Thursday, December 30, 2010

The Secret, Revealed...................

My orders of new nipples for my rabbits arrived 2 days ago. It's not until now I'm able to look at the nipples carefully and I wonder how this nipples work.
So, I decided to dismantle one of the nipple and study it.
As you can see in the picture, the mechanism is very, very simple. a steel rod joined to a spring and attach to a red plastic screw thing.
To open this, I just used my furniture's Allen Key ( I think that's what they call it ). That mean the nipples can be adjusted to serve water to the animals.
If you push the steel rod and find it hard to move, just loosen the red plastic screw thing until you satisfied.

And to join the nipples together, 8mm tubes are the best solution. But how to join the tube to the bottle cap?
My solution is, use the tubeless motor tire valve. Cost me RM4.50 each and you can see it in the picture. But you have to remove the core inside it first.
If you don't remove it, there will be no water flow inside it. After that, assemble the valve as you like.

Now, after knowing the secret inside the nipples, I will assemble it, maybe during this weekend and I'll post back the result.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Monsoon Season... The Season That Sometimes Kills

Malaysia is now in the Monsoon Season. This season is most feared by all farmers and breeders. During this season, the unpredictable strong wind and heavy rainfall can cause death. The drop in the temperature at night can also kill the younglings. And afar from that, there are also some diseases that attack the rabbit during the rainy season in Malaysia. Several gastrointestinal diseases are most common and how to prevent and cure them:

1. Colibacillosis (
A diarrhea disease caused by Escherichia coli )

A. Etiology: Escherichia coli is a gram-negative, lactose-fermenting, indole positive rod. Rabbits are known to be affected by non-toxin producing, enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). EPEC adhere to the intestinal mucosa through a 2-step process. First, a bacterial pilus first allows attachment of the bacterial cell to the enterocyte. Second, a more intimate attachment through the eae pathogenicity island disrupts the cytoskeleton and destroys microvilli. A secretory diarrhea is induced by an unknown mechanism. Receptors for EPEC attachment to the epithelial cells are not present in newborn rabbits. They first appear at 21 days and reach normal adult levels by 35 days. The stress of weaning and loss of passively acquired maternal antibody contribute to susceptibility at this time.


B. Clinical Signs: Rabbits have diarrhea, fever, anorexia, and may consume more water than usual.


C. Pathology: Fecal-stained perineal fur and fluid-filled intestinal contents with serosal vascular injection are seen. Edema and pyogranulomatous cellularity of the lamina propria without mucosal ulceration are prominent histopathologic findings. Edema or hemorrhage can be seen in the submucosa. Small bacterial rods (arrow) adhered to and effacing enterocyte margins are common in the ileum and cecum.


D. Treatment: Fluid therapy and supportive care are indicated. The salicylates in Pepto bismol may be protective. Chlorpromazine (1 to 10 mg/kg IM) may help decrease fluid loss from the the secretory diarrhea.

2. Tyzzer's Disease


A. Etiology: Clostridium piliforme, an obligate intracellular bacterium, is a Gram-negative, pleomorphic, filamentous organism that can produce spores.


B. Transmission: The disease is spread by spore ingestion (fecal-oral). Spores can remain viable at moderate to freezing temperatures for extended periods of time (> 1 year). The disease is perpetuated in breeding colonies by the infection of bunnies born into the colony. The incidence of disease is moderate.


C. Clinical Signs: Usually rabbits are affected shortly after weaning when passive immunity, if present, has waned. Acute, profuse watery to mucoid diarrhea, dehydration and death within 12 to 48 hours after onset of diarrhea are typical. The mortality rate is high. Exposure of naive adult rabbits may cause little to no clinical disease.


D. Pathology: Lesions in weanling rabbits include edema and hemorrhage of mucosa, submucosa, and musculature of intestinal tract (A.). It is unusual to see an enlarged liver with multifocal tan to yellow foci of necrosis or hemorrhage of the myocardium as is described in the literature. Extensive mucosal necrosis with a granulomatous cellular mucosal infiltrate may occur in the ileum, cecum, and proximal colon. Visualization of the bacterium is enhanced with use of silver stains. Argyrophilic intracellular bacteria in clusters or "pick-up-sticks" or haystack clumps are present in viable enterocytes in areas of granulomatous enteritis (B.), and if heaptic necrosis is observed, in hepatocytes adjacent to an area of necrosis.


E. Diagnosis: Histopathological examination of liver or cecum stained with silver will be diagnostic if intracellular bacterial rods are observed. PCR of feces, intestinal tissue or liver can be used to document the presence of the bacterium. An ELISA is useful to detect antibody in recovered or asymptomatically infected rabbits.


F. Treatment: No therapy has been uniformly successful. Supportive therapy may help when the enteric disease is mild and the rabbit is still eating.
G. Control: Prevent overcrowding and use good sanitation techniques. Stresses such as weaning and high environmental temperature may precipitate an outbreak. To minimize the stress of weaning, let the bunnies stay in the original cage and remove the doe. Work to prevent temperature fluctuations and keep the rabbits well-ventilated in high temperatures with fans. The spores are resistant to many disinfectants. A 1% bleach solution will inactivate spores that remain after the fecal material has been washed off soiled cages. Temperatures of water used to clean cages may also inactivate spores if the cages and supplies are allowed to contact 180oF water for no less than 15 minutes.


3. Coccidiosis


A. Hepatic Coccidia

1. Etiology: Eimeria stiedae


2. Transmission: Ingestion of sporulated oocysts (unsporulated in freshly voided feces) is the mode of transmission. The incidence of infection is moderate to high.


3. Pathogenesis: Eimeria stiedae excysts in the duodenum, travels to the liver via the bloodstream or lymphatic, and invades epithelial cells of bile ducts to begin schizogeny.


4. Clinical Signs: Signs predominate in young rabbits and may include anorexia, debilitation, and pendulous abdomen with hepatomegaly noted on abdominal palpation. Mortality is low except in young rabbits.


5. Pathology: An enlarged liver with multifocal, flat, yellow-white lesions containing yellow exudate and occasionally a distended gallbladder that contains bile may be seen at necropsy (A.). The pathognomonic microscopic lesion is marked periportal fibrosis surrounding enlarged bile ducts lined with hyperplastic bile duct epithelium that harbors inflammatory cell infiltrates, and E. stiedae macrogametes, microgametocytes and oocysts.


7. Diagnosis: An antemortem diagnosis can be made by examination of feces by direct smear, flotation or concentration/flotation methods. It can be difficult to identify E. steidae oocysts in fecal specimens since they may not be readily shed in the bile. On necropsy, the recognition of the flat liver lesions and identification of oocysts in the bile provide diagnostic information. The histological appearance of liver with identification of intraepithelial coccidial organisms will allow diagnosis from tissue biopsies.


8. Treatment: Drugs approved as coccidiostats for rabbits used for meat in US include sulfamerazine (0.02% in water), sulfaquinoxaline (0.05% in water or 0.03% in feed), sulfamethoxine (75 mg/kg BW in feed), and lasalocid (68-113 gms per ton of feed). Hepatic coccidia are difficult to eliminate with anticoccidial therapy, and lasalocid has been the most successful of the listed drugs in treating hepatic coccidiosis.


9. Control: Rabbits should be housed on wire-meshed floors. Bottoms of cages are to be brushed daily to remove adherent feces, and cleaned and disinfected regularly (1% chlorox). Weanlings should be raised separate from adults. Feeding fresh greens or hay will prevent use of forage that may be contaminated with droppings from wild rabbits.

B. Intestinal Coccidia 

1. Etiology: Eimeria magna, Eimeria irresidua, Eimeria perforans, and Eimeria media are frequently observed pathogenic species. All species infect the intestinal tract and replicate in the absorptive epithelium of the mucosa.


2. Transmission: Transmission occurs by ingestion of sporulated oocysts. Incidence of infection is high.


3. Clinical Signs: Signs vary and are most severe in young rabbits. Poor weight gain, diarrhea ranging from mucoid to watery to hemorrhagic, polydipsia and sometimes acute death are seen. Older rabbits may shed coccidial oocysts without expression of clinical disease.


4. Gross Pathology: Fluid intestinal contents are often observed in heavily parasitized rabbits. One may see multiple white patches or ulcers on mucosal surface of the small or large intestine.


5. Diagnosis: Antemortem diagnosis can be made by examination of feces by direct smear, flotation or concentration/flotation methods. A postmortem diagnosis can be made on examination of mucosal scrapings and by observation of coccidial organisms on histological sections of intestine.


6. Treatment: As mentioned in the above section, drugs approved as coccidiostats for rabbits used for meat in US include sulfamerazine (0.02% in water), sulfaquinoxaline (0.05% in water or 0.03% in feed), sulfamethoxine (75 mg/kg BW in feed), and lasalocid (68-113 gms per ton of feed) have been provided in schedules of 3-weeks-on / 3-weeks-off periods.


7. Control: Rabbits should be housed on wire-meshed floors. Bottoms of cages are to be brushed daily to remove adherent feces, and cleaned and disinfected regularly (1% chlorox). Weanlings should be raised separately from adults. Feeding fresh greens or hay will prevent use of forage that may be contaminated with droppings from wild rabbits.

 

Taken from: All About Animals

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Brass or Steel ?

In my previous post I show 2 new gadget for the bunnies, today I'll post the same item, the nipple head, but from different material.
On my last post the nipple head was made using brass, but this one is made of stainless steel. After a few consultation I got from fellow breeders, they said that the brass can rust over a few period of time but not with the stainless steel. So, they suggest that for longer performance, the stainless steel is the best.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Acceptable Fruits and Vegetables for Rabbits

VEGETABLES

alfalfa, radish and clover sprouts
basil 
beet greens*
bok choy
broccoli*
brussels sprouts
carrots and tops*
celery
chard
cilantro
clover
collard greens
dandelion greens (pesticide free!)
endive
escarole
green peppers
kale**
mint
mustard greens
parsley*
pea pods (a.k.a. Chinese pea pods)*
peppermint leaves
radicchio
radish tops
raspberry leaves
romaine lettuce (NO iceberg or light-colored leaves!)
spinach*
turnip greens
watercress*
wheat grass 
 
 
FRUIT (NO seeds or pits)
apple (no seeds)
blueberries
pineapple (beneficial enzymes)
melon
papaya (beneficial enzymes)
peach
plum
raspberries
strawberries
Sugary fruits such as bananas and grapes should be fed only as occasional
treats. 
 
NO GRAINS, LEGUMES OR NUTS! 
*Good source of vitamin A, feed at least one daily 
**high in either oxalates or goitrogens, use sparingly 

Some Treats For Your Bunnies

Here are some recipe to feed your bunny… enjoy it.

( taken from the net )

 

 

Ingredients
500g grass hay
1cupo freshly cut grass
1/4 freshly picked clover
4
 green beans
2 celery tops-the leaves from the top of a stick of celery
6 carrot tops-just the leaves from freshly picked carrots
1/2cm slice of carrot(no more)
Serving method
Rinse your ingredients with clean water and serve immediately
Alternative greens include dandelions and radish tops.

Treats for rabbits
Ingredients
1 slice of apple,0.5cm thick
2-3 raisins
1
 pistachio nut
pinch of oatmeal
apple cider
dish of
 herbal tea
Serve treats fresh to your rabbit

Rabbits feelings poorly
Ingredients
2kg grass hay
1 cup freshly picked grass and clover
Serve fresh to your rabbit.

Source(s):

http://www.aaps.org.au/usefulinfo/rabbit…

 

Foods rabbits, guinea pigs should avoid
Brassicaceous vegetables
Vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and kale can cause too much gas to be produced if fed in large amounts to rabbits and guinea pigs

High Oxalate vegetables
Greens such as Spinach, beet leaves and to a lesser extent parsley can have high levels of oxalates. Fed in high amounts these can interfere with calcium metabolism and cause damage to kidneys. Carnivores are unlikely to consume enough of these to cause a problem but herbivores such as rabbits and guinea pigs could be at risk if fed these greens as the bulk of their diet. They are not a problem if they are fed in small amounts to healthy animals

Grain-based diets
These are too high in energy and do not contain enough effective roughage. the high energy results in fat pets and the lack of roughage contributes to dental diseases and poor intestinal health.


Recipes from Nibble Munch Chomp, the art and science of feeding your pet, by Dr. Sasha Herbert-Senior vet at the lord smith animal hospital.

 


Thursday, December 23, 2010

New Gadget On The Way.........

I've been searching for another alternatives to make my task feeding the rabbits easier. So, After searching the net, I finally found 2 item that can make my task easy.

Water Nipple Head - can be attached to a 8mm pipe and can be adjust to only use a single line  piping and single water tank. The spring that hold the nipple head is the main holder to make sure that the head never fall.

Zinc Pellet Box - will be the replacement for all my clay feeder and the metal feeder, which look alike but more expensive.

All of this will be arriving soon and for next year ( a week from now), My cages will be modified and a new installation will be made.

--

KNZ Supplies Enterprise

 

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