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Has anyone ever tried or know anyone who uses rabbits for food? I've just come across a source of rabbits that could supplement my rats at a lower cost, but don't know how it may affect the health of my Boas. Anyone with experience in this?
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Aubrey Ross

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www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

>>Has anyone ever tried or know anyone who uses rabbits for food? I've just come across a source of rabbits that could supplement my rats at a lower cost, but don't know how it may affect the health of my Boas. Anyone with experience in this?
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Aubrey,

I feed both Jack and my larger Jamaican boa rabbit pinks. (My female subflavus is too small for rabbit pinks, but I'll get her on them as well when she's big enough. I'm a big fan of rabbits, since imo they are more in line (nutrition wise) with what these snakes eat in the wild. I don't even feed rats at all to my snakes, I use rabbits and quail. Anyway, just my 2 cents.

Thanks,
Ed

I feed rabbits only to my larger snakes such as retic, burm, and sometimes bloods, adult rabbits are must more lean and I would think healthier then rats but rabbit pinks and fuzzys I would think a proper sized rat would be healthier, I am kinda going off what I've been told with a simular question. Pinky and Fuzzy rabbits aren't on whole foods yet so their stomaches are full of fatty milk, and I'm not 100% if BRB's are as sencitive but most boas are very sencitive to fatty foods, expecially RTB's from what I've been told so I personally would stay away from the smaller sized rabbits as food.

Just my 2 cents and what I've been told in the past.
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Zack Greens Reptiles

>>I feed rabbits only to my larger snakes such as retic, burm, and sometimes bloods, adult rabbits are must more lean and I would think healthier then rats but rabbit pinks and fuzzys I would think a proper sized rat would be healthier, I am kinda going off what I've been told with a simular question. Pinky and Fuzzy rabbits aren't on whole foods yet so their stomaches are full of fatty milk, and I'm not 100% if BRB's are as sencitive but most boas are very sencitive to fatty foods, expecially RTB's from what I've been told so I personally would stay away from the smaller sized rabbits as food.
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>>Just my 2 cents and what I've been told in the past.
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Not saying this is wrong or right, but it sounds like folklore to me. Farm raised rats are higher in fat and lower in protein than rabbits. I'd need to see some analysis to believe this.

Like I said it was what I was told but it makes sense to me, really when do you see any baby of any animal including our own that's not kinda fatty. From what I've been told when they are weaned and eating solids is when they are healthier then rats because they are building muscle and bone density by then and feeding on more healthy feeds. I don't have any analysis but would love to see some to confirm what I've been told if it's true or not but I just don't risk it.

great topic
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Zack Greens Reptiles

>>Like I said it was what I was told but it makes sense to me, really when do you see any baby of any animal including our own that's not kinda fatty. From what I've been told when they are weaned and eating solids is when they are healthier then rats because they are building muscle and bone density by then and feeding on more healthy feeds. I don't have any analysis but would love to see some to confirm what I've been told if it's true or not but I just don't risk it.
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>>great topic
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>> Zack Greens Reptiles

Rabbit pinkies are super lean, you can tell just by holding and looking at them. And the point I was trying to make is that rats are much higher in fat that rabbits, so you have to take that into consideration if you're just going to look at fat content.

Here is an interesting document on nutritional analysis of food items:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/zoo/WholePreyFinal02May29.pdf

Per this document, neonate rabbits are 13% crude fat, while rats are around 25%.

Also, per this document, the young of individual species are LESS fatty than the older animals.

Agreed, this is a great discussion, and a good example of why we should always question things, even if supposed "experts" claim them.

From my point of view, I'm the one playing it safe by feeding rabbits and quail.

Thanks,
Ed

I would think that a larger impact might be felt when selling. If you get you BRB accustomed to eating rabbits, future owners may not have access to rabbits the same as you and your BRB may not go back to rats. Might be a risk worth considering.

Thank you everyone for your input on this topic! I didn't think about the impact of selling them, that is a good point. However, I would most likely only use them for juvenile through adults in my collection anyway... and then I was thinking only about 1/4 to 1/3 of the feedings would be with rabbits. I will have to give it some more thought though. I also would most likely go out and visit his rabbit farm to make sure they are kept well before using them as food.
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Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

Thanks Ed, that's a great page with some great info. I personaly feel variety is a great thing, my med to large pythons I feed a variety usuall of rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs but all my boas are on rats, with that bit of info I may mix in rabbits in there every now and then aswell
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Zack Greens Reptiles