Hair corticosterone concentration as a potential stress marker in pet rabbits

Background: As a prey species, rabbits tend to hide their illnesses and
injuries. Consequently, pet rabbit owners often do not notice that their pet
may be suffering.
Methods: Data on the housing and health of 34 dwarf rabbits were collected
from a total of 22 rabbit owners. A score from 0 (not stressed) to 3
(highly stressed) was assigned to each rabbit based on the owners’ reports.
Afterwards, the hair corticosterone concentration (HCC) of the rabbits was
analysed as an indicator of long-termstress.
Results: The mean HCC of all rabbits was 1.54 ± 0.64 pg/mg. Animals with a
stress score of 3 had a higher HCC (2.17 pg/mg) than those with a score of 0
(1.09 pg/mg) or 1 (1.44 pg/mg) (p < 0.05). HCC was not significantly affected
by sex or age (p > 0.05).
Limitation: Only a small number of rabbits were included in the study.
Therefore, the findings need to be confirmed in a larger cohort of animals.
Conclusion: HCC seems to be a promising stress marker in pet rabbits.