. the rat pups are about an inch in diameter, and 2-3" long. my filters clean up the tank in about 30 min after a feeding tho.

ill film the next one and post it on here. its pretty cool.


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

Not something i would be interested in watching, but to each his own


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## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

I wouldn't recommend it also. But if you absolutely want to feed this, do it only very occasionaly and do it right before you clean your tank.


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## stevo (Oct 20, 2004)

i always give mine pinkies, they love em - there a great addition to any ps diet! i vary what i give them as much as i can - as long as your not giving them to your p all the time which your probly not, then i think there good part of your ps diet!


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

stevo said:


> i always give mine pinkies, they love em - there a great addition to any ps diet! i vary what i give them as much as i can - as long as your not giving them to your p all the time which your probly not, then i think there good part of your ps diet!


I disagree with you. While it is important to vary your fishs diet, mammal meat is not something that is a 'good part of their diet'. If you check it out, pirahna do not process the high fats found in mammals. IMO not a good part of their diet. This is basically feed on rare ocassion as a treat to the owner.


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

bad idea ur p's willl get cancer

jk
ya its perfectly fine just dont do it often id say 2 a month would be alright. Make a vid man









Im planning to do a mouse feeding on my birthday.



Ex0dus said:


> i always give mine pinkies, they love em - there a great addition to any ps diet! i vary what i give them as much as i can - as long as your not giving them to your p all the time which your probly not, then i think there good part of your ps diet!


I disagree with you. While it is important to vary your fishs diet, mammal meat is not something that is a 'good part of their diet'. If you check it out, pirahna do not process the high fats found in mammals. IMO not a good part of their diet. This is basically feed on rare ocassion as a treat to the owner.
[/quote]
I diasgree with u, what your aying really isnt making alot of sense to me. Ur saying its important to a fish's diet but not saying its good for them. I undertsand thier fat content but dont all animals have fat?
But i do agree with what your saying about a treat yes they should be treats not staple diet.









and stevo pinkies are great they dont leave a big mess for us to clean up after.


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## shocker45 (Jun 23, 2005)

yea, ill do them very rarely. and next time i feed them some ill make a video. ill wait a little while tho. thanks guys


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

shocker45 said:


> yea, ill do them very rarely. and next time i feed them some ill make a video. ill wait a little while tho. thanks guys


awsome









u got any pics of your reds?


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## shocker45 (Jun 23, 2005)

This one is a couple weeks old. there are around the 5" mark


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

aswome p's look veyr healthy


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## Atlanta Braves Baby! (Mar 12, 2003)

Yes it is prefectly fine to feed your Ps rat pups. It is a good treat to there everyday diet.


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## tweekie (Nov 3, 2004)

ive said this before but the best way to describe feeding them pinkies/rat pups is that they the fish equilavent of Big Macs..... once in a while they arent bad but if you ate a big mac every day it would start to f**k you up.


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## Whall Banner (Nov 25, 2004)

Putting rodents in your tank will seriously mess up your water. Especially in a red belly tank because reds are extremely messy feeders.


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

tweekie said:


> Putting rodents in your tank will seriously mess up your water. Especially in a red belly tank because reds are extremely messy feeders.


u cant prove that. I belive every p is a messy eater


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

rocker said:


> i always give mine pinkies, they love em - there a great addition to any ps diet! i vary what i give them as much as i can - as long as your not giving them to your p all the time which your probly not, then i think there good part of your ps diet!


I disagree with you. While it is important to vary your fishs diet, mammal meat is not something that is a 'good part of their diet'. If you check it out, pirahna do not process the high fats found in mammals. IMO not a good part of their diet. This is basically feed on rare ocassion as a treat to the owner.
[/quote]
I diasgree with u, what your aying really isnt making alot of sense to me. Ur saying its important to a fish's diet but not saying its good for them. I undertsand thier fat content but dont all animals have fat?
But i do agree with what your saying about a treat yes they should be treats not staple diet.









and stevo pinkies are great they dont leave a big mess for us to clean up after.
[/quote]

What exactly isnt making sense? A varied diet is essential for proper nutrients and what not. Yes all animals have some fat content, mammals have MUCH MUCH higher fat content that say shrimp or a talapia filet. If pirahna dont process fat well, how would feeding them mammals benefit them at all??


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

p's eat mammal meat in the wild


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## shocker45 (Jun 23, 2005)

exactly. and regardless. i dont feed them to them every day, its like once in a blue moon. i dont know why so many of you are getting angry. you midaswell get mad at urself because you probabaly eat fast food once a week. its just as bad if not worse than giving p's a mouse.


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

shocker45 said:


> exactly. and regardless. i dont feed them to them every day, its like once in a blue moon. i dont know why so many of you are getting angry. you midaswell get mad at urself because you probabaly eat fast food once a week. its just as bad if not worse than giving p's a mouse.


im not getting mad at all. They are your fish to do with as you please. You asked a question about the nutritional values of rats and i gave you my opinion on the matter.


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

I fed mine pinkies and fuzzy mice every once in awhile and they loved it!


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## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

jiggy said:


> p's eat mammal meat in the wild


Yes, but it only makes up a very very small part of their natural diet.

Besides that, because they eat it in the wild, it doesn't mean it's good for them or that there aren't better options. In the wild eating mammal meat is still better than not eating at all. But fish meat would be better.

Also keep in mind that the mess that is caused by feeding rodents can influence the quality of your water. This is not the case in a river.


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## Uncle Rico (Sep 4, 2005)

If you restrict the feeding of the pinkie mice to only just before doing a water change you will solve both problems. You will be able to siphon all the crap from the bottom (might as well turn off your filters so you can vaccuum everything up) while you do the water change and this will also put a limit on the amount they get (although it would be best to feed them this every other water change at the most since you probably only want to feed a couple per month or so)


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## StuartDanger (Aug 7, 2003)

i have been feeding my rhom them recently, i have a few that are 3/4 of an inch long, and he gobbles them up in one bite....

but i'm gonna start feeding him on beefheart and my own recipe i think now


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## Donq8 (Oct 16, 2005)

Intresting


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