10 Ways to Choose a Healthy Rabbit
When looking at purchasing a new rabbit whether as a pet or show/brood animal, look for some quick signs of illness or other issues. While there is no guarantee; avoiding rabbits that have common signs of health problems can save you a lot of money and heartache. 1). The rabbit's fur coat should look healthy. No bare patches and no matted fur. Check for a soiled bum. A rabbit with diarrhea is unhealthy. 2). Look at the rabbit's overall weight. Does it look too fat or too thin. When you touch it's back, how easy is it to feel it's spine? You can use common sense though to if the animal looks unhealthy regarding their weight. The only exception to this is if it is a doe just coming off a litter. Doe's just off litters, depending on how many kits she had, can be a bit bony. I free feed all nursing doe's and continue to free feed the doe for a few weeks after weaning to bring her weight back up if needed. 3). Lift the rabbit's fur backwards to look for bugs/mites. Sometimes you may not see the bugs, but if the skin is flaky and it looks like dandruff, then there may be a problem. Or if they have bald spots, it could be mites. 4). The eyes should be bright and clear. No hazy spots on the eyeball. The eyes should be free of discharge and the fur coat under or around the eyes should not be wet or matted. 5). Check the nose for wetness. It should be free of discharge and the fur coat under the nose should not be wet. 6). The ears should have a nice colour inside of them. Not too red. Look inside for mites or scabbing. 7). Look at the rabbits teeth. Do they look healthy? The front top and bottom teeth should perfectly align to touch together. This is so that they wear against each other as the rabbit chews. 8). Count the rabbit's toe nails. Are they all there? There should be five on each front paw (including the dew claw), and only four on each back paw. 9). How is the rabbit's behavior? Is it hiding, in a ball, in a corner? Is it relaxed and stretched out for a sleep? Is it happily moving about? Observe the bunny's breathing, which should be quiet. 10). Look at the rabbit's surroundings. Clean conditions reduce stress and prevents disease. Use common sense. Some things that would make me think about finding a different breed would be if they don't want to answer questions or have you look over the rabbit; if they seem rushed or rough with the animal; if they can't guarantee the rabbits health to the best of their ability, they stay away. Most responsible and ethical breeders will guarantee the animals health to the best of their ability. Remember, things happen. Rabbits can get stressed during transportation or from the new environment. Illnesses can hide for two weeks prior to showing, so the breeder may not know. Don't be quick to place blame. Most good breeders will stay in touch and answer questions. Do research and find a reputable breeder. There are a lot of backyard breeders, and unethical/irresponsible breeders now a days who will sell sick animals or pet quality animals that are advertised as show quality and priced too high. If you get a bad vibe from the rabbit or it's owner/breeder than I would not continue with the sale. DON'T be afraid to look around at multiple breeders. If you are looking at a specific breed, contact a few different breeders and get an idea of health, quality and prices first. And if you haven't noticed, I do keep saying 'breeder'. Don't buy from a pet store!!! Buy from a breeder, even if it's only for a pet! Quality and health will be 100% better and you know what you are getting, age, breed, gender and you know their background better if you buy from a breeder. Most pet stores animals were sent from breeders because they are not show quality, and it is their way of culling OR they are a 'rabbit mill'. Most pet store animals are NOT healthy and won't live as long as a healthy animal bought from a responsible breeder. For more information feel free to contact me at [email protected] Remember these things when looking for a new pet or show/brood rabbit, they are very important, basic health things to look for. (courtesy of Mary Grace McNiel, with revisions and additions by myself)
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Written By Maple Strings Rabbitry "Coccidiosis is a dreadful disease that has wiped through many rabbitries, killing off many of their Jrs. Coccidiosis is a highly contagious sporzoal infection in rabbits. Adult rabbits can carry the disease, without showing any signs. Younger rabbits are affected much more harshly because their immune systems are not strong enough to fight off the infection. The parasite has a life cycle that lasts from 4-14 days, starting after the oral ingestion of infected feed, or other contaminated objects. The wall of the parasite (called oocysts) breaks down in the stomach, and spores are released. After the spores enter the cells that line the intestinal wall, the spore starts to divide asexualy, and go off to infect more cells. The parasite then forms gametes, and start sexual reproduction. The oocysts are shed in the feces. The presence of the Coccidia affects the host cell, some stop functioning, while others increase in size. The cells can no longer properly use nutrients, causing the animal to become malnourished, and in some cases, dehydrated. Coccidiosis can be brought into your home, or rabbitry many ways. The most common one being when you take your rabbit to a rabbit show, or other event, interacting with other rabbits. You can also bring it home by bringing a new rabbit into your barn. When an adult rabbit has the disease, but is not showing signs, it is hard to tell that they even have it, and if this rabbit is bred, and has kits, the kits are at risk. The kits seem to start to show signs around 6 weeks of age. If one kit is effected, and dies you can be almost positive the rest have it to. When a baby is affected by cocci, they will show symptoms such as weight loss, bloody feces or mucus in the feces. However these signs are not necessary for the animal to be affected. A baby can go from looking normal, to dead in less than 15 minutes. The rabbit will start by losing balance, laying on its side, and stretching its head up, front legs forward, and back legs backward, in muscle spasms. They will stay in this stretched out state, and will have spasms (where they stretch out more) every 30 seconds or so. After 5-10 mins of this, they will start to open their mouths, and sometimes will let out a squeal, and bite down on their tongue. All signs that the rabbit is in pain. They will die soon after. Once you have the coccidiosis in your barn, it takes a lot of hard work, and persistent cleaning and treating to rid it. Deep cleaning is a must, to kill all bacteria that is breeding on the cages, on the floor, in trays, and in the feces. Using bleach is not very effective in killing cocci, using products such as household ammonia will be more effective. There are many different suggested treatments, suggested by many different people. The best bet is to find out what type (or “Strand”) of Coccidiosis you are being affected with, and decide on treatment based on that information. To find out what Strand of Coccidiosis you have, Penn State suggests a full necropsy. You will usually receive results within 8-10 days of submission. If your rabbits have been exposed to (another rabbit in your barn showing signs), or affected by Coccidiosis, it is advised that your rabbits go on quarantine. No rabbits entering the barn, or leaving the barn for 4-6 weeks after the last death. This is so that other rabbitries will not be exposed unnecessary to the disease." My notes and comments:
My honest opinion to anyone should they walk in to their barn and notice a rabbit that is dieing because of this [reference paragraph six], then I would suggest culling said rabbit. When they are at this stage, they are going to die anyway and I would rather put it out of it's misery than watch it suffer like this. Coccidiosis is a terrible disease to have in your barn. It really affects young kits and juniors. I have had litters and juniors die because of it. I find it is incredibly smelly also, very nauseating! I now use Corid (amprolium). It can be used as a prevention or treatment. Water treatment is 5cc to one gallon water for 5 days (prevention). Water treatment is 5cc to one gallon water for 5 days (treatment) or 1cc orally for 15 pounds of rabbit for 5 days (1/4 cc orally for 3.75 pound rabbit). I personally find that Cocci has a higher chance of affecting newly weaned kits, so for that reason when I am weaning kits I give them the oral injection of Corid for five days. Below are two links. One is all about Coccidiosis, the other is different treatments (for multiple illnesses in rabbits). http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Protozoal_diseases/Cocc_en.htm http://bunnyrabbit.com/price/med-use.htm Does that mean it is handicapped?
No, your rabbit is definitely NOT handicapped if he or she has won a leg. On the contrary, your rabbit turned out better looking than a bunch of other rabbits! A "leg" is the first step to getting your rabbit a Grand Championship through the American Rabbit Breeders Association, otherwise known as ARBA. Basically it is the first "leg" in his/her journey to being a coveted Champion! A leg is basically like getting a ribbon, trophy or prize for winning! Winning a leg has absolutely NOTHING to do with 4-H. You will only win a leg if you go to a breeder show and win. You do NOT have to go to a breeder show if you do not want to. It is simply for fun and competition. In order to win a leg you must first go to a show, but not everyone who shows wins legs for their rabbits. There are groups of each different color and breed of rabbit, and in order to win a leg there need to be at least 5 rabbits and 3 different exhibitors in each color/variety and/or breed. If you have 5 rabbits and 2 exhibitors in a breed then there is no leg to be won, if there are 4 rabbits and 3 exhibitors then there is still no leg. You can win a leg if there are more than the minimum amount of rabbits/exhibitors, but 5 rabbits and 3 exhibitors is the absolute minimum. Legs are very important to anyone who wants to be known as a reputable breeder. It means that you can win, it means that you are dedicated and will show the rabbits, it means that you are willing to work to put your name out there. Through ARBA (the American Rabbit Breeders Association) there is a Grand Champion system. Each individual rabbit must win at least 3 legs in order to be a Grand Champion. They also must have a full pedigree (a family tree extending to the Great-Grandparents) and must be registered through ARBA. As you can see, there are lots of requirements, but winning is even nicer when you take a homebred (rabbit born in your rabbitry and raised by you) and win a leg! It's the best feeling in the world! All that hard work finally pays off and you win with the bunnies you have been watching and helping since day 1. I can't explain what this is like either than it's a wonderful thing and I love it! Seeing those little juniors hit the tables and get the best comments all day... yeah, that's amazing and wonderful. It's like "YES! I'm getting somewhere!!!" So next time your staring at your bunny wondering what he/she is made of.. Take them to a show! They might just surprise you. Oh, and don't forget to say Hello to me while you're at it! So when looking for a show animal, or even a pet or breeding animal; look around for someone who you see that their animals have multiple legs or wins! You know they are quality and reputable breeders and you know that they most likely know that they are doing, knows a show quality versus pet quality animal and will be honest about its quality. 'Back yard breeders' don't know the difference between qualities most of the time, so they overprice their rabbits and don't properly advertise their quality. PLUS they won't win as shows because of their quality. You will get the odd one win, but if you want a show animal that will do well, go to a breeder that you can see wins often! :) (courtesy of Mary Grace McNiel with revision by myself) So you want a rabbit! Good for you! It is a wonderful, and educational experience. If you have children it will teach them to be gentle, kind, and caring. Rabbits are great 4-H animals, and they are one of the most popular projects. Why? Well, because it is the BEST project! It teaches the 4-H'ers of ALL ages how to care for and properly handle small animals. It is hard to hurt a cow or a sheep, but a rabbit is a different story. Other reasons why are because the rabbit group has fewer-no cliques, so anyone can fit in if they give it half a chance. The rabbit project circles are tight with each other, friendly, kind, and most of all; they can help you out with your new rabbit!
Rabbits are beneficial pets, they are soft, quiet, and calm. They do not make noise very often. You will find that if you try to sing "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" and insert a rabbit you will not know what noise they make. That is because they do not make any noise! You can put their feces in your garden as soon as possible without any ill side effects. It does not have to compost for a year like chickens, cows, sheep, etc. They also eat all leftovers, they can eat carrot peelings, potato peelings, Orange peelings, cucumber, and even banana peelings. There are many more things they can eat that are not listed (just NOT lettuce). It has also been proven that rabbits are very good therapeutic pets. Doctors are beginning to more actively recommend them. Rabbits require less physical and mental stimulation and attention than a dog or even a cat. They do not need to go for a walk, and they do not need training (unless you want to litter train them). Litter training is really easy too, basically you just put the litter box in their favorite "business" corner. You also encourage them to go to the litter box by placing them in it every time they have an "accident" outside of the litter box. A litter box results in a cleaner cage. I find rabbits very enjoyable, friendly, and easy to care for, play with, handle, and just be with in general! They are easy to cuddle with when you are upset, they are cute to watch. Especially when they binky (kick their heels up)! With proper care, they can live a long, healthy live! I raise my rabbits to be friendly and easy to handle and start from birth doing so. Because I do this, it makes my rabbits become great household pets for any age and are used as therapy animals. I truly believe that they are just like any animal; it all depends on the OWNER to what type of behavior and temperament it grows up with. Just like Pit Bulls now a days.. I have honestly never met an aggressive Pit. If you train it to fight and be aggressive, that's what it will be like. However, if you train it to be friendly, caring and a nice family pet, THAT's what it will be like. Same with rabbits, if you never handle your rabbit, ignore it or mishandle it; they will become wild, aggressive, cranky, and/or not fun to be around and that's why people re-home (or because they lose interest or don't realize how long they can live). Handle your rabbit on a daily basis, handle it PROPERLY, care for it, be gentle and loving; it will be the same back. If you are thinking of a pet, consider a rabbit! If you have any questions, just contact me! :) (courtesy of Mary Grace McNeil, with revisions and additions by myself) |
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October 2017
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