breeding rabbits for snake food

[Bloomster]

hello everyone...
A few questions about breeding rabbits for snake food.

First is it a viable option, i have 20 pythons, where at least 3quarters of these could eat pinky rabbits or larger.

Are they cost effective to breed? as i cannot find them over in WA to buy them frozen.

Are they reasonably easy to keep and breed? Time consuming?

i'll leave it at that for now.... probably have more questions later.

Thankyou
David Bloomfield

 

[nicholaskostyk]

they are quite easy to breed but do take a bit of time to get up and running once there old enough and u see them mating after she's pregnaut they should take between 3and 5 weeks

 

[Dannyboi]

So you want to feed kittens to your snake? Depends where you live if your in QLD you can't buy rabbits.

 

[Jay84]

He already said he lives in WA.

 

[Snake_Whisperer]

1: so you want to feed kittens to your snake? best to clarify this statement as i'm sure most people do not know baby rabbits are called "kittens". Unless of course you are attempting to be humerous.
2: depends where you live if your in qld post states he is in wa.
3: if you're in qld you can't buy rabbits. so people who do not know have the correct facts, yes, you can purchase frozen rabbits in qld.

 

[giggle]

rabbits are a great option, they are very lean. Unfortunately I live in QLD... but if I didnt I would end up raising rabbits for sure I suggest looking at pet rabbit breeders websites and trying to figure out their requirements from there. There also may be some links on google if you type in "rabbit farming" you might get some useful links on efficient ways of breeding and growing rabbits.

 

[CHEWY]

I used to breed rabbits for my scrub pythons.
I don't anymore as I only have a small yard, so I bred dwarf rabbits. They don't breed as much as larger rabbits so I ended up having to buy extra anyway.
If you have the room to breed larger rabbits like meat rabbits or the large New Zealand whites, they are great. Larger litters, they breed more regularly and the young grow very quick.
I totally recommend.

 

[solar 17]

Breeding rabbits is not that hard with gestation taking 30-31 days and female rabbits belonging to an order called "induced ovulators" meaning the fact that they mate causes ovulation and thus almost certain pregnancy but the down side with rabbit farming is the growing up period/time as it takes considerable amount of time, with a life span of 8-12 years generally....solar 17 [Baden]

 

[beeman]

On a small scale they are not cost effective to breed yourself!

They have smaller sized litters on average (4-6 for most breeds commonly available) and thier gestation time is 31-32 days.

Then if you are taking kittens early you have the problem of mastitis in the does
which in some cases causes total lost of mamary tissue.
The other issue is you will have a major problem keeping them alive with the mosquito problems that will arrise.

They dont take temp extreems well as fertility does drop off, kept at no more than 26 dg is optimum for kitten production.

 

[solar 17]

On a small scale they are not cost effective to breed yourself!

They have smaller sized litters on average (4-6 for most breeds commonly available) and thier gestation time is 31-32 days.

Then if you are taking kittens early you have the problem of mastitis in the does
which in some cases causes total lost of mamary tissue.
The other issue is you will have a major problem keeping them alive with the mosquito problems that will arrise.

They dont take temp extreems well as fertility does drop off, kept at no more than 26 dg is optimum for kitten production.
Ditto.....solar 17 [Baden]

 

[Jackson]

The added bonus is you can eat any of the older ones yourself I love rabbit!

 

[CarpetPythons.com.au]

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Back to the drawing board hey dannyboi?

 

[Dannyboi]

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I know that you can buy them frozen I meant to say you can't buy live ones. Sorry I missed the Bit with WA.

---------- Post added 14-Jan-11 at 04:19 PM ----------

and yeah the kittens part was humour.