Small Bone Options?

[CoverTune]

Do I have any options for edible bone for my 3.7lb Chihuahua, aside from chicken? Rabbit perhaps.. but there's just no way I can afford a $30 rabbit carcass. Are fish bones a reasonable option, or are they too small to count for much?

[Scarlett_O']

Game Hens(and other small birds like quail, etc) and Rodents(mice, rats, rabbits, cavy, etc) are the first that come to my mind.
I know here in the states we can get pretty good deals(when bulk ordering) from a place called rodentpro.com for all of the "normal" feeders animals that are given to reptiles. And here locally I can get even better deals from a rodent seller who sells to reptile owners mostly(now I just need their rodents to start producing enough again!) So finding a seller of those might come in handy!

[xellil]

I let Snorkels gnaw on big bones like turkey neck. Great workout for her. I just have to take it away before she eats the whole thing. Sometimes it's hard to estimate that they've eaten 2-3 oz off of a 1 pound piece of meat. I feed it to her frozen so she can't get a whole bunch of meat at once.

[funshine]

I think fish is great for variety Probably not enough bone to be "bone heavy", but definitely whole pray and ~10% for a meal.
We actually feed some Canadian smelt ; it's cheap and small (shouldn't have too much mercury etc. and easy to chop frozen for my "suspicious" eater).

For eatable pork bone/cartilage you could try pork riblets. I don't have small dogs, but riblets have coin like small pieces of bone and they look like something easy to portion for small dogs and easy for them to eat.

[Liz]

I was wondering if maybe duck necks were available at a decent price - my little shelties love them and duck wings.

[wolfsnaps88]

If you want to try rabbit, have you looked in your area for local rabbit breeders? Many times breeders who show also breed meat rabbits. You can check craigslist. I am looking for breeder animals and have seen many in my local area. The only way a rabbit carcass would cost that much is if its for human consumption (restaurant quality). Local rabbt breeders do not have to be USDA certified to sell you dog food quality rabbits :)

Also guinea pigs! They sell them in reptile shows pretty cheap or you can order them.

[CoverTune]

This morning she got the smaller bone from a turkey wing for her breakfast, but I had to strip off 99% of the meat for it to be the right weight. Do you think that's ok, or is that likely too much bone? I'm going to make sure she gets a bone-free meal for dinner.

[AveryandAudrey]

Rabbit is good, my chi loves it. But $30 bucks is crazy, you can order from haretoday for cheaper than that. But my family hunts so I get rabbit. My chi is 6 pounds and she gets through a deer ribs, turkey wings and part of drum stick, even pork neck bone and turkey neck. I dont feed fish as she wont eat it unless is tinned. Once in a while I will buy the tinned fish. Ground egg shell in ground meat is ok too, I do this with ground venison, beef, and turkey. My chi rarely gets chicken as my shar-pei is allergic so I buy meats they can both eat.

And I'll add that my chi has been eating raw since I got her at 6 weeks old (she was a rescue, I specify this as I know 6 weeks is tiny to be away from mama doggy) and she was 1 pound then. Then I did feed some chicken and turkey, I'd wrap it in a wash cloth and slam it with a hammer so the bones would be smaller.

[wolfsnaps88]

Ground egg shell in ground meat is ok too, I do this with ground venison, beef, and turkey.

Oh my. Why have I never thought to DO this? Thanks! I think I am going to try this!

[brezofleur]

HUGE love for quail here. My cat and Yorkie (5 lbs) love quail, as does my mom's own 3 lb Chi. She's finally starting to see that raw is the best for her furbabies... :)