The rabbits

247. Watch your rabbits carefully to see that they are not sick. A rabbit may be sick or getting sick if it

· does not eat its food
· loses weight
· dirties the fur around its tail
· sits in strange positions or cannot move about easily
· has rough, dry fur.

248. If one of your rabbits becomes sick, take it out of its pen, wash the pen with soap and water and, when the pen is dry, put the rabbit back.

Sick rabbit

249. If a rabbit becomes very sick, take it out of its pen to keep the sickness from spreading to your other rabbits. This is especially important when there are many rabbits in the same pen.

250. If a sick rabbit dies, burn it at once to keep the sickness from spreading.

Burn the dead rabbit

251. Here are some other things that you should watch for, and what to do if your rabbits have them.

252. Sometimes rabbits have sore ears. This may be caused by very small mites under the skin inside the ear. If this happens to any of your rabbits, wash out their ears using a clean cloth and vegetable oil.

Wash out their ears

253. Sometimes rabbits have sore or runny eyes. This may be caused by flies, or they may have scratched their eyes. If this happens to any of your rabbits, wash out their eyes using a clean cloth and clean water.

Wash out their eyes

254. If any of your rabbits sneeze or rub their nose or have a runny nose, they may have a cold. Make sure that they are dry and protected from wind and rain. Make sure that their food is clean and free from dust.

Rabbit may have a cold

255. If any of your rabbits have sore or bleeding feet, it may be caused by a rough place or a wet, dirty floor in their pen. First, smooth out rough places and clean and dry the pen. Wash their feet in warm, soapy water and rinse and dry them well. Then, rub the bottoms of their feet with vegetable oil.

Wash their feet

256. Rabbits that live in pens often grow very long toe claws. If their claws become too long they may get caught in the pen floor and the rabbits may hurt their feet. If this happens trim the claws carefully. However, avoid the red centre of the claw.

Trim the claws carefully

257. If any of your rabbits become sick and you do not know what to do or you need help with a problem, your extension agent will be able to give you good advice.