Hi, new to raw (4 mos) and I have about a million questions for you guys! For one thing, I am looking to add more variety. Has anyone ordered frozen feeder rabbits or rats from online snake supply stores such as rodentpro.com? The people I have talked to in my area that raise rabbits don't like the idea of their bunnies becoming lunch. Thanks for your help!

I've ordered from them before. The animals are very clean and look to have been well taken care of. They use dry ice, so my package was frozen SOLID, even in Arkansas weather. South Dakota shouldn't be a problem.

The only drawback I saw was the price. They like 'dem wabbits!

Also, make sure your dog likes what you plan to order before you make a big order. Some dogs, including mine, don't have the taste for rabbits, rats, or guinea pigs. I would hate for you to have 100 lbs of dead animals that your pup wouldn't eat.

Feeding whole prey is the way to go, though. Nature's pre-packaged raw.

Haven't tried but if you order and your dog won't eat you can always give it to me. LOL

Mitch,
I will keep that in mind! Which does bring up another question-

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get her to eat a whole rabbit? I'm sure she won't know it's supposed to be dinner. She has had rabbit meat in the form of Nature's Variety frozen raw food. The closest thing to whole prey she has had is a cornish game hen (no feathers or anything).

Check this out:

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/135421/page/0/fpart/1

Yuko is one of the nicest people around and she was very helpful (and patient) when I had raw-related questions. She's the Bunny Queen on the forum

If she already likes rabbit meat then you are one step closer.

As Sarah said, Yuko will be able to tell you better. When you read my take, remember that I failed miserably at getting my dog to eat whole rabbit. I skinned, gutted, cut into smaller pieces, cracked the skull(thats how they say to get the reptiles attracted to it), did a rabbit dance, and held out as long as I felt was enough.

If she already likes rabbit meat, I would probably only expose some of the meat under the fur. Say, a leg. Then see what happens. Sometimes just the fur and feathers throws them off horribly. "I can smell the food, but I can't see it!" Just keep it simple and offer it with little fanfare. You don't want her to think YOU are apprehensive over the meal. Give it to her with the confidence that whole prey is absolutely the best anyone could feed their dog.

Yuko's older dog ate kibble all her life and took to rabbits good, I think. Mine went on a 4 day hunger strike with no signs of givin' up. If he don't want it that bad then I won't make him starve.

Good luck! I bet she'll take to it fine.

I have gone through rodent pro before(more for snakes then for dogs), but their feeders always come in clean and chubby. Shipping is absolutely brutal though.

My suggestion is try to find someone local into reptiles and find out what they do. There are reptile shows all over the country, usually with lots of frozen mice, rats, rabbits and g. pigs.

Or stock up in the winter time. In the winter I ship frozen mice, rats, and g. pigs UPS ground with no problem. They come in frozen solid. Just for example on a 60 lb box if I pay $15-$20 UPS ground it would likely cost $200-$250 to ship UPS next day air(this would be shipping from New Hampshire to like Indiana or Illinois). I could be mistaken, but Rodent-pro uses two day shipping dont they? UPS will charge either by dimensional weight or actual weight depending on which gets them more money.

Shipping on frozen rodents usually ends up being double or triple the actual cost of the rodents.