We've been in our house about 10 years and now for the first time I'm seeing rabbits in the garden... not ours! I wondered if this could be because we'd put ours in a run further down the garden and the droppings may be attracting visitors. Anyhow, my question is if I need to take some steps to keep these visitors away from our buns. Ours would be in an enclosure, there's no way the rabbits could get to each other, but I'm wondering if there are diseases that could be transmitted with the odd nose-bump. Our rabbits have been vaccinated for *something* by the vet, not sure exactly what that was but it seemed pretty standard.
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Contact with wild rabbits
- Thread starter JamesK
- Start date
Vaccinating your Rabbits is really the only thing you can do to prevent them catching any disease, but of course it isn't 100% guaranteed. The other problem you could encounter, if the Wildies come close to your Rabbits, is referred aggression where your dominant Rabbit will want to attack the wild ones but can't, so attacks his mate instead. This is quite stressful for them. It isn't a good combination really and if wildies can get in presumably Foxes can also.
Wild rabbits can bring myxomatosis and RHD closer to your rabbits. Make sure their vaccinations are kept up to date every year, as they at higher risk with closer proximity to wildies.
As nice as wild rabbits are, I would want a barrier to stop them getting in the garden if there are pet rabbits there. Rabbits are prey animals and will attract various predators (foxes, cats, birds of prey) which won't see pet rabbits as any different. Even if the pets are in a secure enclosure, it doesn't stop the transmission of diseases or being spooked by predators. Pet rabbits may feel even more vulnerable to predators as they can't escape, even if they are not easily caught. The stress can cause all sorts of other health & behavioural issues.
As nice as wild rabbits are, I would want a barrier to stop them getting in the garden if there are pet rabbits there. Rabbits are prey animals and will attract various predators (foxes, cats, birds of prey) which won't see pet rabbits as any different. Even if the pets are in a secure enclosure, it doesn't stop the transmission of diseases or being spooked by predators. Pet rabbits may feel even more vulnerable to predators as they can't escape, even if they are not easily caught. The stress can cause all sorts of other health & behavioural issues.
