# Can pigeons pass diseases to domestic rabbits?



## chinbunny (Mar 1, 2010)

someone brought it up on a rabbit forum i am on. 

i have pigeons and rabbits in the same barn and as far as i know, none of mine have ever caught anything from the birds. Of course my pigeons and rabbits are caged separate, and aren't allowed much contact with each other.


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## Bird Crazy (Aug 9, 2011)

I would imagine that bird communicable diseases like coccidia and giardia (not sure about psitacocis though, I know humans can get that one from birds but not sure that rabbits can) would be passable to bunnies but since you are caging separately and they both have very little contact with each other, and it hasn't been a problem so far in your flock or with your rabbits. Good question though and I would be interested in what replies you get. Thanks for asking.


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## chinbunny (Mar 1, 2010)

Thanks for the info. this involves feral birds


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## Bird Crazy (Aug 9, 2011)

No problem. I did a bit of research and also found references from the CDC website to the following bacterial infections that can occur in both birds and rabbits:

Mycobacteria
Leptospirosis
Salmonella

As far as feral birds are concerned, I had to have my wild pigeon tested for ALL the common bird - zoonotic (passable to human) diseases and a few of the more rare ones that are not routinely tested for in pet birds. It cost a small fortune but it was well worth it to know that my bird was "clean" and not a carrier of anything dangerous to my health or the health of my other birds and pets. I'd be willing to bet that a call to your vet would be able to provide you with a more comprehensible list of what you would need to watch out for.


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Guess it would depend on the 'communal arrangement' the poster on the other forum has.

Pigeons generally get infections from other pigeons through direct contact, or shared food & water. 

If the pigeons and rabbits could in any way contaminate or consume the others' food & water, or ingest droppings, then it would be conceivable that bacteria like Salmonella, and no doubt other things, could be passed either way - that is, the pigeons could be at risk as much as the rabbits.


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