How long for quarantine?

trinityoaks · #1 01/04/10, 08:05 PM

How long should you quarantine recently acquired rabbits? What if they came from the same breeder as your existing rabbits (and no others have been introduced into your herd)?

Also, how far apart should they be?

budwpm · #2 01/04/10, 08:41 PM

To be the safest I would put them downwind to the others by 20+ feet for 3 weeks. Typically I only keep them separate for 4 to 7 days which isn't long enough but I look at the rabbit, it's attitude, and the breeder. Sketchy breeders or unclean breeders raise concerns but at the same time if a unclean breeder sells you rabbits covered in poop and with mites then they haven't tried to cover anything up and what you see is what you get. The rabbits I just recently got had mites but I went ahead and put them close to my herd because they were bad enough she had not covered anything up and I planed to treat every one of my rabbits for mites because mites run ramped in the south.

General Brown · #3 01/04/10, 08:52 PM

I just brought home a new doe yesterday, and put her right in the same building with the others. However, I know the breeder well and dont have any worries. This was the first new rabbit to my rabbitry in well over a year.

If I didn't know the breeder, I probably wouldn't get the rabbit, but thats just me.

MaggieJ · #4 01/05/10, 09:20 AM

I don't bring in new rabbits very often, but sometimes it is necessary. I quarantine for a month and keep them entirely separate. If the person you are buying from has a closed herd and your other rabbits are from him as well, you could relax these standards a bit, I would think. I suppose a lot depends on how heavy your investment is in your rabbits and also your tolerance for risk. The most important thing, IMO, is to feed and water the newcomers last, so as not to carry germs from them to your own rabbits.

ladysown · #5 01/05/10, 09:39 AM

one month is generally my minimum. sometimes goes longer depends on the rabbit, depends on the breeder, depends on my space available. NOW...if I get a rabbit from a breeder that I work with...different story, particularly if we pet sit each others rabbits.