Rabbit

From swinging single to peacefully cohabitating: A DIY way to managing rabbit socialization without breaking your budget

The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals requires that all animals, without veterinary or study exemptions, be socially housed. Our current caging only allows enough floor space to house one large rabbit per cage. With the Guide...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Dorman, B., Weir, D. E. 2014. From swinging single to peacefully cohabitating: A DIY way to managing rabbit socialization without breaking your budget. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 563 (Abstract #P54).

Laboratory animal behavior

The study of laboratory animal behavior has increased steadily over the last decade, with expanding emphasis on a variety of commonly used species. In the United States, this trend was initially focused on species for which there was a regulatory...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Human-Animal Interaction, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Baboon, Bird, Capuchin, Cat, Cattle, Chicken, Chimpanzee, Dog, Fowl, Gerbil, Goat, Guinea Pig, Hamster, Lemur, Macaque, Marmoset, Mink, Mouse, Other Nonhuman Primate, Owl Monkey, Rabbit, Rat, Rodent, Sheep, Squirrel Monkey, Vervet (African Green Monkey)

Citation: Bayne, K. A., Beaver, B. V., Mench, J. A. et al. 2015. Laboratory animal behavior. In: Laboratory Animal Medicine, 3rd edition. Fox, J. G., Anderson, L., Otto, G., et al. (eds). Elsevier, Inc., Amsterdam, NL. pp. 1617-1651.

Effects of semi-group housing and floor type on pododermatitis, spinal deformation, and bone quality in rabbit does

The most common housing system for reproduction rabbits, individual cage housing on a wire floor, is increasingly scrutinized because of its potential detrimental impact on animal welfare. We compared three types of housing: (1) individual cage housing on a wire...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Housing, Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Buijs, S., Hermans, K., Maertens, L. et al. 2014. Effects of semi-group housing and floor type on pododermatitis, spinal deformation, and bone quality in rabbit does. Animal 8(10), 1728-1734.

The effect of four different feeding regimes on rabbit behaviour

Dietary composition and presentation impacts on the behaviour of animals, and failure to provide a suitable diet can lead to reduced welfare through the development of poor health, the inability to express normal behaviours and the development of abnormal behaviours....

Year Published: 2015Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Prebble, J. L., Langford, F. M., Shaw, D. J. et al. 2015. The effect of four different feeding regimes on rabbit behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 169, 86-92.

Evaluating the effect of semi-group housing of rabbit does on their offspring’s fearfulness: Can we use the open-field test? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 162, 58-66

Breeding does are usually housed one doe per cage, but there is an increased interest in (semi-)group housing systems designed to improve welfare. However, there is a lack of information on how such systems actually affect different aspects of rabbit...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Buijs, S., Tuyttens, F. A. M. 2015. Evaluating the effect of semi-group housing of rabbit does on their offspring's fearfulness: Can we use the open-field test? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 162, 58-66.

Behaviour, wounds, weight loss and adrenal weight of rabbit does as affected by semi-group housing

Group housing is often assumed to improve the welfare of gregarious species. Whether this is actually the case depends on the advantages (e.g. more opportunity for social and locomotor behaviour) and disadvantages (e.g. increased fighting and wounding) induced by the...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Buijs, S., Maertens, L., Hermans, K. et al. 2015. Behaviour, wounds, weight loss and adrenal weight of rabbit does as affected by semi-group housing. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 172, 44-51.

An incidence of pseudopregnancy associated with the social enrichment of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculi)

Here we describe a case of pseudopregnancy in a New Zealand White rabbit as a result of pair housing with an aggressive conspecific. Clinical signs included fur pulling and nest building that developed shortly after separation from the aggressor. An...

Year Published: 2016Topics: ReproductionAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Carter, C. L, Adams, J. K., Czarra, J. A. et al. 2016. An incidence of pseudopregnancy associated with the social enrichment of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculi). JAALAS 55(1), 98-99.