Unfortunately, there is no easy way to tell the age of a rabbit. It is not really possible to establish a certain date of birth or a certain number of years; however, by paying attention to some specific characteristics, you should be able to tell if he is young (newborn or adolescent), adult or elderly. In fact, with a few more observations, you can define what stage of life it is in, but nothing more.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Assessing the General Age
Step 1. Use general categories to classify the rabbit
This is an effective way to start the evaluation. A rabbit is considered young up to 9 months of age, it is an adult when it is from 9 months to 4-5 years, while it is old when it is over 4-5 years old.
Some specimens live up to 10-12 years
Step 2. Don't think it's easy to define age
The reason is given by the fact that these nice creatures do not have any distinguishable physical characteristics or qualities that change with the passing of the years; unlike many other animals, young and old rabbits look very similar indeed.
This is a feature that contrasts with horses, for example, whose age is easy to accurately define by simply examining their teeth, because they have peculiarities that develop and change as these animals age. Even if there were characteristic marks in rabbit teeth, those on the molars would still be difficult to spot, as these teeth are located in the back of the mouth and special tools are needed to see them
Step 3. Examine the rabbit's general appearance and behavior
You can draw up a list of all the peculiarities of the animal to estimate its age. The aspects you can look for are:
- Activity level: Do you regularly manifest a playful attitude or are your predominant activities to eat and sleep? Does he make smooth, graceful movements or does he feel stiff and sore?
- Overall Appearance: Is it covered with a soft and shiny coat or a rough and dull coat?
- Physical integrity: do you have heel sores (pododermatitis)?
Part 2 of 3: Finding out if it's a Baby or a Teenager
Step 1. Determine if he is still a puppy
Is he still growing up and still spending a lot of time with his mom? At birth these little animals are blind and deaf; they are very young and drink their mother's milk once or twice a day, usually at night.
- When they are 6-8 days old, their eyes and ears open and a fine fluff begins to develop; at two weeks they are completely covered with hair.
- At this age they begin to show interest in grass, vegetation and begin to gnaw on it; at three weeks they leave the nest regularly and react promptly to noises.
- At the age of 4-5 weeks the mother begins weaning and the bunnies look like miniature adults. This phase typically ends around 8 weeks of age, after which the puppies no longer feed on their mother's milk.
Step 2. Determine if your little friend is fully grown
To evaluate it, you need to know the size that an adult specimen of the specific breed you are looking at reaches. If you are unsure whether you have an adult small breed rabbit or a young one of a large breed, take a photograph each week and compare the images.
- If necessary, make sure that the same object always appears in the weekly "portrait", to have a term of comparison, or a ruler.
- Depending on the breed, the rabbit continues to grow until the age of 6-9 months (the time of maximum development for larger breeds).
Step 3. Examine the reproductive behavior of your specimen
The rabbit is adolescent when it begins to produce fertility hormones; this development usually occurs from the fourth month and a 4-6 month old animal begins to show interest in the opposite sex.
During adolescence he tends to be very curious, inquisitive and likes to look around his environment; if he meets another specimen of the same sex, the hormonal spike causes him to fight and struggle. In this phase of life it can be reactive and tends to tap its hind leg often when perceiving dangers; when, on the other hand, it encounters a specimen of the opposite sex, it generally tries to mate
Part 3 of 3: Distinguishing an Adult Rabbit from an Elder One
Step 1. Look for behaviors that indicate whether it is an adult or an elderly specimen
Adult rabbits continue to struggle and be aggressive to mate, but are often less curious about their surroundings; they tend to be active when they wake up and eat, splitting their time between these activities and sleeping. When it wakes up, the leporid gives the impression of being very alert and interacting with outer space.
Older individuals tend to sleep more and eat less, and are also prone to losing weight and thinning; when they are awake they may react less to the situations around them and seem less interested in the environment
Step 2. Look at its general appearance
A young specimen is still growing and you may therefore recognize changes in size. In adulthood he reaches the peak of physical strength and is likely to have a shiny and shiny coat, lively eyes, a good weight (perhaps he is also plump) and moves in an easy and fluid manner.
On the other hand, the elderly rabbit has dull coat because they do not groom themselves regularly. It may have impaired vision and hearing and not interact with its surroundings as much as an adult specimen; when it moves it appears stiff, clumsy it tends to move by sliding forward instead of hopping
Step 3. Check for pododermatitis
There is no scientific link between this disorder and age, but some breeders have noted that older specimens are more likely to suffer from it. It is an inflammation that can be caused by body weight, which acting on the thin skin of the heels creates friction and causes the hair to fall, making the epidermis thicken.
- There are several factors that can lead to this disease, including the weight of the animal (the heavier it is, the greater the risk), the thickness of the bedding material (insufficient substrate leads to a higher chance of disease) and the level of cleaning or not of the kennel (if the material is wet with urine it burns the hair making it fall).
- It is unlikely that a young rabbit will present all these problematic factors at the same time, therefore it is quite rare that it suffers from pododermatitis; however, in older animals these risk factors increase and animals may therefore be affected more frequently.
Step 4. Check the pet's teeth
It can present excessive dental growth at any stage of life, more easily caused by diet and lack of wear, rather than age; however, older individuals tend to eat less and therefore teeth are more likely to overgrow.
