How Often Does My Pet Need A General Health Check?

Exotic pets are very good at hiding signs of illness; therefore, regular health checks are essential for your unusual pet’s health and happiness. As they say, ‘prevention is the best medicine’ and 6-12 monthly visits allow our veterinary teams to perform a thorough examination of your pet and detect any changes with their health before it becomes a serious concern.

What Does A Health Check Involve?

Our general health check visits are booked in for a dedicated 30-minute appointment. This time allows our veterinarians to perform a physical examination on your pet that focuses on checking your pets’ vital signs (heart, temperature, respiratory rate), eyes and ears, teeth, joints, and skin. It is a nose-to-tail examination. During a general health check, we will also discuss the husbandry and dietary requirements for your species of pet. If you have any concerns or questions regarding your exotics pet’s health, this is the perfect time to discuss them with your veterinary team.

What Happens If A Health Problem Is Detected During A Routine Health Check?

If a health problem is detected during a general health check visit, we will often admit your pet for the day to do more diagnostic testing. The benefit of identifying a health concern during one of your regular health checks is that we’ve likely caught it early. Therefore, medical treatment can be introduced at this early stage, improving your pet’s chance of recovery and survival. If you think your pet is overdue for a general health check or showing signs of illness, or they’re displaying unusual behaviour, make an appointment with your local Unusual Pet Vets team today.

Vaccinations

Ensuring your pet is up to date with their vaccinations is very important to prevent deadly diseases. Vaccinations involve your pet having a small injection under their skin that allows their body to become familiar with the inactivated disease particles. That way if they are ever exposed to the real disease, they are ready to fight it.

Currently, in Australia, there are no commercially available vaccines for amphibians, guinea pigs, rats, mice, parrots, or reptiles. However, we routinely vaccinate rabbits and ferrets in our local clinics and recommend it as an important part of their preventative health program.

Rabbit Vaccinations

Rabbits have been widely adopted and domesticated into many households as intelligent, inquisitive and gentle pets. This has led to the research and development of vaccinations for rabbits.

Several caliciviruses have been confirmed in Australia and we regularly see cases present to our clinics. Due to the prevalence, we recommend rabbits be vaccinated annually against calicivirus.

When Should Rabbits Be Vaccinated?

Most rabbits are vaccinated from ten weeks of age. If your rabbit is in a high risk situation (for example they are housed outdoors), then we can discuss giving an additional vaccination under ten weeks of age, with a booster four weeks later. However, for most indoor rabbits, one initial vaccination given after ten weeks of age, with a booster required annually, is appropriate.

Ferret Vaccinations

Ferrets are susceptible to the canine distemper virus. If contracted, it is fatal in most cases. Maintaining your ferret’s vaccination program is essential for their health and wellbeing.

When Should Ferrets Be Vaccinated?

Ferrets should commence their primary vaccination course when they are young, typically between 8-10 weeks of age. They will then require a second vaccination between 12-14 weeks. After this point, a booster is required every year for the rest of their life.

Our vaccination appointments also include full health and dental check-ups for your pet rabbit or ferret.

For more information on our rabbit or ferret vaccinations, please contact us directly or make an appointment online.

Other Services

Wing Clipping

We can perform wing clipping on some feathered friends. However, it is a service that requires consideration. We recommend that you think about and discuss with your veterinarian the reasons you are clipping them and what you hope to achieve.

It is important to consider your bird’s environment and how not having the same level of flight might impact them. If you would like to have a more detailed discussion about the pros and cons with one of our vets, make an appointment with your local Unusual Pet Vets team.

Nail Clipping

Are your pet’s nails getting a little sharp? Many pet’s, particularly those kept indoors, often don’t wear down their nails as they naturally would if they were out in the wild. Over time this leads to them becoming sharp and overgrown. Some nails will even curl back on themselves and start to dig into your pets foot which can be very painful.

We recommend regularly nail clipping for rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, many birds, some reptiles as well as some rats.

We offer free nail clipping with any consultation as well as a service on its own (without a consultation) for a small fee. To book your pet in just give us a call.

Microchipping

All exotic pets can be microchipped. We routinely microchip snakes, lizards, birds, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, rats and even turtles.

As part of the microchipping procedure, we register the unique code with a national registry so that when a lost or displaced animal presents to our clinic, or any clinic for that matter, the first thing we do is scan them using our microchip scanner. The lucky pets are reunited with their rightful owner, but those that are not microchipped often never find their way back home and are re-homed.

General Health Checks

Exotic pets are very good at hiding signs of illness. Therefore, regular health checks are essential for your unusual pet’s health and happiness. While it is interesting and exciting, it can also be difficult to know whether your pet is healthy and that their husbandry requirements are being met.

When it comes to exotic pet health, there is a large amount of misinformation out there. But our knowledge and experience extend past the norm. We are the trusted experts when it comes to the health and wellbeing of extraordinary animals.

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