Matted fur on forelegs....

[PSFAngoras]

But absolutely no signs of anything else going on. No sneezing, no snot around the nose, not wheezy when breathing, no heat distress symptoms, just... nothing.

This is the little JW buck I picked up a week ago. He is still in quarantine, but I don't see anything else wrong with him. Could it be possible that maybe he just drools and then doesn't clean his forelegs, and the wool gets stuck together? There is no drool on his face, but maybe he's more meticulous about cleaning that. (But then he would be using his forelegs and front paws, and theoretically, they would be clean, right?) Or perhaps the way I have them shorn the fur around there face prevents them from reaching that part of their forelegs to clean them (its about half way up and all the way to the elbow area)? I don't want to be paranoid and cull him either for what appears to be no reason, but lost two kits from my last angora litter to a sneeze that was brought in from another rabbitry, that cropped up AFTER quarantine (new doe was carrying it, but didn't ever express signs herself). UGGH, I hate dealing with health issues!

Any ideas would really help!

Thanks

 

[Dood]

Drooling is a possibility.

Have you double checked his front teeth for proper alignment?

His back teeth could also have sharp edges and are cutting his cheeks and require filing/grinding down. In horses this is called 'floating the teeth' .

If you rub your finger along his cheek you should be able to feel through the skin if there are and odd points sticking out or he will flinch with discomfort when you apply pressure

 

[PSFAngoras]

His front teeth are fine, but I haven't checked his backs, I will do that right now.

I have horses, so I know their teeth need done, but I never thought about it for rabbits, I suppose since they are grazers it makes sense. With this guy's background, I'm surprised he's as good as he is.<br /><br />__________ Sun Aug 04, 2013 8:01 am __________<br /><br />Didn't feel anything and he didn't flinch, but I will definitely keep tabs on it. I also tried looking in his mouth by very gently inserting a pencil and trying to get him to open so I could see. Those chubby little cheeks hide everything, but I did not see any redness on his cheeks or tongue that may indicate a sore from a tooth spur.

He's sitting on my lap now and I keep wiping my hand under his chin and coming up with slobber. Maybe I just lucked out and got a rabbit that likes to drool? I had a hamster that did that when I was a kid. It seems to be like when he lays down it would hit just the right spot on his forelegs too, where it wouldn't get on anything but that.

 

[Brook]

I know this is an old thread, but I have been searching the site for information on drooling rabbits and found this. How is your drooling bunny? Does he still drool or did you find out the issue and resolve it?

 

[PSFAngoras]

He went to another home that I have no contact with, but I do have another doe that drools too. No matted front legs on her, but the last few times I had her out to play she would fall asleep on my lap after a bit and there would be a large drool spot on my pant leg. Nothing else wrong with her, so I figure it really doesn't matter much.

Seems like I end up with a lot of the 'interesting' animals...