feeding pythons wild rabbits

[BlindSnake]

As the saying goes; If its out it yard........IT'S FERAL!
I got a mate that shoots feral cats all the time, all of them hame birds and lizzards in their stomaches.And the size some of the males get as big as foxes.

 

[Helikaon]

All the ones that rabbits carry that also bother snakes :lol: i would like to know if there are any?(seriously)

hey cris yes from memory there is not many parasites of warm blooded animals that affect reptiles. most internal parasites live at abotu 37 degrees, and that is the temp that we incubate parasite eggs to check which species they are. although there are species that could live in a snake but would not reproduce. the main problem is tape worms as they make metacysts in unsuitable hosts. its part of their lifecycle. hence why you will find little subcutaneous lumps in snakes that have been eatign frogs for example. i spoke to a vet from the uk the other week whos research "baby" is tape worm and they are still unsure how a tape worm can tell the difference between a sheep and a dog for example. all in all i feel that there is very little risk in feeding wild prey in regards to parasites although poisons are very worrying.

cheers
H. p.s i hope that made some sort of sense

 

[cris]

What rhymes with cat?

 

[cris]

although poisons are very worrying.

What posions do wild rabbits eat? unless the area is being baited for pigs with 1080(there should be signs or at least the property owner would know) i cant imagine anything would be a problem. If a rabbit is poisoned it would probably already be dead anyway.

As for the parasties note the laughing emoticon, it would be news to me if anything wild rabbits are likely to carry would bother a snake.

 

[coxy]

how long is a piece of string.

How long isn't a piece of string, his an asian man, thats what my pop used to always tell me

 

[Helikaon]

What posions do wild rabbits eat? unless the area is being baited for pigs with 1080(there should be signs or at least the property owner would know) i cant imagine anything would be a problem. If a rabbit is poisoned it would probably already be dead anyway.

As for the parasties note the laughing emoticon, it would be news to me if anything wild rabbits are likely to carry would bother a snake.

some poisons build up in the adipose tissue of animals that have had chronic exposure. its a possibilty that they could get it through their diet. e.g. farm chemicals. there is a million possibilites and yes many are of a million to one chance but i will not be the one to say it is fine to someone who is worried about consequences of feeding wild rabbits. simple if they are worried about it then they shoudlnt' do it. i jsut find it funny because peopel show so much care and "perfectionist" attitudes to their reptiles but then want to take short cuts, liek rather then goign straight to a vet they come on here for advice jsut for everyone to tell them to take it to a vet. or i want to feed rabbits or birds because rats are expensive, which isnt the case here but it happens. but yes parasites you are pretty much fine id say, although yu might fidn a rat nd feed it to your snake but that rat has eaten a frog who had tapeworm which turned into a metacyst in the rat which prevented death during freezing and broke durign the constriction of the snake while feeding and then the million of little tapeworms spread all through the snake and formed more metacysts in the liver, the brain, lungs and the skin and bam a dead snake.


now that is an example for my new veterinary show which is a version of "House" but for animals. oh and the owner alwasy lies about it because the owner is alwyas lieing::lol:

i'd watch it for a laugh

 

[cris]

but yes parasites you are pretty much fine id say, although yu might fidn a rat nd feed it to your snake but that rat has eaten a frog who had tapeworm which turned into a metacyst in the rat which prevented death during freezing and broke durign the constriction of the snake while feeding and then the million of little tapeworms spread all through the snake and formed more metacysts in the liver, the brain, lungs and the skin and bam a dead snake.

oh crap i actually think i may have just done that(not joking either) are you making this up? the rat was frozen for about 3 months or more. If this is for real i can just worm him if it is an issue.

 

[Helikaon]

oh crap i actually think i may have just done that(not joking either) are you making this up? the rat was frozen for about 3 months or more. If this is for real i can just worm him if it is an issue.

hahah i wasnt expecting that hahahhahah thats pretty funny, the odds of that are very small my firends but yes cysts could last the long in the freezer. but i must appolgise, because worming would not fix that if it were to have happened. hahah tape wrom cysts have no blood flow therefore worming drugs have no effect on them and have to be surgically removed. but dont fret hahah im ammused now. your snake will be fine. jsut thinkg if snakes died that easy we wouldn't have any wild populations of any snakes

 

[Helikaon]

oh crap i actually think i may have just done that(not joking either) are you making this up? the rat was frozen for about 3 months or more. If this is for real i can just worm him if it is an issue.

see itd be a great tv show.

would keep ya on your toes and would scare everyone to better welfare for their pets hahahhaha better then harrys practice and i'll make sure i dotn give anythign cortisone

 

[GSXR_Boy]

how long is a piece of string.

Too easy. Four a words.
1)A
2)piece
3)of
4)string

 

[nuthn2do]

I've found a .22 calibre air rifle is ideal for picking off bunnies, good out to about 30m and easy to retrieve the pellet. It takes a bit of sneaking around but at least you won't scare them all away with the first shot.
As to poison/parasites that's totally you're call.

 

[OzRocks]

thanks guys any info is good,
I think my main issue now would be poison baiting. We do occassionaly get property owners doin 'pindone' baiting which is meant to be pretty affective, but I does anyone know if this bait can build up in the animals tissue without killing it?
All the rabbits around my joint are pretty healthy, and theres a heap of fresh babies startin to emerge....so naturally I thought perfect snake food!!!

 

[addy]

I've found a .22 calibre air rifle is ideal for picking off bunnies, good out to about 30m and easy to retrieve the pellet. It takes a bit of sneaking around but at least you won't scare them all away with the first shot.
As to poison/parasites that's totally you're call.

.22 air riffle can and does take out bunnies...but i found that .22LR with subsonic rounds not only gives you the liberty of aiming at up to 70m but is also about a quiet as the air riffle as well as providing the chance at getting off a second round if need be. say there were two bunnies. just my 2 cents.

 

[junglepython2]

thanks guys any info is good,
I think my main issue now would be poison baiting. We do occassionaly get property owners doin 'pindone' baiting which is meant to be pretty affective, but I does anyone know if this bait can build up in the animals tissue without killing it?
All the rabbits around my joint are pretty healthy, and theres a heap of fresh babies startin to emerge....so naturally I thought perfect snake food!!!

If baits are used in the area I wouldn't use them. Just because a rabbit isn't dead doesn't mean it hasn't ingested some posion recently, the poison doesn't kill instantly.

 

[OzRocks]

hey guys spoke to a proffessional eradicator today and he said that the pindone baiting that is done in my area is only a problem if the baiting has been done in the past 3 months or so. He said that the bait only last in the animals system 2 weeks maximum of ingesting it....but the problem still is how many baits wuld still be left in the area for the rabits to eat, but the baits toxicity only last a few months before it breaks down..
so it looks like its all good

thanks guys, matt

 

[nuthn2do]

They say that about brodificoum (rat poison) as well and it's been found in bones of animals that have been dead for 12 months.

 

[maculosis_mandy]

Is mixamatosis a problem around there? That always put me off feeding feral rabbits to any of my snakes.

 

[Tatelina]

OzRocks where abouts is your property?

freezing a rabbit will not stop or kill parasites, bacteria, or poison.

Huh? Freezing won't kill parasites or bacteria? Why not??

 

[Magpie]

I've always used .22 LR hollowpoints for rabbit shooting and never found a slug still in the rabbits when skinning / gutting for human consumption.

 

[slim6y]

OzRocks where abouts is your property?




Huh? Freezing won't kill parasites or bacteria? Why not??

Most parasites can survive extreme conditions - such as freezing. They can survive in the cyst stage which is like a life cell that requires no nutrition at all.

Many creatures can do this - and some parasites (such as a fungi of the onion) could survive up to several years. Others could survive forest fires... Various adaptions to the extreme can be quite mind boggling.

But, on the same, many parasites are killed by the same extremes.

Under certain conditions most micro-organisms just 'slow' down in cool conditions. Look at the fungi that can grow in your fridge on tomatoes if you forget to take them out from behind the jam jar... But alternatively the tomatoes that are out are much quicker to get hammered by fungi!

A great science experiment!