brown water snake

Question
Hi.  I currently have a 55 gallon long set up with excellent husbandry and filtration.  Housed in the tank is a juvenile Brown Water Snake.  My problem is this, his current diet includes mosquito fish and rosey reds.  I know that the reds are bad for him because of the thiaminase.  I am unsure about the mosquito's but I will assume the same.  I want to begin to offer tadpoles, baby catfish, and maybe even small frogs but where do I get them?  I have checked every store in my area.  I have been online countless hours with no sucess. If these options are not available what can I substitute?  If nothing, then can I continue with the roseys and mesquitos?  I have a mud turtle, rosey boa, Iguana and 2 ball pythons.  All are well taken care of and very healthy.  If I cannot get the Brown on his correct diet I just assume release him rather than he die a slow death.  

Very Frustrated!
Joe McCarthy

Answer
Joe, I'm gonna be honest and say you probably know WAY MORE about this topic than I do.  Frogs and toads in my experience are sometimes available from reptile wholesalers, but not always, so if you find some buy a bunch and freeze them.  Do bandeds eat crayfish?  If so, you could probably find those.  I have used local bait stores in the past for fish with bandeds, but I never kept one long-term so I don't know if those fish were ok or not... I do know my local bait store gets baby cats in every once and a while w/ their bait fish, they just put them in a separate aquarium and sell them to people who want one for a pet.  So it is probably possible to buy them.  Google away my friend! Sorry I can't help more, BPC