I am new to rabbits but have done a lot of reading and have experience with other animals. I purchased a doe that appeared very healthy ( I bought others from the same place). She was kept in a barn before I got her. At my place she was kept outdoors. After 2 weeks of her being fine, some small snot appeared in one nostril. This was after a suddenly cool night. It is also 3 days after she was bred with my buck. I moved her cage and am handling and feeding her last. She has never sneezed or displayed any different symptoms and she is eating and drinking fine. I have only seem that small amount of snot maybe 4 times in the last 3 weeks, nothing else. If I would not be watching her like a hawk I probably would not have seen any of this, no matted paws either. I have read and heard so many different things. Would it be best to cull now? Should I wait until she kindles and wean early, then cull and watch the kits? Has anyone used tetracycline in the water to help the kits stay healthy? I am torn as what to do and need others experienced input. I do not want to put my others at risk, but I also like the idea of creating a resistant herd- that is why I am considering raising the kits. At this time,I am not sure it is snuffles because it is only a tiny amount of white snot very sporadically. Any help is appreciated.
Snuffles without sneezing???
- Thread starter Midwest67
- Start date
Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:
Easy Ears
Well-known member
I would NOT cull her. Just separate her from your other rabbits, and wait to see if she gets better or worse. I would definitely NOT cull her for no reason. Rabbits can get snot. No big deal if other symptoms are not shown, and she seems completely healthy otherwise. If she does turn out to be sick, I would at least let her have her babies first....possibly foster to another mom if you don't want the babies to get her contaminated milk. (If you have another mother that has kindled of course.)
There is more than one pathogen that can cause white snot.
Pasteurella is just the most feared, because it can wipe out whole herds.
Quarantine is always advised. Check for environmental irritants. Be ready to cull if she doesn't recover or gets worse. I wouldn't sell her or any of the kits. Feed and water her last, and don't handle or touch your rabbits (or anyone's) after handling her.
IF it is pasteurellosis.
Even if they wean with no problems, the kits could carry it and not show signs until they become stressed (for example, from a move or change of cages). Doelings might not succumb to it until they become pregnant. If she recovers, she might start blowing snot again next time you breed her.
In that kind of situation, culling her now might be easier on you than culling her when she's 25 days pregnant and obviously terribly ill.
Breeding for resistance means culling the ones who get sick, and breeding exposed animals that NEVER showed signs of illness. It does not mean breeding animals that got sick and recovered. Those ones have already shown susceptibility. They could break with the illness again at any point their immune systems become weakened.
It's up to you to decide what is best for your and your rabbits. The reason you see breeders cull so quickly is because in most cases we have no way to know if it's pasteurella or not, and if we guess wrong...we're endangering every rabbit we have, and every rabbit that is owned by anyone we're selling kits to.
Pasteurella is just the most feared, because it can wipe out whole herds.
Quarantine is always advised. Check for environmental irritants. Be ready to cull if she doesn't recover or gets worse. I wouldn't sell her or any of the kits. Feed and water her last, and don't handle or touch your rabbits (or anyone's) after handling her.
IF it is pasteurellosis.
Even if they wean with no problems, the kits could carry it and not show signs until they become stressed (for example, from a move or change of cages). Doelings might not succumb to it until they become pregnant. If she recovers, she might start blowing snot again next time you breed her.
In that kind of situation, culling her now might be easier on you than culling her when she's 25 days pregnant and obviously terribly ill.
Breeding for resistance means culling the ones who get sick, and breeding exposed animals that NEVER showed signs of illness. It does not mean breeding animals that got sick and recovered. Those ones have already shown susceptibility. They could break with the illness again at any point their immune systems become weakened.
It's up to you to decide what is best for your and your rabbits. The reason you see breeders cull so quickly is because in most cases we have no way to know if it's pasteurella or not, and if we guess wrong...we're endangering every rabbit we have, and every rabbit that is owned by anyone we're selling kits to.
The fact this doe got sick in the first place indicates her immune system is not up to par and I wouldn't keep any of her offspring as replacement stock.
Personally I don't take chances as I have 14 to 50 rabbits at any given time and do not want them all to get infected with pasturella, bordatella or whatever it is.
There was one time I didn't cull a sick doe because she was due in 10 days, I medicated and "babied" her and she ended up getting better but then a lot worse after giving birth - producing milk is a lot harder on a rabbit than a month of pregnancy - there were 10 kits but I reduced them to 6 to give her a break but she still lost a lot of weight, her milk started to dry up and she looked miserable so I culled her when the kits were almost 4 weeks old. She managed to feed all 6 to weaning but they were pretty pathetic and never caught up to the others.
Personally I don't take chances as I have 14 to 50 rabbits at any given time and do not want them all to get infected with pasturella, bordatella or whatever it is.
There was one time I didn't cull a sick doe because she was due in 10 days, I medicated and "babied" her and she ended up getting better but then a lot worse after giving birth - producing milk is a lot harder on a rabbit than a month of pregnancy - there were 10 kits but I reduced them to 6 to give her a break but she still lost a lot of weight, her milk started to dry up and she looked miserable so I culled her when the kits were almost 4 weeks old. She managed to feed all 6 to weaning but they were pretty pathetic and never caught up to the others.
Also...rabbits do NOT get white snot for no reason. Clear snot can have a ton of possible causes, some of which are fairly harmless, like allergies.
White snot indicates infection.
It should never be dismissed. Do NOT foster the babies to another mother. You'll just be risking another doe.
White snot indicates infection.
It should never be dismissed. Do NOT foster the babies to another mother. You'll just be risking another doe.
Prisma
Well-known member
Snot of any kind is a BIG deal as Zass already said. Yes it can mean there is a piece of hay or food lodged in their nose, but it can also mean infection and can be highly contagious. Why risk all your rabbits and all your babies for the sake of 1? There is no reason. Keep her quarantined and decide what is best for you and your others. I do not suggest to any one that ever wants to show or breed to keep a rabbit that has snotted UNLESS it is clearly because of a lodged piece of food/hay or from a scratch that has gotten infected from a minor scuffle with a sibling/other rabbit through wire. Even those that have pet snotters can be a problem, if they come from their home and handle one of some one else's they can scatter it. It is near impossible, although I've seen two really dedicated people do it (they never handled the rabbit before going any where, never fed/watered/treated before going any where, only handled when they'd be home for the day, bleached/cleaned shoes/cloths as soon as finished with the rabbit, ect.). 1 rabbit can clean out an entire rabbitry of hundreds and even an entire area if taken to a show. That's why it is always a gamble at a show, never can really tell and always hope every one is being honest and not hiding some thing horrible that could destroy every one of our rabbits at home. If it were me, she'd already be gone if I found none of what I already mentioned to be true and my buck I used to breed her would be in quarantine for 30 days before I started carting him around with me and moving him in quarantine to try to stress him to see if he would start under stress. I will not risk it and I have done it before. Yes it made me literally sick, not only did I wait a very long time to get the rabbit but it cost me a good bit of money...but that rabbit was not worth all my others even if they weren't as close to the SOP as it was. Maybe I over kill, but I've read and seen others deal with it too often loosing every thing to take any big chances.
ottersatin
Well-known member
Hello Midwest67,
I would not cull her so quickly! I would allow her to have a raise her kits to weaning
if at all possible, while at the same time keeping her and the kits in isolation.
You might want to cull her soon after the kits are weaned. Keep a CLOSE
eye on the kits and cull any that show a weakness in their immune system.
HOLD ON to any that show no signs of weakness, these are the ones
that may become the start of your Disease resistant herd!
Continue with a close eye as they reach into maturity, some may have to
eventually be culled, but those that remain will have a very strong resistance to disease.
It will not be easy, but the time and persistence will be worth it!
If you make the right choices both you and your herd will benefit "Been there, done that"!
Ottersatin.
ldtimer:
I would not cull her so quickly! I would allow her to have a raise her kits to weaning
if at all possible, while at the same time keeping her and the kits in isolation.
You might want to cull her soon after the kits are weaned. Keep a CLOSE
eye on the kits and cull any that show a weakness in their immune system.
HOLD ON to any that show no signs of weakness, these are the ones
that may become the start of your Disease resistant herd!
Continue with a close eye as they reach into maturity, some may have to
eventually be culled, but those that remain will have a very strong resistance to disease.
It will not be easy, but the time and persistence will be worth it!
If you make the right choices both you and your herd will benefit "Been there, done that"!
Ottersatin.
ldtimer:
