MOD 3 - COURSE 3 - PT 6 - RABBIT Flashcards
WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON RABBITS USED?
New zealand white - NZW
Oryctolagus cuniculus
what group are rabbits calssified in?
- lagomorphs
what are rabbits often used as models for?
- serum antibody production
- drug screening
- pyrogen testing - fever-causing drugs
- atherosclerosis - hardening of arteries
what proponent of rabbits are involved in thermoregulation
- long vascular ears
what is important to note baout rabbits skeleton?
light skeleton adn strong muscle - can break bones easily - impropert handling can lead to broken back
what are the characteristic of urine of rabbits
- high amount of minerals
- can be clear red, yellow, milky yellow
what are the dental formulat of rabbits
I 2/1, C 0/0, P 3/2, M 3/3
how can malocclusions in rabbits
- the second set of upper inscisors - peg teeth - teeth continue to grow
can rabbits vomit
no! - no neurophyscal means - presurgical fasting - not needed in rabbits
how to rabbits digest plant material
- rabbits are herbivore - kind gut fermenters - digest plant mateiral in caecum - need higher dietary fibre - reduce obesity and better digestion
what is the specific type of stools in rabbits?
- normally produced at night
- faeces, white, thick mucous
- rabbits will then eat it - again very quickly - recycle water and vitamine B and protein
what will alter the production of cecotropes (feaces of rabbits)
- low fiber diets, because if the hypomotility of the hind gut and prolonged retention time of material in cecum
- the hypommotility may lead to diarrhoea or caecal impaction
how doe the use of cervical collars after surgery impact diet and feaces
- the collar will prevent the rabbit from bending over to reacg the posterior area of the body - prevents aniamls form consuming the exprelled cecotropes
- therefore should be used as a last resort - and should be remved at ealiest opportunities
rabbits = extremely vulnerable t microbial imbalances in teh cecum and colon
- what are the factors that can contribute toward developing an enteropathy?
- Destablisation of gut microbial pipulation due to infectious agens - leads to proliferation of E.coli and clostridium, - due to pH changes or antibiotic treatment
- dietatry factors - when fibre content = low digestible carbohydrate overload causes exnterotoxemia - associated factors = acidification of cecum, overgrowth of E.coli and clostridia and reduced volatile fatty acid production
- stress - due to inhibition of intestinal motility - common stress factors are enviornemntal temp changes, dietary change and trasnportation
how do you sex a male rabbit (buck)
- external scrotum and testicles
- pressure to protrude the penis
how do you sec a female rabbit (doe)
- young rabbits urogenital region for sexing - female vulva is a pointed slit
- male prepuse appears round
what are the female rabbits oestrous cycle features?
- females dont have a true oestrous cycle - ovulation occurs after mating - induced ovulation
- nesting materials should be provided
- polygamous - have more than one mate
what does it mean that newborn rabbits - KITs = atricial
- theyre blind and helpless
when do rabbits reach sexual maturity
- 4-6 months
how regularly ar efemales receptive to breeding
- 4-6 day intervals
what is the gestation time of rabbits
- 29-35 days
what is teh normal litter size of rabbits
- 4-10
how frequent is cannibalism in rabbits?
- faily common especially ins dirst litter aniamls - should not be disturbed to prevent them from killing their younf
how long is weaning in rabbits?
- 4-6 weeks but baby rabbits begin eating fru food at about 3 weeks of age
