Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What method do you use to heat your f/t rabbit and what size are they?

Most of our large burms (16' ) get 5 lb rabbits; small by big burm standards but we feel it is better for the snake (and 35 year old burms will serve as a nice testament). Generally, we just allow the rabbit to thaw overnight; sometimes it takes a bit longer. If you are short on time, or, want to speed up the process, you can simply soak in tepid or warm water...this sometimes makes for a very soggy/soaked rabbit even after you dry it off.

>>What method do you use to heat your f/t rabbit and what size are they?
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

they take them just thawed out? you don't have to heat them up to a regular body temperature? for the last 2-3 years my burm has been rubbing her face raw and bloody hunting in her cage. every time i offer her a rabbit she gets all excited and just sniffs it. i have wasted so much $$ on food. after about 3-4 months and pounds of thrown out rabbits she will finally take one. but the process starts all over again with her refusing to eat but having a raw face. it's quite sad to even look at her. my temps are fine and she has an above average cage. thanks for any help. this has been going on for way too long now. i feel ashamed to even show her to friends . as soon as her face starts to heal she rubs it bloody again.

that is very peculiar behavior, even for a hungry burm. There's no way it should be rubbing its nose raw...that's a snake that is not happy with its environment. It could be improper temps, improper humidity levels, internal or external parasites, something in the "air" that is annoying to the snake, nearby loud music, lack of good, dark hiding areas, etc. You might want to take a close look at every single variable. it is very unusual for a burm to not take a frozen/thawed rabbit (w/out being rewarmed). You could have a male looking for a mate, many possibilities. If you can provide some more info, I could be of help.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>they take them just thawed out? you don't have to heat them up to a regular body temperature? for the last 2-3 years my burm has been rubbing her face raw and bloody hunting in her cage. every time i offer her a rabbit she gets all excited and just sniffs it. i have wasted so much $$ on food. after about 3-4 months and pounds of thrown out rabbits she will finally take one. but the process starts all over again with her refusing to eat but having a raw face. it's quite sad to even look at her. my temps are fine and she has an above average cage. thanks for any help. this has been going on for way too long now. i feel ashamed to even show her to friends . as soon as her face starts to heal she rubs it bloody again.
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

My thinking is similar. Something that has not been discussed is at work here. A sub-clinical infection...stomatitus or R.I., something like that? Animal "wants" to eat but won't until absolutley famished? Instead, its rubbing it's labials raw? There's a missing piece. Things aren't adding up.

My burm finally ate after a fast since October. Everytime I opened the cage he acted like he was ready but never ate. I'd thaw a rabbit or GP or rat but it would start to smell so I'd have to throw them out. I finally tried live in hopes he'd start eating and I could get him back on FT. He'd approach but when the prey would smell him back he'd flinch and lose interest. About a week ago I tried a fresh killed rat and he mowed it quick! Then I chased it with a fresh killed rabbit as he swalloed the rat and he finished everything. 2 days ago I tried live rats again and he took them fine. Next I go for the FT and see what happens.

Basically what I'm saying is maybe it's also the status of the prey item??
-----
DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

Just my experience from last night thawing a frozen X-large rat. It wasn't thawing fast enough(work conflicts), so I put it in a plastic bag and put it in hot water on the stovetop, not boiling, for a couple minutes. My pet rats were looking on like they knew what I was doing, I felt guilty! I'm not at the point of rabbits yet, wonder if you could boil one?

I boiled a rat once lol. I had it on the stove on low and didnt think it would get that hot. I forgot about it and boom it blow up in the bag!! Did i tell you it smells lol.
-----
0.1 Normal Burm ( Stewie )
1.1 Albino Granite Burm ( Dollar and Cents )
1.0 Super Tiger 100% Het Albino ( Blue )
0.1 Purple Albino Retic ( Puzzle )
0.2 Kids ( Kaylee and Angie )
0.1 Wife ( Danielle )