Rabbit & Guinea Pig - Teeth,
Welfare and Nutrition
Teeth (Maloclussion)
causes
genetics - can be
inherited from the parents
injury - to the mouth
or skull can cause
the teeth to become
misaligned
infection - bacterial
infection in the teeth roots
could lead to changes in
the direction of growth
poor diet - diet too
low in fibre to ware
teeth down
signs
refusal to eat
weight loss
drooling - teeth cutting into
cheek can cause infection
swelling around jaw
facial abscesses
weaping
bad breath
sneezing
treatment
do not breed from
rabbits with
maloclussion
avoid rabbits
chewing bars
on cages
Welfare
maloclussion can be distresing
for rabbits. they will be in a lot of
pain.
in some cases the teeth can
grow backwards into the skull
and block the nasal ducts
providing the correct diet
for your rabbit is essential in
preventing maloclussion
can cause
distress
Nutrition
(Maloclussion) Feed a high fibre diet.
rabbits should be given hay to eat and
provided with ample gnawing materials.
rabbits are coprophagic, which means they
eat their own feaces. this enables them to
benefit from the realesed nutrients after the
firbre as already been broken down once.
rabbits constantly graze to obtain maximun
nutrients from thier high fibre diet
extruded vs. mixes
extruded feed - mashed up in pellet
form, allowes for a balanced diet
mixes - musli type food, vitamin
pellets and grass pellets separate,
allows rabbits and GP's to be
picky, which means they may not
be getting enough nutrients
Guinea pig - need
vitamin C in thier diet,
this can be proided in
complete GP food or by
adding ribeana in thier
water
lack of vit C can cause
scurvy (skin condition)
if rabbits and GP are housed
together caution should be
taken to ensure there are no
Coccidiostats in the rabbit food
as this is toxic to GP's (low leel
antibiotic for rabbits)