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Thread: Rabbits as a staple feeder

  1. #1

    Default Rabbits as a staple feeder

    So I don't have a Tegu, haven't even decided yet whether or not to get one. We're just in the very first phase of researching them. My question was, I breed rabbits for show and often have many cull rabbits that don't make show grade. The culls currently go to my friend's red tailed boa but if I can use them I would. They are small rabbits, netherland dwarfs, so the babies aren't much bigger than a rat pup and max out at 2.8 pounds. Would rabbit make a good staple food for a tegu since they're more nutritional than chicken and even turkey?
    "The Worst Sin to OUR Fellow Creatures is NOT to Hate Them... But to be Indifferent to Them...
    THAT'S the Essence of Inhumanity
    "

    ~George Bernard Shaw~

  2. #2
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    They would be fine. Rabbits are good feeders, they are just usually more expensive than rats and mice. Feed prekilled to prevent injury from kicking and biting.
    Laura R (FL)
    1.0.0 Colombian Tegu
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  3. #3
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    @Dog Shrink, I wish I lived next door to you. I'm sure Hernando could learn to walk to your house, go in through a dog door, and help you cull some newborn bunnies.

  4. #4
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    Like Laurarfl said it wouldn't be an issue, since you breed you don't have to worry as much about price. But they would be more dangerous than a rat if not fed pre killed. I fed my crew rabbit, my only issue was the fur, they have way more and its denser. Which could mean a higher possibility for impaction or prolapse. So I skinned mine before feeding, call me paranoid but I didn't want to chance it.

    Since you breed you can sell the pelts, and fur or make (have someone make) stuff out of them.

    Dino and Tricky on rabbit day;


    0.1.0 BP (Spiral) aka Rita Wayward
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    " 14 July 2010,..Always Remembered"

  5. #5

    Default

    Thanks for the info guys. I appreciate it. I don't know that I would have the heart to skin as well as cull but I have no problem (or I should say hubby doesn't) killing them to feed. Netherlands have a fly back coat so they don't have as dense a fur as some other rabbits tend to have so I would wonder if the impaction would still be an issue.
    "The Worst Sin to OUR Fellow Creatures is NOT to Hate Them... But to be Indifferent to Them...
    THAT'S the Essence of Inhumanity
    "

    ~George Bernard Shaw~

  6. #6
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    I personally dont see impaction being an issue with the proposed rabbits....but if you have it in you to skin...its definately an ok precausion to take. From what i know fur impaction comes from situations like this (hypothetically) i have a massive tegu...he should eat jumbo rats...but i feed him alot of mediums instead of 1 or 2 appropriately sized jumbos. in essence the high number of meduims resulted in alot of fur in his system....so i think it seems to be because of people feeding a high number of inappropriately sized prey items. Thats what you need to be careful of. Hope that helps.
    1.0.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
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  7. #7
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    If you rotate the diet, keep hydration up, keep optimum heat, provide exercise, add fiber to the diet....impaction should be less of an issue.
    Laura R (FL)
    1.0.0 Colombian Tegu
    1.4.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
    1.2.0 Red Tegu
    1.2.0 B/WxRed Tegu
    1.0.0 Green Ameiva (yet another teiid)
    7 other lizards
    1 little gator
    3 FL box turtle
    1 Sulcata tortoise
    16 snakes
    5 fuzzy pets
    4 little frogs
    a bunch of creepy bugs
    and a partridge in a pear tree

  8. #8

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by the enigma View Post
    I personally dont see impaction being an issue with the proposed rabbits....but if you have it in you to skin...its definately an ok precausion to take. From what i know fur impaction comes from situations like this (hypothetically) i have a massive tegu...he should eat jumbo rats...but i feed him alot of mediums instead of 1 or 2 appropriately sized jumbos. in essence the high number of meduims resulted in alot of fur in his system....so i think it seems to be because of people feeding a high number of inappropriately sized prey items. Thats what you need to be careful of. Hope that helps.
    That was very helpful, and I do believe I read that one one of the million caresheets I've read thus far. Thank you.
    "The Worst Sin to OUR Fellow Creatures is NOT to Hate Them... But to be Indifferent to Them...
    THAT'S the Essence of Inhumanity
    "

    ~George Bernard Shaw~

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Washington
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    Aahahah the easter bunny is havin a bad day up there with Bubblz tegus! For some reason it looks like the rabbit from winnie the pooh to me. I wish I could feed wild rabbits to my tegu! unfortunately there are parasites, bunnies are awful garden/ yard pests!
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  10. #10

    Default

    If you wanna keep bunnies outta your gardens plant a marigold border... they can't stand those things. You'd be surprised... most wild bunnies that you see don't really have many parasites. The average body temperature of rabbits of between 101-104 makes it a bit of an inhospitiable palce to develop. Dogs average a body temp of 99-101 and humans lower than that so you can see how body temps affect parasite invasions. Kinda like why some diseases can't be passed from dogs to people etc. The whole zoonosis thing. Parasites kill rabbits very quickly with out treatment so the ones you see running around either may have just picked up a parasite load or have the genetic where with all to fend off a parasite load. Exposure doesn't always mean infection with rabbits. A lot depends on their immune system.

    Bubblz is feeding an english lop to her tegu... those are larger rabbits averaging 4.5-6.5 lbs. For a visual comparison about the size of a small cat's body minus the legs and less bone density. English have a fine bone structure so dress out weight isn't much lower than live weight. I was honestly surprised to see a tegu could handle a rabbit of that size. And here I was worried about feeding a tegu a 2 pound rabbit

    English remind me of the rabbit on whinnie the pooh too
    Last edited by Dog Shrink; 02-10-2011 at 06:24 PM.
    "The Worst Sin to OUR Fellow Creatures is NOT to Hate Them... But to be Indifferent to Them...
    THAT'S the Essence of Inhumanity
    "

    ~George Bernard Shaw~

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