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Cazador · 01-22-2007, 06:07 PM

Nice job Tore,

With one foot dangling over the side of the cliff, I'll say that the concentration of thiaminase is more important than its mere presence. I wouldn't recommend this but one might, for example, feed a goldfish once a month or even a couple times a month as long as they're also fed other types of fish lacking thiaminase or they're given a B1 supplement. Doing this, though, is flirting with danger because it's hard to know the thiaminase:B1 ratio within the snake at any given time. That's why it's safest just to avoid giving them fish with thiaminase. It MAY end up killing them, but at lower concentrations, it might just end up retarding their growth, impairing their nervous system, making them lethargic, or impairing their reproductive capacity.

Red worms (AKA "red wigglers") are also smaller than night crawlers and they're much less active. You could keep a colony of red worms in a flower pot, and they wouldn't crawl out of the pot. That's one reason they're great for composting... because they're unable to leave the locality where they're placed. Night crawlers, on the other hand, are able to crawl out of your hand, across your driveway, and into the neighbor's yard.

01-22-2007, 06:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
Cazador Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Alaska, USA Posts: 1,608 Country:	Re: Thiaminase & red worms Nice job Tore, With one foot dangling over the side of the cliff, I'll say that the concentration of thiaminase is more important than its mere presence. I wouldn't recommend this but one might, for example, feed a goldfish once a month or even a couple times a month as long as they're also fed other types of fish lacking thiaminase or they're given a B1 supplement. Doing this, though, is flirting with danger because it's hard to know the thiaminase:B1 ratio within the snake at any given time. That's why it's safest just to avoid giving them fish with thiaminase. It MAY end up killing them, but at lower concentrations, it might just end up retarding their growth, impairing their nervous system, making them lethargic, or impairing their reproductive capacity. Red worms (AKA "red wigglers") are also smaller than night crawlers and they're much less active. You could keep a colony of red worms in a flower pot, and they wouldn't crawl out of the pot. That's one reason they're great for composting... because they're unable to leave the locality where they're placed. Night crawlers, on the other hand, are able to crawl out of your hand, across your driveway, and into the neighbor's yard.