What's Going On With His Ear?

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Bad Habit

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So... New bunny is doing well. All normal functions are fine, everything seems okay, only... One of his ears is slowly starting to droop. At first, it was only a little, so I thought he was just being lazy. The droop has gotten progressively more pronounced in the past few days, and now about the top inch of his ear droops. And just one ear, the other stands up normally with no issues. His ear doesn't seem to be bothering him, it doesn't seem warm, no creepy crawlies, no scratching, no head tilting... Just... droopy.

Any ideas?
 
It will get better with time as the animal continues to develop. Every rabbit in Maryse's litter did it last year, and they all turned out fine.

Probably due to the summer weather. Don't sweat it.
 
It also could be lack of vitamins in their diet. Plus you don't know her lineage and there could be lop in there. You'll never know. But I don't think it's a concern right now. Just love Pig and just monitor. If there is no issue like mites or an infection, so what if it droops. You'll know him in a crowd. Or like Satinrules stated, could be the heat and will resolve itself in time.

Karen
 
I've seen bad cases of summer ear. My breeder started culling a litter for it, until someone told her that the ears are just fine when the weather cools down. :(
And I have noticed that several of the Rexes here born in hot weather have their ears like that until it gets cooler. My herd sire has a cute pict (born May of last year) with one ear tipped down. I have some kits here, not sired by him, who have tipped ears as well (born may of this year).
 
So... it might perk back up?? I did look for the traits of a lop eared rabbit, but the interwebs said it'd be done lopping by 3 months... and I know I don't know how old he is, but I don't think he's under three months.

He bit me today, but I was in there with a paper towel wiping the bottom of the cage. Last time I did it, I put him in a pen and washed the whole thing out, so I'm thinking he might have been confused by the paper towel.

Tried to get photos, but my stupid camera doesn't want to sync up. They're with flash too, so kinda suck.
 
If he's not under three months than definitely the heat is affecting the ear. Sorry that you got bit today. Definitely think he was a bit confused with the paper towel. I usually put mine in a carrier or xpen, or my husband holds them when I clean. Kreacher grabbed me when I tried to clean when I first got bunnies. Never broke skin, just grabbed, so I know what you went through.

Understand about a camera being confusing. They are so advanced today. My husband shot 35mm in his insurance job, so I had a good referral to fall back on. Look forward to pics when your camera cooperates.

Karen
 
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haHA! It's the card reader I use... I lost the cord to connect it to the computer, and the card reader I have is dying. I need a new one, lol. His colour looks very different under the flash, I'll have to get him out in the natural light. And it's not the best picture for showing his ears, but he sure looks cute! I'll admit, I prefer the big giant ears, and am glad to know he won't turn into a lop over the next few days. Although it would be adorable if he had tipped ears all the time...

He didn't break skin, but it was definitely a bite situation. And the message was received, I'll always take him out if I'm using paper towels now, lol.
 
Looks like my Fawkes. Love him! The ear looks fine. It just looks lazy. Doesn't look bent or broken cartlidge. It could just be the heat and it will perk up. He's a cutie. And if it doesn't, sure gives him character. Very handsome bunny. Are you going to call him Pig? Errol comes to mind. He was Percy's owl. He's such a cutie. Good grab. Stay with him. He's got class.

I'd take him out when cleaning. And talk to him. He's new to all this. Could of scared him. Doesn't take much and he looks so sweet that I think it's more scared than anything else.

Karen
 
My friend made a comment about him looking like a house-elf, and suggested Dobby... I do see the resemblance, but already have a Dobby, lol. Errol doesn't work... I was thinking of it, but have a friend named that. Can't do Crookshanks, cuz I know someone with that as a surname. Don't like Pig. There was a couple others that came up too, that I didn't like.

Well, hopefully it's just the heat... only it hasn't been that hot here the last few days.
 
Well how about Serious, Definitely Cedric comes to mind. Albus, Remus, Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Severus, Araogog (Hagrid's spider), Lucius, Draco, Victor (Krum), Barty, Dean, Shamus, Fang (Hagrid's dog's name)

Yes, I know Harry Potter very well. lol.

Karen
 
I can't remember which specifically, but either Vit. A or E deficiency could be responsible for the "tipped" ear. I'm only guessing here, but I think if the "lop gene" was involved the ear would fold near the skull not at the ear tip. I have had a couple of young rabbits ears tip at the top for a day or two, but they always stood back up.
 
ZRabbits":qmx9vpcy said:
Well how about Serious, Definitely Cedric comes to mind. Albus, Remus, Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Severus, Araogog (Hagrid's spider), Lucius, Draco, Victor (Krum), Barty, Dean, Shamus, Fang (Hagrid's dog's name)

Yes, I know Harry Potter very well. lol.

Karen
Click to expand...

Oh goodness I have already had Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione, Luna, Winky, and a few more I cant remember. My favorites were my black rabbit named Bellatrix,a solid brown named Andromeda, and a brown Charlie named Narcissa, she had just the slightest dots of brow on her ears.

Someone dropped off a boatload of mini lops at my house after Harry potter weekend. So I ended up naming them all from Harry potter
 
Ohh, I like Krum. That one never came to mind, lol. I'll have to try it out and see if it fits.

I'll have to look at the vitamin deficiency. I've never had it happen with the Lionheads, but they're on a different food. Guess the GV food isn't very good, lol. Thanks for the heads up MSD.

And from my research - though nothing was very clear - the lop seems like it should start at the base of the skull. I suppose only time will tell for sure.

Well, tons of searching, and the best bit of information I found was from a thread on this forum, lol

http://rabbittalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7986&view=next
 
My youngest litter's are doing that the tips are flopping forward , huh never really thought about it. They get plenty of water food suppliment with vitamins, and grass
they are all happy and active so ..... not worrying<br /><br />__________ Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:56 pm __________<br /><br />Bad Habit I VOTE for DOBBY LOL
 
I can't name him Dobby, my lionhead buck is named Dobby :p

So... So far, it could be Vit A deficiency, I'll feed him lots of Vit A stuff. It might also be heat, or it could just be due to a growth spurt. Basically, just keep my eye on it, lol

----

Okay, just checked on him. Both ears are tipped now and while I was in there, he was shaking his head rather violently, and scratching at his ears. This is the first time I've seen the head shaking and ear scratching. He had just been laying with his head under the water bottle, which he bumped as he got up... Could it be water in the ear, or ear infection related?

Also looking at info on ear mites... Found an interesting website that says to put a honey/water mix into the rabbit's ear. Anyone tried this?

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-honey-cure- ... 01060.html
 
Campho Phenique is great for ear mites. The camphor relieves the itching and kills the mites. It's available at most drug stores.
 
The oil doesn't seem to me that that would be risky if he doesn't have ear mites... should I go ahead and treat? I liked the honey because I don't want to give him anything medicinal that's not required if it's not mites. None of the websites I looked on said anything about the ear tipping being related to ear mites, and I don't see any scaling or build up or anything that they said I'd see, other than scratching and head shaking.
 
hoodat":7acvpnjv said:
Campho Phenique is great for ear mites. The camphor relieves the itching and kills the mites. It's available at most drug stores.
Click to expand...



I love that stuff and haven't seen it for many years. Of course I haven't been to a real drug store, just Walmart.
 
Sky, they sell it at the Wal Mart here in town. They even carry a Campho Phenique gel which is a wonderful thing to keep around.
 

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