Feeding fish to snakes question?

I've heard from a few guys to never feed live fish to your snakes because they could carry worms or parasites and it's a quick way to kill the snake. I just got some garters and didn't know the best way to go about this? Feed frozen/thawed fish, live fish, a certain kind of fish, human consumption fish.

Also if human consumption fish, does it matter if fresh or salt water species of fish? Like a garter isn't gonna obviously eat tuna in the wild. (An no I wouldn't give my garter a good fish like tuna to eat, it's just an example)

I am no expert but I used to feed my Garters on live goldfish and saw no ill effects.
Re parasites, I suppose it would depend on the source of the fish.

I fed my garter live guppies, worms and goldfish and it's been fine for 3 years now. It mostly eats frozen adult mice now, but sometimes I feed goldfish to mix it up.

Originally Posted by Showbird72

I've heard from a few guys to never feed live fish to your snakes because they could carry worms or parasites and it's a quick way to kill the snake. I just got some garters and didn't know the best way to go about this? Feed frozen/thawed fish, live fish, a certain kind of fish, human consumption fish.

Also if human consumption fish, does it matter if fresh or salt water species of fish? Like a garter isn't gonna obviously eat tuna in the wild. (An no I wouldn't give my garter a good fish like tuna to eat, it's just an example)

It's fish that contain thiaminase that could possibly pose a problem down the road.

Originally Posted by JButera

It's fish that contain thiaminase that could possibly pose a problem down the road.

On that topic I found this...

http://www.gartersnake.info/articles...thiaminase.php

Quoted from that article:

Like every other animal, snakes need thiamin. But snakes that eat fish are at a higher risk of thiamin deficiency because quite a few fish species contain thiaminase. If a snake’s diet is mostly or completely made up of fish that contain thiaminase, that snake is going to develop a thiamin deficiency.

Since garter snakes are often fed fish in captivity — and it’s frequently the same kind of fish over and over again — they often develop thiamin deficiencies. (So do water snakes.)

The following fish have been reported to contain thiaminase:

Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)
Anchovy, Broad-striped (Anchoa hepsetus)
Anchovy, Californian (Engraulis mordax)
Anchovy, Goldspotted Grenadier (Coilia dussumieri)
Barb, Olive (Puntius sarana)
Bass, White (Morone chrysops)
Bonefish (Albula vulpes)
Bowfin (Amia calva)
Bream (Abramis brama)
Buffalo, Bigmouth (Ictiobus cyprinellus)
Burbot (Lota lota)
Butterfish, American (Peprilus triacanthus)
Carp, Common (Cyprinus carpio)
Catfish, Black Bullhead (Amieurus melas)
Catfish, Brown Bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus)
Catfish, Channel (Ictalurus punctatus)
Cod, Black (species undetermined)
Dolphinfish, Common (Coryphaena hippurus)
Flagtail, Hawaiian (Kuhlia sandvicensis)
Goatfish, Manybar (Parupeneus multifasciatus)
Goatfish, Red Sea (Mulloidichthys auriflamma)
Goatfish, Yellowstripe (Mulloidichthys samoensis)
Goldfish (Carassius auratus)
Herring, Atlantic (Clupea harrengus)
Jobfish, Crimson (Pristipomoides filamentosus)
Jobfish, Green (Aprion virescens)
Lamprey, Sea (Petromyzon marinus)
Loach, Weatherfish (Misgurnus)
Mackerel, Chub (Scomber japonicus)
Menhaden, Atlantic (Brevoortia tyrannus)
Menhaden, Gulf (Brevoortia patronus)
Milkfish (Chanos chanos)
Minnow, Fathead (“Rosy Red”) (Pimephales promelas)
Moray Eel, Southern Ocellated (Gymnothorax ocellatus)
Mullet, Flathead Mugil cephalus)
Parrot, Regal (Scarus dubius)
Queenfish, Doublespotted (Scomberoides lysan)
Sardine, Razorbelly (Harengula jaguana)
Sauger (Harengula jaguana)
Scad, Bigeye (Selar crumenophthalmus)
Sculpin, Fourhorn (Triglopsis quadricornis)
Shad, Gizzard (Dorosoma cepedianum)
Shiner, Emerald (Notropis atherinoides)
Shiner, Spottail (Notropis hudsonius)
Smelt, Rainbow (Osmerus mordax)
Snapper, Ruby (Etelis carbunculus)
Stoneroller, Central (Campostoma anomalum)
Sucker, White (Catostomus commersonii)
Swordfish (Xiphias gladius)
Threadfin, Sixfinger (Polydactylus sexfilis)
Trevally, Giant (Caranx ignobilis)
Tuna, Skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis)
Tuna, Yellowfin (Neothunnus macropterus)
Whitefish, Lake (Coregonus clupeaformis)
Whitefish, Round (Prosopium cylindraceum)

Also this:

Feeder guppies and platies, though not mentioned above, are generally considered safe from a thiaminase perspective (though, like all live fish, hardly risk-free in terms of internal parasites). These are widely available in pet stores.

Is it true that ocean fish are safe and freshwater fish are not safe?

No. There are freshwater fish that have thiaminase and freshwater fish that don’t, and there are oceangoing fish that have thiaminase and oceangoing fish that don’t. You can’t generalize it that way.


So I suppose the overall advice is to ring the changes, and feed fish along with other things.

As has been pointed out, thiaminase is the bigger problem versus parasites, and most feeder fish contain it. When my garters were on worms I would supplement with a fish-scented mouse tail from a f/t feeder for one of my king snakes; I could make the tail act enough like a "worm" the garters would take it.

I also used fish scent to switch them over to mouse pinkies once they were big enough.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume...thiaminase.htm If you scroll down you'll see a list of thiaminase-free fish.

F/t Silversides, salmon and tilapia are good choices if you want to add fish to a varied diet but fish shouldn't be used as a staple diet. It's best when fed with nightcrawlers, earthworms and rodents.

I have snakes that I've been feeding Sally's F/t silversides to along with the occasional f/t alaskan WC salmon for about a year, no issues so far even though I very occasionally give a few rosy reds. On the other hand, I had a ratsnake mysteriously die that had recently eaten several pet shop guppies. Whether or not the fish had anything to do with its death, I have no idea, it had actually eaten a small mouse the day before it died and the fish a day or so before that so who knows. Other than the f/t silversides, I am skeptical of live fish but do not have any proof either.