1. Main types and causes of pica in rabbits
1. Obsession: After the mother rabbit gives birth, she will eat some or all of her offspring. This condition occurs most in primiparous female rabbits, and most occurs within 3 days after the female rabbit gives birth. The main reasons for this situation are:
① Rabbits are nutritionally deficient, especially when pregnant rabbits are deficient in nutrients such as protein and minerals, they will easily eat offspring after giving birth.
② The female rabbit does not drink enough water before and after childbirth, and licks the placenta and placenta after childbirth. If the rabbit is too thirsty and the owner does not prepare water for it, the female rabbit is likely to put the baby rabbit. eat.
③ During and after giving birth, the female rabbit is highly nervous. If she is accidentally frightened by noise, vibration, etc. at this time, it will lead to mental disorder, resulting in the occurrence of feeding, walking, and female rabbits. Willing to breastfeed, etc.
④ During the delivery period of the female rabbit, the surrounding environment or bedding has a bad smell, and the female rabbit becomes suspicious, and finally eats the young rabbit as an enemy.
⑤ The female rabbit may develop a vicious habit after eating the cubs, and will still eat cubs in the subsequent delivery.
2. Trichophagia: In most cases, there will be no obvious abnormality in rabbits suffering from trichophagia, but the initial Rabbits can be seen with incomplete fur, but this is often considered alopecia. Later, as the rabbit’s lack of hair became more and more serious, a large area of hair was eaten. After careful observation of the rabbit, it was found that the rabbit had a trichome. Rabbits eat fur into two situations: self-eating and it-eating. Especially when raising rabbits in groups, if one rabbit eats fur, other rabbits may follow suit, and they tend to focus on eating the same rabbit. Rabbits eat wool mainly due to the lack of sulfur amino acids in their feed, and the climate of fluctuating hot and cold can induce this situation. Among them, the disease is mainly in growing rabbits from weaning to 3 months of age.
3. Foot-eating: rabbits eat the flesh of their own feet. Rabbits have this condition mainly when they suffer from leg fractures, foot dermatitis or athlete’s foot. Because the affected area is damaged, the blood circulation is blocked, and the metabolites cannot be discharged in time, so that the affected area is unbearable and itching occurs, causing food intake. Foot addiction.
4. Geophagy: Rabbits lick the soil on the ground, and especially like to lick the root soil and alkali chips on the wall. A survey found that most of the feeds of rabbit farms with these phenomena were deficient in salt, calcium, phosphorus and trace elements, so rabbit geophagy was considered to be caused by the lack of minerals.
5. Carnivora: Rabbits gnaw on wooden products in cages or rabbit houses. Some studies have shown that wood eating in rabbits is mainly caused by insufficient crude fiber content in rabbit feed and insufficient hardness of the feed. Rabbits are caused by the incisors not getting the wear they deserve.
The above are the types and corresponding causes of pica in rabbits that we have summarized. We hope that owners will pay more attention to avoid the above causes to prevent pica in rabbits .
