Posted by:
HappyHillbilly
at Sun Jan 20 21:40:58 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by HappyHillbilly ]
OK, I have to admit a bit of laziness on my part in my first post for not providing much help and I apologize. Twas late at night & I was dog-tired.
It is a pretty broad subject that needs reviewing and then certain questions addressed but I'll try to give a few of the basics.
This isn't a perfect, official & complete list of things.
First & foremost you want to use a breed of rabbits with as little fur as possible for easier digestion for the snake & general care of the rabbits. Of course you could always shave the rabbits before feeding if you think you can make money from selling long-haired rabbits as pets, etc.
Caging - There are generally two different styles of cages or setups.
1 - All-wire cages kept under a roof or in a building.
2 - Wood & wire cages with roofs built onto them.
It depends on where they'll be kept as for the style of cage bottoms you use. I keep mine outside in wood/wire cages with 1/2" x 1" wire floors and the waste drops onto the ground.
Using anything smaller than 1/2 x 1 wire floor, like 1/2" x 1/2", makes it harder for waste to fall thru & is a pain to clean the inside of the cages. However, you can't go too big on floor wire size due to it not supporting the rabbits' feet good enough. Use small pieces of boards for the rabbits to rest on so they can rest their feet, replace as soiled.
You can use water bowls, bottles, or automatic watering system. All water & feed bowls/containers should be easy to remove for cleaning or maintenance. I use an automatic watering system & in freezing temperatures I bowls. Bowls are easier to deal with than bottles, during freezing temps. To me, at least. With bowls I can just take a picture of water out to them, with bottles I have to go get the bottles, bring them inside, thaw them out & then put back in cage.
I feel that rabbits should be kept seperate except for the few minutes it takes for them to mate, otherwise the males could pester the females. You guys know how that goes. I can't remember for sure but I think it's somewhere between 29 - 31 days after conceiving a rabbit has 5 - 6 babies.
One good thing about rabbits is they're born about the size of a small - medium rat, depending on the breed. That means they can cover a wide range of snake sizes. Some snakes switch from rats to rabbits fairly easy while some are a pain to get switched over.
I'll try to get some pics of my setups the next few days and post 'em here. My setups are 2 units, one is a 4 cage complex and the other is a 5 cage complex. I've also got a few all-wire ones I use for overflow.
If I have too many rabbits at the right snake-feeding size to feed at one time I use my CO2 chamber I made for my rats to put them down & freeze them.
Here are some links that I found from where I first got into rabbits: (not in any specific order)
I think this was my favorite link and it's a complete rabbitry webstie. Just follow the links on the opening page: www.debmark.com/rabbits/rabbits.htm
www.rabbitweb.net/
www.mahouserabbit.org/infopack.asp
petcaretips.net/rabbit_care.html
www.thenaturetrail.com/BuildingNestBoxes.htm
www.rabbit.org/health/index.html
exoticpets.about.com/cs/rabbits/a/rabbitbreeds.htm
Here's the link to one of Kingsnake.com's sister sites, part of the Hobbyist chain. From this link, click on "Rabbits" in the "Farm Animals" category. forums.horsehobbyist.com/
A few cage plans:
www.age.psu.edu/extension/ip/IP729-31.pdf
Various "Agriculture Building and Plan List" from University of TN. Click on "Poultry Plans" and see the various links under "Goat, Sheep and Rabbit Plans." Particularly #6340 & #6277.
bioengr.ag.utk.edu/Extension/ExtPubs/PlanList97.htm#top
Just to throw in an interesting link, you'd be surprised at the various PDF plans and documents the USDA has available for free. There are some plans for rabbit barns, cages, etc, but it might take awhile to find. This link has farmhouse plans, plans for horse barns, stalls, etc. Most, if not all, are in scale. Nice.
www.nal.usda.gov/ref/USDApubs/miscpub.htm
More cage plans can be found thru a Google search of "rabbit cage plans" or "rabbit hutch plans" and many variations of those.
Hope this helps.
Later!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American
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Here's some info & links - HappyHillbilly, Sun Jan 20 21:40:58 2008