Rabbit Scientific name,Rabbit Domestic,Rabbit History,Rabbit Terminology,Rabbit Diet,Rabbit Digestion,Rabbit Reproduction,Rabbit Health,Rabbit Advantage and Rabbit Disadvantage,Rabbit Picture HD

hello Friends today we talk on Indian Rabbit.

Scientific name: Oryctolagus cuniculus

Lifespan: 9 years (In the wild)

Gestation period: Female: 28 – 35 days (Adult)

Trophic level: Herbivorous 

Mass: 1 – 2.5 kg (Adult)

Length: 34 – 50 cm (Adult, Without Tail)

At present, there are 38 breeds and 19 strains of domestic rabbits throughout the world recognized by American Rabbit Breeder Association (ARBA). Only 8-10 breeds of rabbits are available in India predominantly in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and Tripura.

Domestic Rabbit

A domestic or domesticated rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus)—more commonly known as a pet rabbit, a bunny, a bun, or a bunny rabbit—is a subspecies of European rabbit. A domestic rabbit kept as a pet may be considered a pocket pet, depending on its size. A male rabbit is known as a buck, a female is a doe, and a young rabbit is a kit, or kitten.

Rabbits were first used by the Romans as sources of food and fur, and have been kept as pets in Western nations since the 19th century. Beginning in the 1980s, the idea of the domestic rabbit as a house companion, a so-called house rabbit, was promoted. Rabbits can be litter box-trained and come when called, but they need exercise and can damage a house that is not "rabbit proof." Unwanted rabbits end up in animal shelters, especially after the Easter season. Because they have become invasive in Australia, pet rabbits are banned in the state of Queensland.

History

Phoenician sailors visiting the coast of Spain c. 12th century BC, mistaking the European rabbit for a species from their homeland (the rock hyrax Procavia capensis), gave it the name i-shepan-ham (land or island of hyraxes).The captivity of rabbits as a food source is recorded as early as the 1st century BC, when the Roman writer Pliny the Elder described the use of rabbit hutches, along with enclosures called leporaria [fr]. A controversial theory is that a corruption of the rabbit's name used by the Romans became the Latin name for the peninsula, Hispania. In Rome, rabbits were raised in large walled colonies with walls extended underground. According to Pliny, the consumption of unborn and newborn rabbits, called laurices, was considered a delicacy.

Evidence for the domestic rabbit is rather late. In the Middle Ages, wild rabbits were often kept for the hunt. Monks in southern France were crossbreeding rabits at least by the 12th century AD. Domestication was probably a slow process that took place from the Roman period (or earlier) until the 1500s.

In the 19th century, as animal fancy in general began to emerge, rabbit fanciers began to sponsor rabbit exhibitions and fairs in Western Europe and the United States. Breeds of various domesticated animals were created and modified for the added purpose of exhibition, a departure from the breeds that had been created solely for food, fur, or wool. The rabbit's emergence as a household pet began during the Victorian era.

The keeping of the rabbit as a pet commencing from the 1800s coincides with the first observable skeletal differences between the wild and domestic populations, even though captive rabbits had been exploited for over 2,000 years. Domestic rabbits have been popular in the United States since the late 19th century. What became known as the "Belgian Hare Boom" began with the importation of the first Belgian Hares fro Phoenician sailors visiting the coast of Spain c. 12th century BC, mistaking the European rabbit for a species from their homeland (the rock hyrax Procavia capensis), gave it the name i-shepan-ham (land or island of hyraxes).The captivity of rabbits as a food source is recorded as early as the 1st century BC, when the Roman writer Pliny the Elder described the use of rabbit hutches, along with enclosures called leporaria [fr]. A controversial theory is that a corruption of the rabbit's name used by the Romans became the Latin name for the peninsula, Hispania. In Rome, rabbits were raised in large walled colonies with walls extended underground. According to Pliny, the consumption of unborn and newborn rabbits, called laurices, was considered a delicacy.

Evidence for the domestic rabbit is rather late. In the Middle Ages, wild rabbits were often kept for the hunt. Monks in southern France were crossbreeding rabits at least by the 12th century AD. Domestication was probably a slow process that took place from the Roman period (or earlier) until the 1500s.

m England in 1888 and, soon after, the founding of the American Belgian Hare Association, the first rabbit club in America. From 1898 to 1901, many thousands of Belgian Hares were imported to America. Today, the Belgian Hare is one of the rarest breeds, with only 132 specimens found in the United States in a 2015 census.

The American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) was founded in 1910 and is the national authority on rabbit raising and rabbit breeds having a uniform Standard of Perfection, registration and judging system. The domestic rabbit continues to be popular as a show animal and pet. Many thousand rabbit shows occur each year and are sanctioned in Canada and the United States by the ARBA. Today, the domesticated rabbit is the third most popular mammalian pet in Britain after dogs and cats.

Terminology

Male rabbits are called bucks; females are called does. An older term for an adult rabbit is coney, while rabbit once referred only to the young animals. Another term for a young rabbit is bunny, though this term is often applied informally (especially by children and rabbit enthusiasts) to rabbits generally, especially domestic ones. More recently, the term kit or kitten has been used to refer to a young rabbit. A young hare is called a leveret; this term is sometimes informally applied to a young rabbit as well. A group of rabbits is known as a "colony" or a "nest.

Diet

As a refinement of the diet of the wild rabbit, the diet of the domestic rabbit is often a function of its purpose. Show rabbits are fed for vibrant health, strong musculoskeletal systems, and—like rabbits intended for the fur trade—optimal coat production and condition. Rabbits intended for the meat trade are fed for swift and efficient production of flesh, while rabbits in research settings have closely controlled diets for specific goals. Nutritional needs of the domestic rabbit may also be focused on developing a physique that allows for the safe delivery of larger litters of healthy kits. Optimizing costs and producing feces that meet local waste regulations may also be factors. The diet of a pet rabbit, too, is geared toward its purpose—as a healthy and long-lived companion.

Hay is an essential part of the diet of all rabbits and it is a major component of the commercial food pellets that are formulated for domestic rabbits and available in many areas. Pellets are typically fed to adult rabbits in limited quantities once or twice a day, to mimic their natural behavior and to prevent obesity. It is recommended only a teaspoon to an egg cup full of pellets is fed to adult rabbits each day. Most rabbit pellets are alfalfa-based for protein and fiber, with other grains completing the carbohydrate requirements. "Muesli" style rabbit foods are also available; these contain separate components—e.g., dried carrot, pea flakes and hay pellets as opposed to a uniform pellet.

These are not recommended as rabbits will choose favored parts and leave the rest. Muesli style feeds are often lower in fiber than pelleted versions of rabbit food. Additionally numerous studies have found they increase the risk of obesity and dental disease. Minerals and vitamins are added during production of rabbit pellets to meet the nutritional requirements of the domestic rabbit. Along with pellets, many commercial rabbit raisers also feed one or more types of loose hay, for its freshness and important cellulose components. Alfalfa in particular is recommended for the growth needs of young rabbits.

Digestion

Rabbits are hindgut fermenters and therefore have an enlarged cecum. This allows a rabbit to digest, via fermentation, what it otherwise would not be able to metabolically process.

After a rabbit ingests food, the food travels down the esophagus and through a small valve called the cardia. In rabbits, this valve is very well pronounced and makes the rabbit incapable of vomiting. The food enters the stomach after passing through the cardia. Food then moves to the stomach and small intestine, where a majority of nutrient extraction and absorption takes place. Food then passes into the colon and eventually into the cecum. Peristaltic muscle contractions (waves of motion) help to separate fibrous and non-fibrous particles. The non-fibrous particles are then moved backwards up the colon, through the illeo-cecal valve, and into the cecum. Symbiotic bacteria in the cecum help to further digest the non-fibrous particles into a more metabolically manageable substance. After as little as three hours, a soft, fecal "pellet," called a cecotrope, is expelled from the rabbit's anus. The rabbit instinctively eats these grape-like pellets, without chewing, in exchange keeping the mucous coating intact. This coating protects the vitamin- and nutrient-rich bacteria from stomach acid, until it reaches the small intestine, where the nutrients from the cecotrope can be absorbed.

The soft pellets contain a sufficiently large portion of nutrients that are critical to the rabbit's health. This soft fecal matter is rich in vitamin B and other nutrients. The process of coprophagy is important to the stability of a rabbit's digestive health because it is one important way that which a rabbit receives vitamin B in a form that is useful to its digestive wellness. Occasionally, the rabbit may leave these pellets lying about its cage; this behavior is harmless and usually related to an ample food supply.

When caecal pellets are wet and runny (semi-liquid) and stick to the rabbit and surrounding objects, they are called intermittent soft cecotropes (ISCs). This is different from ordinary diarrhea and is usually caused by a diet too high in carbohydrates or too low in fiber. Soft fruit or salad items such as lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes are possible causes.

Reproduction

Rabbits have a reputation as prolific breeders, and deservedly so, in part because rabbits reach breeding age quickly. To prevent unwanted offspring and to possibly benefit the rabbit's behavior, rabbits may be spayed or neutered at sexual maturity: 4–5 months for small breeds (e.g., Mini Rex, Netherland Dwarf), 5–6 months for medium-sized breeds (e.g., Rex, New Zealand), and 6–7 months for large breeds (e.g., Flemish Giant). Bucks usually require more time to sexually mature than does, and they normally reach adult sperm counts at 6–7 months.

Rabbits, like all mammals, produce milk for their young. Female rabbits have six to eight nipples and produce milk for four weeks after birthing. Rabbit milk is relatively high in fat, as a percentage by mass. While most species produce approximately 5% milk fat, rabbits produce 12%. The excerpted table below compares milk characteristics among mammals.

Species	Fat %	Protein %	Lactose %	Ash %	Total Solids %
Donkey	1.2	1.7	6.9	.45	10.2
Bison	1.7	4.8	5.7	.96	13.2
Rabbit	12.2	10.4	1.8	2.0	26.4
Polar Bear	31.0	10.2	0.5	1.2	42.9
Gray Seal	53.2	11.2	2.6	0.7	67.7

Health

Disease is rare when rabbits are raised in sanitary conditions and provided with adequate care. Rabbits have fragile bones, especially in their spines, and need support on the belly or bottom when they are picked up.Spayed or neutered rabbits kept indoors with proper care may have a lifespan of 8 to 12 years, with mixed-breed rabbits typically living longer than purebred specimens, and dwarf breeds having longer average lifespans than larger breeds. The world record for longest-lived rabbit is 18 years.

Rabbits will gnaw on almost anything, including electrical cords (possibly leading to electrocution), potentially poisonous plants, and material like carpet and fabric that may cause life-threatening intestinal blockages, so areas to which they have access need to be pet-proofed.

Advantage and Disadvantage

The advantages of keeping rabbits as pets is that they are clean, smart, cute, soft and have a low carbon footprint. They may or may not react favorably to handling and petting depending on their personality and how they were raised. There are also many different sizes and characteristics available, owing to a long history of breeding. Rabbits are friendly to each other and are often compatible with other pets. Rabbits are herbivores and their diet is relatively simple. Compared to other small animals kept as pets, rabbits are physically robust creatures with strong hind legs that enable them to run fast, and they have powerful teeth. Rabbits should never be picked up by the ears or the "scruff" on the back of their neck because "their skeletons are light compared to their bodies, and they susceptible to trauma from falling, twisting, and kicking". Rabbits breed rapidly and so it is often easy, and affordable, to find one to buy or adopt.

Some disadvantages of keeping rabbits as pets is that they may chew many things in the house. Unneutered male rabbits may spray their territory with a strong-smelling urine, unspayed female urine is also pungent, and so the litter box may smell. Rabbits can bite and scratch, and may do so to communicate displeasure, or if ignored; it is a part of normal communication and cannot be stopped entirely. They have to be picked up and handled properly to avoid injury to the rabbit or the owner. They may leave faeces around the house and are not always that conscious of leaving their droppings in the litter box. Rabbits can potentially be aggressive and territorial. Some rabbits may also be unfriendly, and then would be unsuitable as pets for children.

Rabbits have a different body language to the most common domestic pets: cats and dogs. If someone wants a rabbit and is only familiar with those pet animals, then they would have to learn a lot about caring for this species and the behaviour of rabbits. They are often compared to guinea pigs but they may be as similar, in care and behaviour, to guinea pigs as they are to cats. Like cats, they are smart and can be litterbox trained. They also use their teeth and claws as weapons of defense and they can jump like a cat. They are quiet like a cat and independent, but they are also quite curious. Another animal they might be compared to is a chinchilla.

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