VIDALIA — While the Easter holiday brings a jump in the sales of candy, baskets and eggs, it also brings a rise in the sales of some of nature’s lesser known pets.

With rabbits, ducks and chicks being the unofficial mascots for the Easter holiday, many parents buy their children one of these animals for the holiday.

Cathy’s Cowboy Corral manager James Franks said their store sells all three of the animals during the holiday season and they are always in high demand.

“They go fast,” he said. “Everybody likes them.”

Franks said the store was completely sold out of rabbits on Friday and only had a few chicks and ducks left.

“Parents love to come in here and get these animals for their children for Easter,” he said. “Especially the chicks and ducks, because of all the different colors they come in.”

Franks said the store sells chicks and ducks that are dyed different colors for the Easter season.

“The place we get the chicks from puts dye in their eggs so when they hatch they are that color,” he said.

With many families taking in an animal they may not be accustomed to, a representative for the Miss-Lou Veterinary Clinic in Vidalia stated that special care needs to be taken when dealing with any of these non-conventional pets.

The representative from the clinic said that one problem many people have with baby ducks or chicks is that they die before they are able to mature.

According to the clinic the main reason these baby birds die is because people tend to handle them too much.

The clinic representative said that many times young children who handle the animals tend to drop them and step on them or handle them too rough, which can kill them.

Handling them as little as possible is the best way to make sure there are no problems.

One tip provided by the clinic states that any families with smaller children would probably be better suited with a rabbit because they can be handled more, and if they sense danger they try to get out of the situation to avoid injury.

While baby rabbits can be handled more than the chicks or ducks, the clinic said people still need to limit the amount of handling they receive.

The Miss-Lou Vet representative said that keeping the birds warm is also crucial to helping them survive.

Until they reach adolescence, the birds need to be in a warm heated area.

According to the clinic, the baby birds chill very easily, and a heating pad placed on low under their box is the best way to keep them heated.

The birds’ diet consists of chick starter that can be found at any store that sells the animals, the clinic representative said.

When the animals begin to mature, their food has to be swapped from starter feed to chicken feed.

Rabbit’s diets consist of pellets that can also be found at any store that sells them.

The clinic representative said that rabbits do not have to have any shots or vaccinations before they are taken home, but if they do appear to be sick or losing weight, a trip to the vet would be required.

One tip from the clinic that novice rabbit owners may not know is that a rabbit can be litter box trained if you start training them from birth.

Any family that finds themselves with two rabbits after the holiday needs to make sure they keep the animals separate, because it is hard to tell what gender baby rabbits are.

The clinic representative stated that rabbits multiply fast, and keeping them separate is the only way to avoid any unwanted pets.

The final tip from the Miss-Lou Veterinary Clinic for new pet owners is to make sure that the animals are always in a clean environment and that they always have plenty of fresh food and water.