Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, heres the deal.

My fiancee has an 8foot female redtail that's never eaten a rabbit before. We want to know what the best way to acclimate her to feeding on rabbits is. She has never eaten frozen thawed and will not eat prekilled. She eats 3 stunned rats once every three weeks. (jumbo rats that is) We figured that feeder rabbits would be a lot less expensive, and we found a really good breeder who will deliver either live or frozen.

Now... do i kill the rabbit and poke it around with my snake hook to make it look alive? I DONT want to put a live unstunned rabbit in there with her because i dont want her to get hurt, so...whats the best way?

Anybody?

Im sorry if this is like, the stupidest question y'all have ever answered, ive just never had to deal with feeding anything bunnies before -- my blood is tiny yet, and my other snakes eat small things...

Let me know,
Jamie
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Jamie A. Stine and the Gang:

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1.0 Giant Frog Eyed Geckos (Peanut Butter)
0.1 Borneo Short Tailed Python (Ezmerelda)
0.1 Red Tailed Boa (Buffy)
1.0 Short Tailed O'possum (Jethro)
1.0 Greyhound (Hank)

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well... the best thing to do is just try it... you said the
snake won't take pre-killed but will take stunned? You may
want to get it switched fully to pre-killed first. can take
a little time, let the snake get hungry for a week or two then
offer the prekilled or f/t food, usually if they are a little
extra hungry they will take it when normally they would turn
up their nose. This will work for rabbits too, also make sure
the first rabbit is a smaller one, sometimes the large size
can intimidate the snake. I always use black or dark brown ones
for a first rabbit feeding, perhaps the dark colors help to
make the prey look smaller and more managable, I'm not sure
but I have had the best luck using the dark colored ones then
switching to whatever size and color once later. Deff. do not
use a live or even a stunned rabbit, a rabbit can do a lot
of damage to your boa. A freshly prekilled would be best, or
if you can only get f/t, make sure to thaw it well and warm it
up under a light bulb for 10 min or so. If you snake strikes
well when food is dangled you can try that, but typically I
just leave the f/t food there and leave the room, come back and
it's gone, esp if left overnight (not always, but usually)
good luck!

I agree with April. First try to get her to eat F/T rats. I would start by dangling stuned rats from a long pair of tongs. If she takes that, then I would do one stuned rat a then try a F/T. If that works I would give her a few weeks to a month without food. Then I would try leaving F/T in the cage over night. Once that works I would Feel comfertable trying a F/T rabbit. I get them to switch by rubbing a wet rat all over the rabbit. since it smells like a rat the snakes have always went for it. You could even try using something like a large rat and a small rabbit for the first meal just to help with the switch.

Hope all goes well for you
Bryan