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How to detect suspicious sick rabbits early? A must-read for rabbit keepers

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Examine the ear color of a healthy rabbit: pink, with bright eyes. If the ears are red or light purple, it means the rabbit is overheated; placing it in a ventilated hutch to rest a while will relieve it. If the ears are pale and feel cool to the touch, it means the rabbit has drunk too much cold water or has caught a chill; on auscultation there will be a sloshing sound in the abdominal cavity, and placing the sick rabbit on a heated kang to warm its belly will suffice. If a young rabbit's ear tips bend forward or droop slightly, it means its body temperature is high; let it move about freely for a while to help bring the temperature down. If a rabbit's eyeballs look dull, it indicates the air in the hutch is foul, and ventilation should be carried out promptly. A rabbit running clear watery nasal discharge is a precursor of common cold,

Examine the ear color of a healthy rabbit: pink, with bright eyes. If the ears are red or light purple, it means the rabbit is overheated; placing it in a ventilated hutch to rest a while will relieve it. If the ears are pale and feel cool to the touch, it means the rabbit has drunk too much cold water or has caught a chill; on auscultation there will be a sloshing sound in the abdominal cavity, and placing the sick rabbit on a heated kang to warm its belly will suffice. If a young rabbit's ear tips bend forward or droop slightly, it means its body temperature is high; let it move about freely for a while to help bring the temperature down. If a rabbit's eyeballs look dull, it indicates the air in the hutch is foul, and ventilation should be carried out promptly. A rabbit running clear watery nasal discharge is a precursor of common cold; when the nasal discharge changes from serous to mucous and finally to thick purulent, it is a sign that the condition is worsening.

Look mainly at the droppings. Normal rabbit droppings are pellet-shaped, with a fine, glossy surface, somewhat like an oiled skin. If the droppings are in a pile, it indicates the rabbit has a gastrointestinal illness. Dry, hard, small fecal pellets are a sign of constipation, and more succulent green forage should be fed; droppings that are piled up, thin and watery, bloody, mixed with mucus and gas bubbles, and accompanied by a foul fishy odor are symptoms of dysentery, enteritis or coccidiosis, and the rabbit should be isolated promptly and treated according to the symptoms. In addition, observe the rabbit's mental state: a healthy rabbit is lively and active, with a strong appetite, especially eating a lot and quickly at night, and making a crisp sound when chewing forage. Conversely, a sick rabbit is listless, with eyes half open and half closed, often crouching in a corner of the hutch, with reduced appetite and no desire to eat.

Feel: a healthy rabbit dodges when touched and is not easy to handle, and has a sturdy constitution, with full muscles along the back and loin and powerful, springy limbs. A sick rabbit, however, often does not dodge, and may even move feebly, with a thin body, prominently exposed hip bones, and a spine like abacus beads. If you touch a doe with your hand and her dorsal vertebrae stay still and she shows an arched back with her hind legs raised, it indicates the rabbit is in estrus and should be taken out for mating immediately.

Measure: on the basis of examining, looking and feeling, then measure the body temperature. The normal body temperature of a healthy rabbit is 38.5 degrees C to 39.5 degrees C. Generally, young rabbits have a higher body temperature than adults, and old rabbits have a lower body temperature than young and mature rabbits; at the same time, it is slightly higher in summer than in winter, and slightly higher in the afternoon than in the morning. A sick rabbit's body temperature either rises or falls.

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