Myxomatosis rabbit immunity

There has been a study on rabbit immunity to the rabbit virus, Myxomatosis with results published in "Science".  The Natural History Museum in the UK has published an article about the way rabbit genes have evolved since the time of Charles Darwin who studied this in his own rabbit. 

'Often evolution works through big changes in single genes,' explains Joel, 'but our findings show that resistance to myxomatosis likely evolved through lots of small effects spread across the genome.'

Crucially, these all occurred in the same genes relating to immunity.

Hopefully, for our pet rabbits in Australia, the genes will continue to evolve until there is complete immunity to the dreaded, incurable rabbit Myxomatosis virus. 

Symptoms of Myxomatosis are:  reddening of both eyes, a pinkness and swelling of nose, ears and anus. The rabbit's ears will be hot. Gradually lesions appear. Finally the eyes will swell shut, the swelling in the rabbit's mouth will stop eating and drinking. 

If a rabbit is found with Myxomatosis, it should be taken to a vet for humane euthanasia as there is no treatment and no cure. 

Should a Rabbit be Caged?

Show a rabbit in a small cage over and over again and that is what becomes normal.

There is nothing more natural about a rabbit in a cage, than a woman in a kitchen. 

Pet shops continue to show rabbits in cages. They sell small cages that they call "Rabbit Cages" which are cruel homes for pet rabbits because of their small size and the bunnies can't hop around freely and in some cages they can't even stand up. 

People think that caging a rabbit is ok because that is the way the pet shops market them, as caged rabbits rather than as needing space to hop around in an enriched playpen or room in the house. 

Adopting a baby rabbit or adult rabbit

How about a cuddly baby rabbit? People often ask, “Should I adopt a baby rabbit or an adult rabbit”?  Well, the answer is that there is little difference but these are points to consider:

A baby rabbit will only remain tame and friendly if handled gently on a very regular basis. Many people are scared to pick up a rabbit because when they try, the rabbit jumps out of their grasp and runs away.  This often means that they just pat the rabbit, which is fine, but the problem there is that the baby bunny is never groomed, checked or has his or her nails clipped. This creates a health problem for the bunny as they do need daily checking and grooming with regular nail trims. 

Selecting an adult rabbit that is people friendly (having been gently and well handled as a baby) can easily be groomed and handled using the correct methods of picking up the rabbit and handling on the grooming table. 

For the house proud, a baby rabbit may still be learning to use the litter tray while an adult rabbit will already be accustomed to going straight to the tray which means a cleaner rabbit playpen and less tidying up each day. 

Some think that adopting a baby rabbit will mean a stronger bond between rabbit and bunny parent. Depending on how the baby is handled this may be true but an adult rescue rabbit will quickly grow to love his or her new owners if they are kind and interact often and well with the bunny.

The Rabbit Sanctuary has both adult and baby rescue rabbits in care.  Adoptable rabbits are listed on our site and our rabbit Foster Carers also add photos and information about the bunnies in their care to our Facebook group Adopt a Rabbit which you might like to visit and join. 

Hand Rearing a Baby Hare Leveret

People sometimes come across baby hares, known as leverets who have been somehow moved from their mother's nest or carried away by cats, birds or dogs or other predators. The Rabbit Sanctuary has set up an educational help group for people wanting to raise baby hairs, leverets. Here is a link to join our Hare Raisers facebook support group...

HARE RAISERS Public group · 386 members Join Group A group for those that love hares and raising them to release to a safe hare habitat. A Rabbit Sanctuary educational group.

Making hand-made hay bales with a box baler

Rabbit owners may like to make their own hay for their pet bunny. If you have a paddock of grass or if you can plant some ground with oats or other grass seed then harvest it with a scythe you can then either stack it into a haystack or make it into a bale of hay with a homemade box hay baler. Watch the video... _____________________________________________________________________

New Rabbit Sanctuary Website and Logo

The Rabbit Sanctuary has a brand new website and logo. Please have a look here

We would like very much to publicly thank Rebecca Darmanin for her hours of work and great talent in setting up the new website which will help us do what we do best and that is to rescue rabbits and rehome them to good homes. 

Please have a look around our new site as there is a lot of information about adopting a rabbit and caring for rabbits. 

2019 will herald in more exciting changes to our website to make it a very valuable resource for the rabbit owning community. 

We love our new logo which features a rabbit and a dandelion to indicate that time never runs out for rabbits at The Rabbit Sanctuary.  Once again we thank Rebecca as well as Melya who added our brand colours. 

The Rabbit as a Companion Pet

In Australia, pet rabbits have traditionally been kept in outdoor cages and hutches. This has resulted in rabbits being undervalued in our culture as a 'caged animal' rather than as a companion pet.

The Rabbit Sanctuary is encouraging people to think of the benefit to their family of a 'house rabbit'. On our website you will find quite a bit of information about keeping a rabbit in your home.

RHDV2 Rabbit Calicivirus Alert

Bunny owners may not be aware that there is a very deadly rabbit virus on the loose in Australia. It is known as RHDV2 Calicivirus and was released in Canberra in 2015 from a government laboratory in a security breach.

It has spread now to all states of Australia and rabbits are being reported as dying suddenly.

We encourage rabbit owners to:
Keep rabbits inside the house
Keep rabbits flea and fly free
Keep rabbits away from other rabbits either wild or domestic

There is no vaccine specifically for RHDV2 Calicivirus in Australia. Other countries such as USA, European countries and New Zealand have quickly moved to developing or importing a vaccine to protect pet rabbits and other domestic rabbits.

We suggest to pet rabbit owners that they contact their local MP and Federal MP to ask them to cut the red tape to allow the importation or manufacture of a vaccine to protect our pets.

The current vaccine, Cylap, protects against other strains of RHDV Calicivirus. We recommend vaccinating 6 monthly.

COMPETITION

COMPETITION! 

How to enter....

🐰Tell us why you would like to attend! Share this post to Facebook or other social pages. 

Rabbit Education & Fun Day...

Win Spring Conference tickets for 2!

www.rabbitrescue.com.au

A day of bunny fun & learning:

🐰Take home a rabbit show bag of goodies

🐰Learn how to avoid rabbit gut problems 

🐰Learn how to handle a difficult rabbit

🐰Learn how to groom & remove fur matting

🐰Learn how to have a fur-free house

🐰Find out about the magic of the Snuggle Coat

🐰Learn how to have a contented bunny

🐰Learn how to avoid destructive chewing

🐰Learn Rabbit Sanctuary handling & bonding methods

🐰Hands-on learning from experts

🐰Ask experts questions 

🐰Learn how to teach your rabbit tricks & jumping

🐰See a demo on rabbit show jumping & have a go

🐰Take home our parasite prevention knowledge 

🐰Learn how to feed and care for your rabbits 

🐰Learn how to protect bunnies from viruses

🐰Learn about rabbit teeth & dental health 

& so much more...

Draw Date: This Thursday 4/10/18

Rescue Rabbit Kissysnoot the Mini Lop

Donate to help the rescue rabbits

We are very pleased to announce that we now have a new donation system that is easy to use. You can simply select your donation amount, click and pay via a range of methods including PayPal, credit card etc.

Gold Sponsor SAN & Oxbow Australia!

We are proud to announce our Gold Sponsor SAN & Oxbow Australia!

Oxbow Australia are sponsoring our upcoming rabbit education event the Spring Conference 2018.

Oxbow Australia and SAN Specialised Animal Nutrition

Our keynote speaker is the highly qualified exotic vet Dr Deborah Monks. She will disclose the secrets of the rabbit's digestion and how not to lose your beloved pet rabbit to the dreaded and hard to treat gut stasis.

Oxbow Australia are the distributors for a premium quality range of rabbit hays, pellets and healthy treats that will help keep your rabbit fit, healthy and happy.

Click to Buy a ticket for The Rabbit Sanctuary Spring Conference!

Enquiries about
The Rabbit Rescue Sanctuary Spring Conference: Anna Nikolic annique.nikolic@gmail.com 

Join our facebook group: Australian Rabbit Owners

Join our facebook educational group: Australian Rabbit Owners

Australian Rabbit Owners Facebook Group · 5,707 members Join Group A group for Australian Rabbit Owners on Facebook. Where you can tell us about your rabbits, post pics and Ask Rabbit Questions! We will try to help. S...

Top 10 Tips for new rabbit owners

Top 10 Mistakes new rabbit owners make. Great tips here and well presented. Go to www.rabbitsanctuary.com.au to adopt a rabbit.

https://youtu.be/c6IlJTgsQrU 

Attend our rabbit rescue spring conference

Find out what topics and buy a ticket at The Rabbit Sanctuary educational Spring Conference in Tweed Heads. Check it out in our Rabbit Rescue Shop. 

Rabbit Surgery | Rabbit Anaesthetic

Rabbit Surgery and rabbit anaesthetic being performed by our Sydney vet Dr Marjorie at PETstock Vet Dural...




It is great to see vets taking a special interest in rabbit medicine and surgery in Sydney.

ADOPT A PAIR OF CHOCOLATE RABBITS

SAM & ROSIE RESCUE RABBITS

Sam and Rosie Rose need a loving indoor home. They are clean house rabbits. Their age is 9 months and they are friends. They are looking for a home together.  They are a small pair of bunnies. 

Rosie and Sam are cuddly. They just need a spot in your home where their indoor playpen can be placed with a litter tray, bowls and haybag inside.  They need a pet tunnel and box to hide in. 

Rosie is a lovely light chocolate colour and Sam is dark chocolate and white. 

VISIT THE RABBIT RESCUE SANCTUARY ADOPTION CENTRE

Visitors have loads of fun hand feeding and interacting with the rescue rabbits at The Rabbit Rescue Sanctuary Adoption Centre in Grafton. You can book a visit by texting Kim on 0416 062 947.

We encourage visitors to bring fresh kale to hand feed all the rescue bunnies.

Little black mini Lop Lyle Rescued

Lyle was today rescued from a tiny outside cage. He is adorable and is following his Foster Carer around and sitting at her feet! He is a 3-4 year old mini lop boy. He will be available for adoption desexed, vaccinated, microchipped. Apply on www.rabbitsanctuary.com.au

Update! Lyle goes in for his vet package this week at our Gosford Petstock Vet.

Currumbin Rabbit Pellets and Hay

we would like to thank Megan at Currumbin Pet and Stock Feeds for her spoport for our rabbit rescue. We recommend her barley hay and other fresh hays for rabbits on the Tweed. Our Tweed Heads rescue rabbit Foster Carers go to Currumbin as the hay is so fresh and top quality. We get the barley hay, Lucerne hay, protect litter from Currumbin Pet Stock Feeds.