Neurological Issues With Kits?

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Rabbit Talk Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Peach

Peach

Well-known member
Rabbit Talk Supporter
Joined
Dec 19, 2011
Messages
2,125
Reaction score
0
Location
Marietta,Ga
I think I spoke too soon when I said that FINALLY things are going smoothly with the rabbits.....HA!

Well last time Lindsey was over,we were going through all my litters, checking, and sexing....she pointed out one of the does I was REALLY excited about (she's been blowing it away on the tables)...has bobble head kits! It's very VERY strange.

Only one seems normal and the others look like their equilibrium is off. I need to get a video, but one of the babies spins,spins,spins until he topples over onto his back and repeats. :shock:

I used the same buck for another litter and they aren't having this problem, so I'm assuming this is something from the doe.

Does anyone have an idea what could be effecting these kits? They have a nice clean nesting box, well fed, excellent mom,etc...I'm stumped. :?

I'm going to keep watching these kits.....
 
I have had a couple cases of wry neck here and they did not act like these kits. These babies have weak muscles or something when I held them their heads kind of hung down and wobbled around. I have never seen anything like it. :(
 
I would love to see a video of the kits, like you stated. My kits are now 3 months old. The buck had a case of wry neck. Kits are all doing fine. No problems. No rolling, no head tilt. Now these kits will never be sold. Or will there be another litter from Neville.

And reading the info Tegan supplied, it looks like studies are finally happening on these precious animals. Rabbits, in general, regarding lab studies is just in the infancy. I'm sure as time goes on, there will be more studies and more info for us to absorb.

So sorry to hear about the litter.

Karen
 
It's funny to see this post, because I just had a litter this weekend, where one of the kits.....a runt.....was displaying something very similar. I've seen this from time to time here. This particular kit from this current litter was actually quite strong, but it's head never seemed to settle, like if it needed to latch on it couldn't because it's head was always bobbling. It felt as though it wanted to continually roll over. It didn't make it, Dave found it dead in the nest box, I'm sure it couldn't nurse, and now after reading this I'm sure there was something neurological wrong. It's typically only random, and usually only 1 kit.
 
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=284 ... =2&theater<br /><br />__________ Thu Jan 10, 2013 11:20 pm __________<br /><br />I've attached a short video I was able to take today. I've decided to cull the litter and to retry her with the same buck. The buck was used with another doe, and those babies are fine. I purchased ivermectin paste to give to my doe and see how things turn out. She's been such a good mamma. I feel like her efforts have gone to waste :(

Should I treat her first, then breed?
 
Video can't be seen, I'm guessing it's for friends/family setting. Try posting it Public in Youtube.
 
hmm im just barley learning about kits and such, but thats so weired, i do know i have seen rabbits that had issues with there equilibrium and they just seem to get really bad head tilt, but the kits going in cricles thats strange.. did u make sure that the buck was not the does brother? i know its fine to breed mama rabbit with her children but sisters and brothers are to close in the blood line and can create issues.. or maybe the mama has some genetic disorders? have u looked at genetice disorders in rabbits? if so i would not breed mamam rabbit again if this is the case.
 
Attal.Rabbits":25fhjq8t said:
hmm im just barley learning about kits and such, but thats so weired, i do know i have seen rabbits that had issues with there equilibrium and they just seem to get really bad head tilt, but the kits going in cricles thats strange.. did u make sure that the buck was not the does brother? i know its fine to breed mama rabbit with her children but sisters and brothers are to close in the blood line and can create issues.. or maybe the mama has some genetic disorders? have u looked at genetice disorders in rabbits? if so i would not breed mamam rabbit again if this is the case.
Click to expand...
Attal.Rabbits check out the 'Breeding to the Strong Points in Your Herd' thread and related threads, rabbits don't have the same issues with close breeding that people do since they are more genetically diverse than humans are.
 
Feel the heads, do you feel any soft spots? Are the heads bulged? This sounds like hydrocephalus to me. Water on the brain. Babies will be born ok, but then it changes slowly as the pressure builds. I had a couple puppies with that years ago.
 
Video currently unavailable, plus I don't do FB.

Just a thought, if a doe is a "carrier" would treating her stop the passing of the e-cuncilli (sp?), if that is the problem, to the future kits?

Karen
 
Peach":35kkg2a9 said:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=284593068329516&set=o.2213368565&type=2&theater

__________ Thu Jan 10, 2013 11:20 pm __________

I've attached a short video I was able to take today. I've decided to cull the litter and to retry her with the same buck. The buck was used with another doe, and those babies are fine. I purchased ivermectin paste to give to my doe and see how things turn out. She's been such a good mamma. I feel like her efforts have gone to waste :(

Should I treat her first, then breed?
Click to expand...

That sounds like really advanced wry neck to me...have you noticed any nystigmus or "darting eyes"? I would treat both buck and doe that produced that litter, just in case. Use Barbi Brown's Wry Neck protocol, and wait a bit before rebreeding.
 
None of the kits had darting eyes. I even checked into their ears for infection or mites and didn't find anything :( I am treating the doe with ivermectin to rule out parasites and I'll be rebreeding her at the end of the month. I used this buck with another doe and she had no issues with her litter other than 2 runts that passed away. The condition of the bobble headed kits began before their eyes were open. I only checked to make sure everyone was alive for the first few days and then Lindsey and I went through them around day 7-8 to notices they weren't acting like my other Mini Lop kits (Lindsey has a sharp eye!)

They were fat and healthy otherwise and looked like they would really turn out to be a hot litter.

I did cull all but 1 to use for test breeding later ( assuming he will be quality enough). I would like to see if it turns out to be hereditary and then cull the line if necessary.<br /><br />__________ Sat Jan 12, 2013 10:38 am __________<br /><br />** the one I didn't cull is normal and not bobble headed**
 
Attal.Rabbits":3lnafyv4 said:
does cull mean kill?
Click to expand...

Not always. I culled some rabbits from my breeding program - two went to new homes, while one was killed. In this instance, I imagine they were put down, as something like this could be very serious and would definitely reduce the rabbits' quality of life.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top