Rabbit 2 and 3 Flashcards
What age do rabbits reach sexual maturity?
16-20 weeks
- Does slightly earlier than bucks
- Small breeds (4-5 months)
- Large (5-6)
What type of ovulators and how many KITS per year?
- Induced ovulators - common to have phantom pregs = reflex
- 60 kits per year
- ovulate 10-13 hrs after coitus
Gestation length
30-33 days
Name of parturition
Kindling - lasts around 30 mins
How are young born
altricial and require maternal care (no hair, eyes and ears closed) Hares are more developed!
Type of uterus
Duplex uterus with left and right cervix with separate uterine horns
Kits feeding habits
- feed only once/twice daily for 3-5 minutes
- Rabbit milk has higher fat (9%), protein (13%) and calorie content than other mammalian milk
- Solid food 18-21 days as stomach pH starts to drop
How many times does a does water requirement go up dueing lactation
10 X during lactation!
Sexing rabbits
- Best to do at weaning (5-8 weeks)
- Keep checking
- males no nips
- HARD!
- Penis be extruded using gentle digital pressure from 2 months old
- male 2 hairless ‘pockets’ can be seen either side of urogenital area = scent glands
Testes
- Descend 10-14 weeks
- Large epidydimal fat pads
- Open inguinal canal meaning testes can easily be retracted into abdomen
Accessory sex glands
• Seminal vesicles, prostate, paired bulbourethral glands
What age can we castrate?
3 months
Positives to castration
- Entire males will often fight
- Can castrate each other with their teeth
- Castration reduces aggression, stops spraying so easier to litter train, no babies, allow to be housed with other rabbit either sex
Vagina
Large and saccular
Thin walled and flacid, can look like bladder!
Why neuter female rabbits
- Negate pseudo pregnancy
- Reduce risk of uterine cancer
- Reduced aggression of female rabbits
- Negates risk of uterine pyometra or carcinoma - uterus cancer which they can get from young age
- Reduce risk of mammary tumour
- Population control
When neutering what to think of
Uterus and ovarian pedicle are friable so require gentle tissue handling
Why is pseudopregnancy very possible
• Caused by infertile mating or presence of a male nearby (sometimes spontaneous ovulation) – may see changes in hormones and false-pregnancy like changes in behaviour
• One false pregnancy, often leads to more
- CL secretes progesterone, mammary glands enlarge, nest building
Integument - scent glands
3 sets, present in both sexes:
• Inguinal (either side of genitals
• Submental (under the chin)
• Anal
Rabbit Feet
- No footpads, just fur
- Can predispose to ulcerative conditions
- Ulcerative pododermatitis
- Generally exacerbated by hard cage surfaces and unhygienic conditions
- More common in overweight animals or those with thin coat (rex)
Rabbit skeleton
- very light and flexible
2. Indoor living makes prone to osteoporosis and fractures
What makes rabbits more prone to osteoporosis
- Indoor living
- Obesity
- not enough Vit D, therefore calcium uptake
- Low calcium diets