# Frozen or Live Pinkies?



## bhimpfen (Aug 11, 2007)

I just got a snake, and I thought live was the best, because it gives them calcium (or whatever) and hunting.

However I see lots of posts and stores selling frozen pinkines.

Also, is there any prep if I should use a live pinkie, gut loading?

My snake is a snow corn and is a baby.


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## Tops (Apr 26, 2007)

Use frozen thawed. 
Your better off with frozen because it can be hard to get them onto it later if they are used to live all the time.
Also you dont want to have to keep paying out for adult mice in a few years when he/she is bigger.


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

just buy frozen pinkies, much less hassle kinder and in the long run much better.


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

bhimpfen said:


> I just got a snake, and I thought live was the best, because it gives them calcium (or whatever) and hunting.


A dead, frozen/thawed mouse contains exactly the same amount of calcium as a live one does.

Hunting... well, when the mouse is a pinky, it can't actually do any harm to your snake. But a live adult mouse can hurt or even kill your snake if you're unlucky - and your snake won't be eating pinkies forever.

I would strongly suggest feeding frozen/thawed unless the snake won't eat anything else (and then only giving live with a view to converting them to f/t) ... switching them is awkward but can be done.

If you want to give your snake the same exercise as they would get 'hunting' a live pinky, see if it'll chase the frozen/thawed one around its house if you dangle it on tweezers. If it will strike and coil, tug gently on the mouse so your snake thinks it's alive and trying to escape. Much safer than having a live mouse in there - and just as fun to watch. 

That said, many baby corns in my experience just want you to leave the mouse for them so they can eat it later - as they get older they're more likely to try to strike feed.


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## bhimpfen (Aug 11, 2007)

Do I just leave the frozen one inside the tank ontop of the vibrating dish or do I unthawe it first?


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

For the love of little pickles thaw it first.

It should be completely unfrozen and ideally slightly warm - and don't bother with a vibrating dish. The sound and feel of the vibration will PROBABLY put your snake off and you'll wind up with rotten pinky instead of eaten pinky.

If you want the food to move, use a pair of tweezers to move it.


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## powderpuff_girl (Mar 5, 2007)

frozen!!!!!!!
is it a non eater?
and yes please thaw it first for goodness sake


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## bhimpfen (Aug 11, 2007)

powderpuff_girl said:


> frozen!!!!!!!
> is it a non eater?
> and yes please thaw it first for goodness sake


Never said it wasnt a non-eater. It ate every week on different days, last time was Wednesday.

Correction - I knew it shouldnt be ice cold, but didnt know to what point, as everyone keeps saying freezed.


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

That's the reason I say "frozen/thawed".

The way I thaw my pinkies is to put them into a mug with hot water from the tap - once they're soft clear through and feel warm when you hold them in your hand for a few minutes, they're warm enough to give to your snake.

Don't use boiling water - it'll partially cook the pink, and make it more likely that the pinkie will burst. Which is disgusting.


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## bhimpfen (Aug 11, 2007)

I awesome warm "tap" water to unthawe won't be harmful?

There is a reptile store across the street so I can get pinkies frozen (or live) at anytime. Or is there a reason to buy before the feed?


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

I've never had any problems using hot water straight from the tap for thawing. I suppose if you were concerned about the quality of your water you could boil and cool bottled water to just-hand-hot, but I don't go quite that far personally.

I do keep a stock of frozen food just in case things don't go as planned - if the shop runs out, if my mouse and rat colonies don't produce or eat a litter... but if you're happy buying just before a feed and you're sure your local shop will have a regular supply then there's no reason to keep 'em in stock.

I keep my frozen stock topped up simply because:

1. My local shop is still about an hour away by bus/walking and I don't own a car.
2. I don't really like paying three times as much at my local shop as I do when I place a bulk order online - so I order one big order every so often instead. But then I DO have over twenty snakes to feed!


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## bhimpfen (Aug 11, 2007)

Ssthisto said:


> I've never had any problems using hot water straight from the tap for thawing. I suppose if you were concerned about the quality of your water you could boil and cool bottled water to just-hand-hot, but I don't go quite that far personally.
> 
> I do keep a stock of frozen food just in case things don't go as planned - if the shop runs out, if my mouse and rat colonies don't produce or eat a litter... but if you're happy buying just before a feed and you're sure your local shop will have a regular supply then there's no reason to keep 'em in stock.
> 
> ...


Ok. The shop across the street is $1.10 each. There are many other stores around by car or simply walking like 2 PetSmart, 2 PJs, and Menagerie (being farest 30-40 mins by car).


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Whoo boy are they charging a lot for pinkies! By comparison I pay £0.14 each - which works out to around $0.30 per pinkie. 

You MIGHT want to consider ordering 'em online!


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## bhimpfen (Aug 11, 2007)

I have not seen them available to order online; seen insects but not rodents. Do you have a link, perhaps?


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

bhimpfen said:


> I have not seen them available to order online; seen insects but not rodents. Do you have a link, perhaps?


Several companies do 'em in the States (since you mentioned paying in dollars  )

The ones I know of offhand are Rodent Pro, Big Cheese and the Mouse Factory. 

You probably wouldn't want to order from the one I use (Simon's Rodents) since I'm sure the transit time would leave you with some pretty nasty rotten munge!


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## bhimpfen (Aug 11, 2007)

Thanks a lot. I'll take a look.

I found Canadian Feeders - Your One Stop Feeder Shop!
$0.70 if you order 100, blah.


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