Vent disease? Hutch burn? Help!

So, a couple weeks ago, I bought what was supposed to be a bred doe from a nearby breeder who was selling out her stock. Ripley is a beautiful little Netherland Dwarf brood doe with a great pedigree. Her due date (May 1st) came and went. On May 4th, I placed her in with my buck and let him breed her in hopes of either jumpstarting a late labor or impregnating her. She was eager to breed and it did not cause labor, but I let her keep the nest box (which she has been constantly hanging out in and peeing in - I've been cleaning it daily) just in case the breeder was a day or two off on her due date. Today, while holding her on her belly, I noticed that her vent has yellow "crusts" on it I put some coconut oil on it and she didn't act like it was even remotely painful, but now I'm terrified that it's vent disease and I've impregnated a sick rabbit and infected my tiny little herd buck. What do you think? Could it be hutch burn from sitting in a urine-soaked nest box all day every day for nearly a week, or should I be worried about vent disease?

Hello, Crust is one sign of activated vent disease, but it could also be skin mites. What you want to look for too are white spots around the vulva or on your' buck's penis. I forget where I got this picture from, please give credit to whomever this belongs to if you know, but here's an exemple on a buck.


Vent disease when dormant causes the rabbit to be less "fertile" in a way because they are bothered by the pimples when procreating. Also a doe who gives birth will have higher mortality and higher rate of infections on their babies.

Regardless, treatment is easy.
For mites get some ivermectin, 1 drop on the back of the neck.
For vent disease, you need this kind of penicillin
https://www.jefferspet.com/products/lon ... lin-500-ml
Wich you could buy from tractor supply if they have it in stock or go to a vet.
Dosage is injections based on your rabbit's weight : 0.1cc per 1lbs every 3 days for a 2 week period or until symptoms are gone. On a pregnant or recent mom I diminish that dosage by 0.15 regardles of total weight just to be safe. There is always the risk that even with proper dosage the rabbit will end up with diarrhea wich can be fatal. If they have diarrhea stop treatment immediatly until they get better and reduce the dosage when you restart.
Treat your buck and the female and any doe your buck has been in contact with since.
For the crusts you can rub oil a bit on em to help em fall off faster though this is optionnal.

After treatment it'll be gone so you wont have to worry. Do keep an eye for those white dots on rabbits you breed. You might have carriers in your stock without having realised. The crusts appear only once it activates, but the dots are the sign of a carrier.

Thank you. I checked her vent for white spots when I bought her and saw no sign of them. I checked her regularly when I though she was pregnant and all seemed normal. Now she just has these yellow crusts surrounding her vent. Could it have something to do with reabsorbing a litter or something? I am *terrified* to give my rabbits penicillin and possibly kill them. My buck only weighs two pounds and is a beloved pet and show rabbit that cost almost $200..

Have you checked if your buck is the one with white spots? He could be a carrier and the new doe activated after she got it from him. Not saying this is it, just saying double check to be sure.

From what you described, her cage conditions were not horrible enough to be hutch burn, she's likelly have diarrhea and have other signs if it was caused by living conditions.

I also doubt crusts could be caused by reabsorbing a litter. I'm a relativelly new breeder though so maybe someone with more experience could support this opinion of mine or refute it. But so far, I've never heard of crusts appearing from that. Besides from what you said, unless you palpated her and felt babies previously, I'm thinking she was never pregnant to begin with.

So, If she and your buck have no spots at all, I think the most probable thing are skin mites, wich can cause crusts and hairloss. Some times a rabbit that doesnt display any signs will suddenly have issues after a stressfull event... like a new owner. So treat her with ivermectin to be sure even if the previous owner said she was treated. See if it clears up after a week or 2.

YES, a dirty nestbox can cause crustiness as can one wet spot in a cage. Depends on the doe and how determined she is to be a dirty rabbit. Dirty rabbits get crusty areas in places not always expected. My solution to a dirty rabbit is to remove them from my herd.