5 Characteristics of a Healthy Rabbit

When looking to get a rabbit it is tempting to get the first one you see. Unfortunately, all rabbits aren’t all bred in the same way.

Some are looked after with more care than others and are much stronger than others.

So if you’ve come across this article, then I’m figuring that you are interested in finding some good physical characteristics or traits of a healthy rabbit.

This is a list of five good characteristics of a healthy rabbit that you should look out for when getting a rabbit.

This will really help in the long run with your rabbit and hopefully save you money in unwanted visits to the vet.

So here you go…

1. A healthy rabbit has a good clean coat

The coat of the rabbit should be clean clean and it should have a glossy glean to it.

There should be no sign of mites.

The coat should be clean around the anus and there should be no evidence of diarrhoea.

When a rabbit has diarrhoea, it is a sign of an unbalanced diet.

2. A healthy rabbit has a good set of eyes

Rabbits should have have bright eyes, and there should be no discharge from them.

Any discharge means that a rabbit will need a visit to the vet and they could be for a number of reasons, which are helpfully explained in this article which goes into the different reasons for rabbit eye discharge.

3. A healthy rabbit has a nice damp nose

Their nose should be damp but have no discharge from it and it should not be runny.

If they have a runny nose, then they need to get to the vet as soon as possible as they are probably suffering from an infection of the upper respiratory tract, which is very common with rabbits.

4. A healthy rabbit has dry front paws

Following on from number 3, their front paws should be dry.

If they are wet or they are matted then this is a sign that the rabbit has a runny nose and is using its paws to wipe its nose using its paws.

If you can’t see any discharge from their nose, then do check their paws.

5. A healthy rabbit has a good set of even teeth

The teeth of the rabbit should not be crooked or pertrude from its mouth.

The teeth of a rabbit should meet evenly.

When you examine a young rabbit, you should see that they are pointed until your rabbit begins to gnaw things.

Once your rabbit’s teeth have been gnawed sufficiently, they will become even and should meet together evenly.

Teeth problems can occur from chewing hard objects such as the wire on cages, from an injury or it can simply be inherited.

Even so, this can be dealt with, and this is a good article here that explains more about how to deal with crooked rabbit teeth.

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