Angora health questions

[Icarus]

I bought two Angora rabbits today, a downy soft buck and a more satin-ish type doe. Lovely rabbits, overall, does rather flighty but the buck isn't too bad.

Health issues:
Buck is drooling excessively. The fur around his mouth is matted and he doesn't like me touching it (I went to trim it and he was not okay with it). No nasal or eye discharge, just slobber. I haven't looked inside his mouth yet, but I'm going to soon.

I did some reading and found that a pellet-only diet can cause sharp points on the teeth and thus drooling and other dental issues? I feed 17% pellets and alfalfa cubes for roughage, and vegetable scraps when I have them, should I be feeding more? Providing branches?

He has a hock sore (very small, bleeding) on his hind foot. The left one, I believe. I don't have a problem treating it, just wanted to list everything.

I haven't checked the doe yet, but have not noticed any wetness or drooling on her part. I imagine she may have sores, considering that the buck does.


Going to finish grooming the buck and take a closer look at him, then I'll check the doe. I'll update if anything else pops up.

Thanks in advance

 

[tonyshuman]

I bet that the buck has some tooth issues. Hay is needed to keep the teeth in good shape, but even with a perfect diet, some bunnies will have recurrent teeth issues. They are genetic and it's not recommended to breed those bunnies.

For the sore hocks, I assume you know how to treat them, right? Otherwise you would have asked. I use bag balm.

Did they come from a bad situation? If so, you may want to quarantine them for 2 weeks and do a preventative de-worming.

Bunnies need hay all the time not only to wear down their teeth but to provide something to do when bored, and to keep the GI tract in healthy working order. I would give all your bunnies some grass hay (not just alfalfa).

 

[Maureen Las]

tonyshuman wrote:

I bet that the buck has some tooth issues. Hay is needed to keep the teeth in good shape, but even with a perfect diet, some bunnies will have recurrent teeth issues. They are genetic and it's not recommended to breed those bunnies.

For the sore hocks, I assume you know how to treat them, right? Otherwise you would have asked. I use bag balm.

Did they come from a bad situation? If so, you may want to quarantine them for 2 weeks and do a preventative de-worming.

Bunnies need hay all the time not only to wear down their teeth but to provide something to do when bored, and to keep the GI tract in healthy working order. I would give all your bunnies some grass hay (not just alfalfa).

Claire is right that alfalfa cubes is not enough grinding action. he needs long stemmed grass or timothy type hay . If he is young 6 -8 months and under also needs alfalfa hay with the other types.

Definitely sounds like dental issues

 

[Icarus]

Alright, thanks guys I know a guy with really high quality mixed hay (alfalfa, prairie, grass, and clover) and I can get a few bales from him. I used to feed my horses it until I found a bigger pasture, and big round bales.

I bought them at the local Friday auction. Unfortunately, it's pretty much hit-or-miss with rabbits sold there. Sometimes you get well-cared for stock, and other times you get a horror-show of a rabbit.

I lost a wonderful doe I had bought there once, she had a body score of 1 and had hock sores. She did fine, ate, drank, etc. until one night she just decided it was time to lay down and pass on. poor old dear.


I'll be able to go...either Tuesday or Wednesday to pick up hay. I'd go sooner, but theres a freak storm (snow) going on right now. My dad wouldn't drive out on the country roads and the guy is over 80 himself, he'd probably break a hip coming out to meet us.