Edgar the English Lop! A bit of help needed...

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J.Bosley

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Location
Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada
Hello!
I am just a tad bit excited :woohoo Some of my AMAZING friends found me, and surprised me, with this adorable 2.5 month old English Lop. He is from Avondale Acres Rabbitry in Waterloo Ontario! If anyone knows this breeder, message me please :)

His color is apparently Black Frosted Pearl, not that I really care, haha. I am thinking he might be overweight... it's almost like his sides bulge out... how much should he be weighing??? I will try and weigh him later, along with photos of the bulge I am talking about. I will also be getting him fixed ASAP, as my Lionhead is Female and not fixed yet. So hopefully the vet will ensure his health! I am a paranoid Mommy I guess... :hearts:

Here are some photos my friend emailed me when she met him and got him for me! You can kind of see the bulge in the second photo...

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Congratulations on the new bunny! He's very cute :)

To me it doesn't look like he is overweight, but that the belly is distended. If he were overweight, his whole body would be chubby and not just the belly. Could be due to whatever diet he was on. I think it will probably improve with some fiber and grass hay in his diet. If not, another possibility is parasites.
 
Thank you for the reply! He will be on Timothy hay and an alfalfa based pellet. Should I avoid pellets and just give hay for a few days? To see if his tummy improves?
 
You can. It may help, and certainly shouldn't hurt. Just check to make sure he is eating the hay well. If the breeder didn't give you transition feed you should start him out slowly on the new feed anyways and transition onto it over a couple weeks, to give him time to get used to it and minimize digestive upset.
 
Very slowly transition him over and I would definitely look into worming him for coccidia. It won't hurt to worm him regardless if he does or does not have worms
 
I do want to have an English lop one day. I just love those long ears and from all I have heard they have wonderful personalities as well. He is so handsome! If he winds up bunnapped don't come looking for me. Ha!
 
It's hard to tell from the pictures, but how distended is his belly? Are you seeing anything else like mushy poop, lack of appetite? Does he seem thin at all along his back and rump? Just to be safe, you may want to get your bun to the vet and get a fecal sample tested asap. If by chance it is cocci, you want to start treatment right away, as it is a pretty nasty parasite and can often be fatal to rabbits.

It may be that it is just from a poor diet before you got him, but better to be safe, since a distended belly can also be caused by cocci.
 
It's hard to tell from the pictures, but how distended is his belly? Are you seeing anything else like mushy poop, lack of appetite? Does he seem thin at all along his back and rump? Just to be safe, you may want to get your bun to the vet and get a fecal sample tested asap. If by chance it is cocci, you want to start treatment right away, as it is a pretty nasty parasite and can often be fatal to rabbits.

It may be that it is just from a poor diet before you got him, but better to be safe, since a distended belly can also be caused by cocci.

From my opinion it seems fairly distended... not an insane amount, but enough to definitely notice. His poop is 100% normal, he has peed and drank water no problem! His appetite is there, he is LOVING the timothy hay. I haven't given him anything but hay and water. He isn't being lethargic either, he's moving around a bit. I will definitely get him to the vet on Saturday, unfortunately I don't get paid until then! And obviously was not prepared for this... but he will get to the vet.

Thanks for the help! I am feeling a lot better about it. He definitely is acting like a normal bun. But a vet visit is a must.
 
You may want to hold off on the pellets for a few more days, or just start him off on a very small amount. Maybe by Saturday the hay will have done the trick, and the distention will be gone. I got a new baby that had a bit of a belly too, but felt pretty skinny everywhere else. But otherwise she acted perfectly normal, and everything else was normal. The change of diet coming to my home, seemed to fix whatever was causing the potbelly, because she grew up just fine, the belly became normal and there were no other issues with her.

Coccidiosis can be an issue, especially for these just weaned babies, so it's just good for you to be aware of that possibility, especially if you start seeing other symptoms. But hopefully it's just a diet issue and will correct itself over the next few days.

He's a beautiful baby, and I just love that color. I didn't even know elops could be frosted. Elops are such interesting rabbits to see, with their lovely long ears. I'm sure you're enjoying your new addition.
 
Thanks you very much for the advice! I definitely won't be giving him any pellets for at least a few days in hopes his tummy improves. I'm just glad he seems fine otherwise!

I'm definitely already in love! He is just so sweet, which is exactly what I wanted. His siblings were a broken black, and 2 red eyed whites apparently. I've never really seen an Elop before, but just fell in love with their looks and temperament.
 
I *think* Edgar's tummy looks a bit better! It could just be wishful thinking, haha, but hoping I am seeing things correctly.

Man does he LOVE his hay and water dish
 

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