Issue 23 | January 2022 — Small Animals
The Welfare of Captive Fish
Summary: Of all the species we keep as pets, fish are perhaps the least well-understood and least cared about in terms of their behavioral welfare. Recently, however, scientists have been researching fish cognition and learning that these animals have sophisticated...
By Tessa GonzalezIssue 16 | January 2022 — Small Animals
The Welfare of Pet Hedgehogs
Although hedgehogs have been domesticated for a significant period of time (dating back to B.C. times), they remain for the most part the solitary, relatively unsocial creatures that they are in the wild.1 Despite their rise in popularity, especially in recent years,...
By Luisa DeptaIssue 12 | April 2020 — Small Animals
Setting Everybunny Up for Success: Helping Rabbits Succeed in Their Adoptive Home. Part III: The Adoptive Home
Congratulations! You’ve just adopted one of the most popular pets on the planet. (Ellis, McCormick, Tinawro, 2017). To allow for focusing on the behavior aspects of life with a rabbit, let’s assume that you’ve set up a proper environment for your bunny, have the...
By Emily CassellIssue 11 | April 2019 — Small Animals
Setting Everybunny Up for Success: A 3-Part Series on Helping Rabbits Succeed in Their Adoptive Home
Part II: The Foster Home Foster parents are the backbone of any rescue operation. In addition, they are the best opportunity for animals to learn how to be part of a family. Fosters often fill a variety of roles, from simply being a holding space to nursing a sick...
By Emily CassellIssue 5 | February 2019 — Small Animals
Pawsimony: Needs Mustelid
We humans are always looking for evidence that our animal friends really do love us. That’s probably why videos like this one, which was described as a ferret mom insistently “showing” her human her new babies by leading him by the hand, are so consistently popular....
By Tiro Miller, PhDIssue 3 | July 2017 — Small Animals
Spotlight on Research: Rabbits in Shelters
According to the House Rabbit Society, rabbits are the third most commonly surrendered pets in the United States. Rabbits have also been steadily gaining in popularity as indoor pets in many parts of the world, with an estimated one million pet rabbits in the United...
By Clare Ellis, interviewed by the IAABC Foundation Editing TeamSpecies-Appropriate Enrichment for Ferrets
When I first started volunteering with a ferret shelter, I had owned ferrets for over 13 years, but I still knew very little about them. I understood my own ferrets, but the species and its behaviours were something of a mystery. What I didn’t know at the time was...
By Shannan SkitchIssue 2 | February 2017 — Small Animals
Enrichment for Small Animals and Birds in Shelters: Often Overlooked But Much Needed
Animal shelter staff members often find themselves caring for (and rehoming) many animals besides cats and dogs. Though many of us have come to realize the importance of enrichment for the small and exotic animals in our care, it is often left on the back burner...
By Dot Baisly, MS, CPDT-KAPet Rabbits: Further Research Warranted on Behavior and Husbandry
The domestic rabbit is a popular choice among keepers of small and exotic companion animals. Their appeal to the pet-owning public includes the potential to be spayed or neutered and litterbox trained, and that they stay a relatively small size yet possess big...
By Jessica Fritschi