Hello, my name is Anna Meredith, and I'm a vet that specializes in exotic and
wild animals.
Now, I'm going to be talking to you today about rabbits.
Sandra here is a very nice looking rabbit, and
actually rabbits aren't particularly exotic, but in veterinary terms, they come
under that category because they're not dogs, or cats, or farm animals, or horses.
So, exotic animal vets deal with all sorts of species, but including rabbits, and
guinea pigs, and small mammals.
So, rabbits are very popular pets.
They are increasing in popularity.
And we know there are about 1.7 million pet rabbits in the U.K. but unfortunately,
they don't get a very good deal sometimes when it comes to their health and welfare.
So it's really important to know how to look after rabbits properly
to keep them healthy and happy.
Now rabbits being prey species can get very easily stressed, and
one thing that often stresses them is being picked up.
So it's really important to be able to do that properly without injuring them and
without them getting too stressed.
So one way to pick up a rabbit is to use your right hand just under the chest and
gently lift the rabbit.
And then place your fingers, your index and third finger,
in between the front legs to secure those.
And then with your elbow and forearm, you scoop up the back end of the rabbit and
hold that against your body.
You can use your other hand if you want to just support underneath.
But here you can see I'm managing to do that with one hand, and
the rabbit feels nice and secure.
She's held tightly against my body.
And very importantly, I'm supporting the spine and those long powerful hind legs.
Now, rabbits, when they get stressed and struggle, often kick out with their
hind legs and they can really damage their spine, and even fracture it.
So, it's very important that you do that and support that back end of the rabbit.
Now, Sandra here is very used to being handled, but if he were to get
a bit stressed, another thing I could do would be to cover her eyes with my hand.
And that again, has a calming affect, and minimizes any stress to the rabbit.