Feeding fish mice?

[daddyjohn86]

Ok so I have looked through allot of these threads and no one recomends feeding mice to pirahnas, but no one gives a good reason....
Reasons ive heard

1. some people say they are too big for fish that swallow them whole... my pirahnas rip them up so no problem there.

2. "you shouldnt feed pirahnas gold fish and mice" ok goldfish i understand they are not nutiritious source of food for them, and they can have parasites, but i breed my mice so no parasites problem, and as for nutrition value, most if not all snake kept in the house eat only or mostly mice so why would they not be good enough for my pirahnas?

I have 8 red belly pirahnas about four inches long, i feed them two frozen prawns each night and 2-3 live pinkyks a night and i give them 5-10 goldfish a week (once they have been quarinteened for a week), and occasionally chunks of cucumber and salmon

 

[flowerpower]

Welcome to MFK!
If you can feed your fish a more nutritious diet for less $........
Oh, and fair warning: You better post up some pictures before you get labeled a fraud.
I've seen it happen before and it's ugly.
Not that I'm calling you a troll, or a bs artist, or a bored teenager who just wants to stir things up but you seem to know all the right buttons to push and it's only your first post.
Just saying.

 

[ballinouttacntrol]

most people won't have a problem with pinkies, it's the fur that's an issue. it's tough for fish to digest. i'd recommend getting a better source of feeders then goldfish, otherwise your feeding regiments is fine

 

[daddyjohn86]

thank you for the quick replies let me try to figure out how to get some pics on here

 

[aclockworkorange]

Throwing it out there, "quarantine for a week" isn't gonna do anything for preventing disease in feeder goldfish transfering to your RBPs... They could still very easily have parasites or other disease after a week.

 

[daddyjohn86]

Some Pics for the none believers

[/IMG]

 

[daddyjohn86]

Welcome to MFK!
If you can feed your fish a more nutritious diet for less $........
Oh, and fair warning: You better post up some pictures before you get labeled a fraud.
I've seen it happen before and it's ugly.
Not that I'm calling you a troll, or a bs artist, or a bored teenager who just wants to stir things up but you seem to know all the right buttons to push and it's only your first post.
Just saying.

I posted some pics just for you bud, ive read allot of articles and it has helped out a bunch with my keeping as im pretty new, but this is the first question i couldnt find a anwser for, that is why this is my first post,

 

[Keasarge]

I feed my jardini and jaguar pinkies but when they get hair they go to the pet shop! Some people don't agree with it others over do it and feed there fish nothing but mice shrug healthy balance and diet is healthy fish!
Nice setup you have

 

[daddyjohn86]

Throwing it out there, "quarantine for a week" isn't gonna do anything for preventing disease in feeder goldfish transfering to your RBPs... They could still very easily have parasites or other disease after a week.

most people won't have a problem with pinkies, it's the fur that's an issue. it's tough for fish to digest. i'd recommend getting a better source of feeders then goldfish, otherwise your feeding regiments is fine

Ok, i know its a risk what do you recomend on how long i should quarantine before feeding them to my rbps? And what would be a different fish that would be resonably priced it seems like the only option from the local pet stores, and i just love to watch them chase the fish around.

O and i forgot to mention i also feed them the live big night crawlers for bait, bought at walmart, its just not as cool as goldfish..

 

[flowerpower]

I didn't realize that you bred the mice for your snakes. Otherwise, 2-3 live pinkies per night would be insanely expensive. How many do you breed to have enough mice for your snakes and your rbp's? That's gotta be a lot of mice!
I'm no expert on piranha but, like with any animal in captivity, I'd do my best to figure out what their diet in the wild consists of and base what I feed on that. If rodent meat tops the menu then your golden. Otherwise I'd limit the amount of mice and feed something else that is more suitable. It also may be worth figuring out how they feed. Do the hunt and strike live prey or are they opportunistic feeders who scavenge on newly dead carcasses? Feeding freshly killed mice (or rats, which have more nutritional value than mice) rather than live ones may be more natural for your fish (it's definitely more humane for the mouse).
You could also check the piranha section and read the stickies. There's probably loads of info there.