Help Please- I'm not sure if it is urgent or not...

[WildWolf]

I have a 10 month old Silver Fox rabbit- she is my 3rd rabbit, but my first two rabbits were small lionhead mutts. Her coat is in good condition, she is active (she runs around my 20ftX10ft rabbit run while I'm down there), she has normal bodily functions (no sneezing, no runny eye, no limping, no ear infection, ect.) and she has gentle bumps along her spine (Although, I am new to rabbits- maybe what I call gentle is actually spikey?). However, she only weighs about 6 pounds. Her mother and father (I did not breed her) are normal sized. I am going to get her off pellets this summer (I didn't have enough weeds/sprouts/hay for last winter. otherwise she would already be off pellets) but right now she's eating both weeds and pellets. I only just realized how underweight she is because when I went to the rabbitry where she came from to buy another rabbit, I saw the other 1 year old rabbits, which were up to weight. I started feeding her BOSS, and I'm going to give her alfalfa hay as soon as I get some (it's hard to find where I live). I think I'll have the hay by next weekend. What else can I do? What's wrong with her? Or is she just late in getting up to adult weight? :?:
Thanks in advance!

 

[avdpas77]

I have a 10 month old Silver Fox rabbit- she is my 3rd rabbit, but my first two rabbits were small lionhead mutts. Her coat is in good condition, she is active (she runs around my 20ftX10ft rabbit run while I'm down there), she has normal bodily functions (no sneezing, no runny eye, no limping, no ear infection, ect.) and she has gentle bumps along her spine (Although, I am new to rabbits- maybe what I call gentle is actually spikey?). However, she only weighs about 6 pounds. Her mother and father (I did not breed her) are normal sized. I am going to get her off pellets this summer (I didn't have enough weeds/sprouts/hay for last winter. otherwise she would already be off pellets) but right now she's eating both weeds and pellets. I only just realized how underweight she is because when I went to the rabbitry where she came from to buy another rabbit, I saw the other 1 year old rabbits, which were up to weight. I started feeding her BOSS, and I'm going to give her alfalfa hay as soon as I get some (it's hard to find where I live). I think I'll have the hay by next weekend. What else can I do? What's wrong with her? Or is she just late in getting up to adult weight? :?:
Thanks in advance!

I can't tell just by guessing, but I would treat her for coccidiosis. That is the most common thing that would make a rabbit unthrifty that was getting plenty to eat. I would especially suspect it if she was down on the ground.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Hay isn't going to help her gain weight. Pellets, oats, BOSS, Calf Manna, etc....those will help put on weight. Now, let's think about WHY she is underweight. Most likely culprit is coccidia, a protozoal parasite, or some other type of intestinal worm. You may need to have a fecal done by a vet to know for sure.

 

[WildWolf]

She is only on the ground for an hour or so a day, sometimes less and sometimes more. How much would it cost to get a vet to test for coccidia? How do you treat coccidia? Is coccidia contagious? I have one other rabbit right now...

 

[skysthelimit]

It's relatively easy to treat.

Another suggestion-- both of my SF does just stalled, stopped growing. It does happen to some lines. They are a year old and 8lbs. The same thing happened to a friend with related does. I bred one but the other won't breed. I probably will not keep her through the summer. I will keep the largest while I wait for replacements.

 

[WildWolf]

Ok, it's good to know that it might be her line. Would her parents be small too, if it was just her line? Also, is it "easy to treat" because you go to the vet and get medicine, or "easy to treat" because there is some remedy I could use that won't cost much? I'm willing to go to the vet, but I'm not sure that the vet studied rabbits in detail... and it's expensive.

Thank you guys so much- I love this forum because you can get quick, detailed, polite, and supportive responses!

 

[Secuono]

TSC has Cocci treatments.
Also, I'd deworm her as well.

 

[WildWolf]

Is TSC Tractor Supply Company? Also, is there a certain treatment that is the best? As in, a name brand or ingredient? And I will give her some pumpkin seeds or other dewormer like that.

 

[skysthelimit]

If you got them from an experienced breeder, then they would not have bred two animals that were both underweight as a good breeding pair. My buck is above the weight limit, or I would have just culled the doe. In my case, both were of a good weight, and this is the first time my breeder has had this problem. I'm pretty sure she has/would cull one or more of the parents if it happened again, and I will cull this doe if the kits do not make weight.

 

[WildWolf]

Ok, so it could be just my doe that has stalled growth... and my doe's future kits might be up to weight. I'm not sure how experienced the breeder was when I got my doe- I know they had only just started showing rabbits 6-ish months before I got my doe. Thank you skysthelimit!!

I think I'm going to feed her some pumpkin seeds, and closely monitor her eating habits. If she shows a bad appetite, or any of the other signs of coccidiosis then I will take her feces to the vet. I really hope she does not have the disease, especially because we used her droppings in our garden...

I just thought of another question: What would be a "normal appetite" for a SF doe eating pellets and weeds? I want her to gain weight, but not fat... should I keep with pellets and just 3 or 4 handfuls of weeds? or could I continue transitioning her into a no pellet diet? I'm going to add BOSS and oats too, no matter what.

 

[Southbound_SF]

I don't have much (or any) experience feeding primarily greens, as my rabbits get mostly pellets, with greens basically as a treat. But I'm thinking you should get her healthy before changing over to a different kind of diet, especially since a mainly-fresh-foods diet can be difficult to regulate. If you start this kind of diet with a healthy rabbit, you'll know if something goes wrong with it because the rabbit will lose condition/weight. If you start with an underweight rabbit, how will you know if the diet is balanced?

BOSS is a good idea (in moderation), and maybe free feed pellets and see how that goes. Probably no need to stop the weeds if she's enjoying those and has normal droppings. For reference, my adult SF does eat about 3/4 c of 16% pellets a day when they're not nursing a litter. They maintain proper weight and condition on that, plus greens 2-3 times a week (meaning one good sized kale leaf at a time, or a small handful of dandelion leaves), not a significant contribution to diet around here.

SB

 

[ladysown]

a meat rabbit that is 6 lbs at one year of age is a rabbit that is not going to get much larger regardless of how much you feed her.

 

[WildWolf]

I think I agree with ladysown... I don't think she'll get much bigger. I do agree that she should be healthy before switching diets... but she seems healthy, and eating well, so I think that it is just the heat combined with the fact that some SF lines produce small rabbits. If it isn't her line, then I would expect to see some other symptom- like loss of appetite, or abnormal poo, or any of the other symptoms. Otherwise it seems to be just her line. Just in case, I gave her and my buck some pumpkin seeds (which she ate immediately). I do have her on free choice pellets right now, and she still gets a large amount of greens. She's eating some BOSS, but she definitely does not like them as much as pumpkin seeds! Also, the breeder thought that it is just the heat combined with the occasional occurrence of a small SF. I'm going to breed her to a larger buck, then keep the largest doe out of her litter. Especially because my doe is the sweetest bunny I've ever met!! I want another bunny as sweet as she is.
Any differing opinion, or reassurance, would be greatly appreciated since I have never dealt with a rabbit disease before!