welcome to Rabbits

General Information

Rabbits are now the third most popular pet in the UK. Generally, they make very good pets, especially for children BUT they do need a lot of looking after. The vast majority of the problems which we encounter in general practice associated with rabbits are due to inappropriate housing and feeding. Below are some guidelines to try to help prevent such problems occurring.

Basic statistics:

• Sexual Maturity – 16-24 weeks
• Pregnancy Length – 30-33 days
• Litter Size – 4-12 [average 7]
• Weaning age – 7-8 weeks
• Lifespan – 8-12 years
• Adult Body Weight – 1-8 kg

Danger – Do Not Use Frontline on Rabbits

A word of warning; whilst Frontline is considered to be one of the safest forms of ectoparasiticide around, there have been some reported adverse reactions in rabbits which are thought to relate to the alcohol used to spray the active ingredient onto animals. The manufacturers have therefore stated that they do not recommend its use in rabbits.

Avoid Keeping Guinea Pigs and Rabbits Together

We often hear of clients keeping rabbits and guinea pigs together. Years ago, this was considered perfectly acceptable as long as they got on together. However, we now know that rabbits carry a bacteria called Bordetella bronchiseptica. Whilst this rarely causes a problem in the rabbit, it can cause serious disease in guinea pigs and may even be fatal. Our recommendation therefore is that rabbits and guinea pigs should be housed separately.

Many of the problems we see guinea pigs for in the surgery are dietary related. Particularly they are often associated with a lack of adequate fibre in the diet that each animal eats. Many of the modern commercial diets allow “selective feeding” meaning that they only eat parts of the diet, often leaving the less palatable high fibre portions which are so important to help avoid dental and digestive problems. If you can get hold of decent quality hay (preferably Timothy hay), then the basic rule is to feed hay, hay and yet more hay!

With guinea pigs too, don’t forget that they need vitamin C in their diet. Adults require a minimum of 10mg/kg bodyweight of vitamin C per day. This can rise to 30mg/kg in a pregnant sow. Even feeding lots of fresh greens in addition to a good fresh proprietary diet may not provide enough. As a result, we now recommend that vitamin C should be added daily to a guinea pig’s drinking water.