Category: Rabbit health

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Choosing a Diet for Your Companion Rabbit

When choosing a diet for a house rabbit, remember that as an herbivore (plant eater), a rabbit constantly needs food moving through its digestive tract. The specific diet you choose for your rabbit will depend on several factors, including age and weight of the rabbit, environmental conditions, and purpose of the animal.

Diet Types

Rabbits are concentrate selectors, so they naturally pick and choose foods higher in energy density. Providing a pelleted rabbit food helps ensure that your animal is …

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Exercising Your Rabbit

Exercise is important for your rabbit.  It promotes good overall health and prevents obesity.  Providing your rabbit with exercise will ensure proper respiratory and cardiovascular function, as well as promote muscle development.  In addition, exercise aids in preventing boredom and unwanted behaviors.  Some experts recommend two hours a day of exercise time outside of the cage environment.  If your rabbit lives in a large cage, less exercise may be adequate.

Indoor versus outdoor exercise:

When exercising your rabbit indoors, ensure …

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Rabbit Behavioral Problems: Biting

Introduction

Biting is an unwanted behavior that some rabbits display. Because rabbits naturally live in social groups, they have a need to establish a social hierarchy. In the wild, rabbits use many methods, such as biting, lunging, and snorting, to develop a dominance order. Domestic rabbits still have the tendency to exhibit this dominance behavior, but when it leads to the injury of a human companion, there are steps that can be taken to modify the behavior.

Although social behavior …

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Housing Rabbits Together

Introduction

Rabbits are social animals and can be comforted by the presence of a companion. Owners who have a limited amount of time to interact with their rabbit may want to consider adding another rabbit to provide companionship. Rabbits may be particular in their choices of companions and may not always get along when introduced as adults. When introducing two rabbits, it is important to gradually acclimate the rabbits to each other to prevent an extreme reaction that could lead …

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Rabbit Behavioral Problems: Kicking

Introduction

Rabbits are known for their powerful back legs, which allow them to move quickly over short distances. However, rabbits can also use their powerful back legs to kick their human companions, causing injury to the humans or themselves. Kicking in rabbits is a behavior that many rabbit owners observe. Owners should understand that kicking is an indication of how secure a rabbit feels when being held. Proper handling is the best option to help prevent this unwanted behavior.

rabbit long haired

Predisposing …

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Ectoparasites: Sarcoptic and Demodectic Mange Mites

Mange is a skin condition caused by mange mites – arachnids that live in the skin and cause irritation for our companion animals. There are two types of mange that affect companion animals – sarcoptic mange and demodectic mange. Regardless of the type, mange tends to more frequently affect dogs than cats; therefore, this article addresses the condition in dogs.

Sarcoptic mange

Sarcoptic mange, also occasionally referred to as scabies, is a highly contagious skin disease caused by mites that …

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My rabbit keeps shaking his head and digging at his ears with his back feet. Why?

Your rabbit might have ear canker, which is caused by small parasites called ear mites (Psoroptes cuniculi). Check his ears for a brown discharge and crustiness. Ear canker can easily spread from one rabbit to another, so if you have other rabbits, check their ears also. Ear canker can be treated and cured by using chemical mitacide eardrops safe for use in rabbits or an injection obtained from your veterinarian. A few drops of light mineral oil used …

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Hairballs in Rabbits

Read the following article to understand more about how hairball prevention and treatment can impact your rabbit’s health.

Introduction

Part of a rabbit’s normal behavior is regular grooming. Regardless of whether rabbits are allowed to mutually groom each other or themselves, their stomachs will usually contain hair. Normally, ingested hair is passed when a rabbit defecates. However, certain rabbits have difficulty passing hair through the digestive system. In the event that a rabbit is unable to pass ingested hair, a …

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Spaying and Neutering Your Rabbit

Introduction

Spaying or neutering your companion rabbit can have benefits for both the owner and the rabbit. Unwanted behaviors often develop in animals left intact. In addition, rabbits are at an increased risk of health conditions and decreased life span when not spayed or neutered.

rabbit and girl

Spaying or neutering

Neutering refers to the removal of the reproductive organs, which permanently prevents an animal from breeding. Technically, the term neuter refers to the procedure done in either a male or female animal, …

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Rabbit Breeding

Rabbit breeding is a serious activity that must be carefully considered before beginning. Breeding rabbits takes a lot of time, money, and responsibility. Before starting a rabbit breeding program, owners must first consider the following:

  • Rabbit population: Breeding rabbits for fun can easily lead to the problem of pet overpopulation. Each year thousands of rabbits are destroyed in animal shelters because of a lack of responsible owners. Before breeding a rabbit, you must consider where the kits will be placed
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