Rabbits as main staple?

[Sauzo]

So I fed my girl her first rabbit today. It was a F/T weaned rabbit and she went absolutely bonkers for it. She slammed it with gusto and actually hissed a little and covered it up when I went to pick aspen off it which she never does with her rats. So i'm guessing she really loved that rabbit lol. My question is does anyone use rabbits as the main staple part of the diet? And have you noticed any changes? I know rabbits are leaner and pack more into them than rats. I usually feed my gal a medium rat every 2-3 weeks but since she loves rabbits, I was thinking of doing a weaned rabbit every 3-4 weeks. She is a little on the chunky side so that's kind of why i'm thinking rabbits being leaner and extending out the feeding by a week might get her a little in shape along with her outside exercise time. Just not sure if weaned rabbit as the main staple is good. Also where i'm at the rabbits are about half the price of rats so it would be a win win on my end.

[bcr229]

If she'll take rabbits then keep her on them, one every 3-4 weeks with exercise should slowly melt the fat off of her.

Remember to feed rabbits based on their weight rather than having the prey be the thickness of the snake. As you noted rabbit is a very lean meal, with minimal fat, lots of muscle, and larger bones than rats. So, a rabbit with the same girth as a rat can weigh a good bit more because muscle and bone are more dense than fat.

I feed rabbits to my boas (BCI's, BRB's, and Dum's), and my supplier has rabbit kits that my king snakes and adult savu python love.

[Gio]

If she'll take rabbits then keep her on them, one every 3-4 weeks with exercise should slowly melt the fat off of her.

Remember to feed rabbits based on their weight rather than having the prey be the thickness of the snake. As you noted rabbit is a very lean meal, with minimal fat, lots of muscle, and larger bones than rats. So, a rabbit with the same girth as a rat can weigh a good bit more because muscle and bone are more dense than fat.

I feed rabbits to my boas (BCI's, BRB's, and Dum's), and my supplier has rabbit kits that my king snakes and adult savu python love.

I agree, and WOW I'd love to see some photos of a BRB that eats rabbits, I'll bet it looks great.

Sauzo,

Is your Colombian produced by Gus Rentfro? I always think you have a littermate female, or one from another litter closely related.

I feed my guy 1 pound rabbits now and then. I also mix quail, large rats, medium rats and even a small rat depending on what he's eaten before.



I use a feast of famine type schedule and have not fed my guy since Thanksgiving. I now use a seasonal temp drop in the winter months. He goes 6 feet long and is lean.

I imagine once I increase light cycles and gradually warm temps up his first meal will be a rabbit. Maybe mid to late March or early April.

I'll see how is activity level picks up and go from there.

One thing about rabbits is they can look huge, but when thawed, they are really long and the fur makes them look big.

I did see improvement in muscle tone and growth after feeding 2 this past year.

As stated, leaner, more bone and more muscle.

Just give your girl time to clean out. I see nothing wrong with a rabbit every 4 weeks and then maybe switch to a quail or smaller rat for variety.

[Sauzo]

Nah, shes not from Gus Rentfro. Not sure who produced her actually. She's just my mutt. I do have a Red Group/Burke True Lipstick line sunglow poss super sunglow girl though. But anyways, I went ahead and measured her and seems she is just shy of 6'. Forgot the weigh the dang rabbit though lol. She was ready to beat down the door of the cage so I just fed it to her.

The rabbit was about as thick as a large rat. it was pretty meaty but she powered that thing down in a matter or a couple mins lol. Then she kept "sniffing" the area where the rabbit was lol.

She is weird though, i'm not really sure that she is THAT overweight. She has the starting of the boa hips but doesn't really look that bad. I need to get a dang camera lol.

If I tried the feast or famine idea, my girl would break down the door and choke me hahaha. But yeah guess i'll stick to rabbits for awhile and see how it works. I'll have to get a weight at the next one. I just went by the thickness and like I said, she powered it down as fast if not faster than she powers down rats lol.

Now i'll have to actually remember feeding days as my BP gets feed every 2 weeks and my sunglow gets fed every 2-3 weeks and now i'm going to feed the Colombian every 3-4 weeks. I'll have to use post it notes on the cages

[JoshSloane]

Never fed rabbits before, but everyone I talk to about boas seem to think it is definitely good for them once big enough.

[Reinz]

I can't afford the prices of rabbits on the internet! Anywhere from 2.5-5 times the price of jumbo rats.

I haven't been able to locate a local source. Neither can the other snake keepers and breeders.

[Sauzo]

Guess I lucked out. I got 2 local sources for rabbits. The reptile shop by me stocks them now in all sizes and the medium rat size (weaned rabbit) is $4.99 which is almost half what I was paying for live large rats. Another place south of me but about a 45 min drive has rabbits for $1.99. Think they got chicks now too.

[Gio]

Not sure if this is in your ball park or not.
https://www.laynelabs.com/other-feed...60dxoCcHPw_wcB


I don't feed rabbits throughout the year so the expense is not too bad, although my 2.5 year old coastal will take a 1 pound rabbit now too. I also have a local source which is handy when I want to grab a rabbit or two and then skip using them for a while.

Some would never feed a male BC rabbits, but I don't keep to one prey source, size or have a set schedule.

I use avian prey, rats, rabbits and have used chicks as well.

But back to rabbits, just get a few and don't worry about feeding them (rabbits) throughout the year.

Boas do need some down time, and if you cool your temps and cut back on daylight during the winter months, they will naturally adjust to those conditions and not require as much food.

I will let you know what the next rabbit meal does this spring. I will probably start my first two feeds of the year with rabbits and then back things down for the next two feeds.

Oh, and I think I figured it out,,, you and I have the same Pro-Line cage LOL!

I get mixed up and know there is another guy on R/I that has a Rentfro Colombian.

[Sauzo]

Lol yeah I got the same cage. Think I've narrowed down my next 2 though. Gonna go with a couple AP T13s and then :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: my BP into the ProLine. And yeah, I've fed my girl throughout winter for the past 3 years. I don't do any kind of cooldown or anything, I just keep at the 90 hotspot with 80-82 cool side. But I also handle and interact with all my girls a lot. At least once a day when I change their water, I will pet their head or rub their body if I don't have time to get them out and let them sit on me or crawl around the furniture. That's also why I don't do much of the naturalistic caging. I just give them 2-3" of aspen with a water bowl and a couple hides which they don't even really use except to shove around and sit on top of haha.

As for the rabbits, yeah I just buy em as I need em since I make runs up to the reptile shop anyways as I need to get my beardie her hornworms and kingworms as well picking up a rat or 2 for my BP and sunglow. I feed only fresh prekill, this was the first frozen I have fed since I got my girl. Funny thing is they all were trained on F/T as babies even the BP but I switched them all to fresh prekills. I view it like TV dinners(frozen) vs home cooked(fresh prekill). But that's just me lol. Now the rabbits are F/T but I will still toss her a fresh killed rat here and there.

And dang, a 2.5 year old coastal on rabbits. My little sunglow will be 2 years old next month and she is still on small rats lol. Its probably going to be another 1-1.5 years before I get her on rabbits as well.

Oh and yeah I checked out LayneLabs but I got a local feeder store called Rodent Plus about 45 mins from me and they do all the stuff except quails so if I decide to stock up, I can just put my order in and set it for a pickup and just drive down there on a weekend. And i'm sure if I looked around locally with the reptile clubs, I could find someone who does quails but meh hehe.

[distaff]

I can't afford the prices of rabbits on the internet! Anywhere from 2.5-5 times the price of jumbo rats.

I haven't been able to locate a local source. Neither can the other snake keepers and breeders.

Well if you lived near me, you could just have some.
I am up to my knees in bunnies of all sizes (got WAY behind on the butchering).

I am sure there are sources near you. Rabbit keepers are fairly common, but for some reason (personality type attracted to work with that animal??) we tend to keep a low profile. If you are interested, check for local rabbit clubs and shows. Breeders of the meat types, such as New Zeelands (spell?) and Florida Whites are less likely to be upset about inquires re. snake food.