Male with dewlap?

[RabbitGirl321]

Okay guys, so today I went to trade somebody for a new Magpie Harlequin buck, because as much as I adored my buck I really needed new bloodlines, and markings wise this buck was about the same as my buck... however, not only does he not even weigh 6 pounds (Min weight on Sen. Harlequin bucks is 6.5), but he has a dewlap. I can't find anything anywhere on if this is a DQ, a fault, or what, all I know is that I've not seen a buck with a dewlap like this before...

ALSO his testicles seem... I don't know... deflated, I guess? Haha, not sure how to put it! Will this change, will he still be fertile? This is the 2nd time I've bought an older buck with this, the last one was a dwarf hotot, and we've never gotten any babies from him, even though his old owner said they had litters from him, this owner of this harlequin also said he's proven as well, but after the dwarf hotot it kind of worries me...

 

[woahlookitsme]

I don't know about the dewlap but I understand your worries about everything else. How old is the buck? Is he completely full grown?

Rabbits can suck their testicle inside their body. Is this what he may be doing?

 

[RabbitGirl321]

He'll be 3 in September, so he's full grown. They had sent me his pedigree back when I was asking about him, and on it he said he was 7.7 pounds. I kind of have to wonder if he ever weighed that now though, he doesn't seem thin but... a 2 pounds difference from what the pedigree says seems weird...

Possibly, I've heard that before from when I asked around about the hotot, I'm hoping that's all it is but not sure, the dwarf hotot buck does have more normal looking testicles then he used to, but it took over half a year, and they still don't look like my polish buck's.

Also anybody have suggestions on what I can feed this buck to put weight on him?

 

[Watermelons]

Also anybody have suggestions on what I can feed this buck to put weight on him?

If he is of good physical size, putting weight on him will only make him overweight which is just as bad as a rabbit not meeting the standard and is also unhealthy for the rabbit.

And yes rabbits can suck their balls up. As long as the sacks are actually there and you didn't infact receive a female

Were photos not exchanged prior? If this many things were off I would have nixed the trade.

 

[RabbitGirl321]

Yes, we both sent photos, couldn't tell the dewlap thing in photos though, or weight... and I hadn't noticed he had a dewlap until we got home.

And if he was 7.7 pounds at one time, I don't see what is wrong with trying to get him back up to the weight, or at least get him to weigh a little more then right now. I said he wasn't thin (as in like starved), not that he couldn't still use a bit of weight.

 

[RabbitGirl321]

His parents according to his pedigree were exactly 7 and 8 pounds as well, and he has several in his pedigree that were 9+ pounds, so I would think genetically he'd weigh more as well. Smallest rabbit in here is 6.8 pounds.

 

[woahlookitsme]

If you can't feel his spine or rib cage or pin bones then I'm not sure. Maybe he lost muscle mass over the years or maybe he was obese? It is hard to get bucks overweight but I guess it can happen. If everything in his pedigree is large then it wouldn't really make sense that he is small but who knows. Any idea how old he was when he weighed "7.7lbs"?

 

[RabbitGirl321]

Unfortunately I do not, it sounded like they took him to a show just back in Jan though, so he must've been up to weight then, maybe not 7.7 pounds but at weight. Unless the judge didn't check, I know my sister's rabbits have been under the weight standards before and the judges don't always check their weights, so hard to know for sure.

 

[Watermelons]

Just because it said 7.7 doesn't mean that's true. He very well could be just small for his breed which is why they chose him to trade away. If hes a healthy weight now, that could potentially be a lot of weight to pack on such a small animal. Unfortunately people lie sometimes.
Perhaps post some properly posed photos of him in profile and from above and somebody like Sarah here can help you guage his body a bit better.

 

[RabbitGirl321]

I will try and get some pictures of him one day soon, if I get the time. Been really busy. According to them, they were only getting rid of him because their doe was his litter mate, and their other doe was his granddaughter, so like me they needed new bloodlines. They had bought him though, and it sounds like he wasn't a baby when they got him which is another reason I feel like maybe he weighed 7.7 pounds at some point, but you never know I guess. I wonder if maybe they just didn't feed him well.

 

[majorv]

He probably was 7.7 lbs at one point. There's usually no reason to put a false weight on the pedigree unless he was way under or way over weight. Pictures would help, but to add a little weight you could up his feed and add some rolled oats or BOSS to it. We found our bucks tend to have a higher metabolism than our does...even our Polish.

 

[Beesandbuns]

Some breeds can end up with bucks having dewlaps. Basicly the heavier the breed the more likely the males will develop a dewlap, and if the does are penalized for having large dewlaps the bucks won't develop them. I've had lilac bucks develop small dewlaps and some who don't get dewlaps at all.

 

[RabbitGirl321]

I've not gotten any pictures of him posed yet, but I did get some pictures just from when I let him outside for a moment so I'll post one of those, since the dewlap can be seen in it.

@Beesandbuns: I think the does in harlequins can be faulted if the dewlap is excessive if I remember correctly. I'd never seen a buck of any kind with a dewlap so far (maaaybe a Flemish giant but not sure...), not even my sister's big American Chinchilla buck has one(unless I just totally ignored it somehow, haha!) so I had a feeling it probably was going to be an issue for showing, but I guess I'll find out for sure if I get him up to weight and get the chance to show him.

As you can see, it's not huge or anything, but I'm still not sure what to think...

 

[woahlookitsme]

His dewlap really isn't that big at all. I don't think I would worry about the dewlap itself.

The only breeds that DQ for a dewlap are: Polish, Netherland Dwarf, Tan, Himalayan, Silver, Britannia Petite, Dwarf Hotot

 

[Beesandbuns]

His dewlap really isn't that big at all. I don't think I would worry about the dewlap itself.

The only breeds that DQ for a dewlap are: Polish, Netherland Dwarf, Tan, Himalayan, Silver, Britannia Petite, Dwarf Hotot

Some breeds though will DQ for Dewlaps on the males (for examples the Rhinelander standard says a small dew lap is permissible on the does, but not for the bucks.)

Most of the time when I see dew laps on bucks its flemish giants and Californians.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Some breeds though will DQ for Dewlaps on the males (for examples the Rhinelander standard says a small dew lap is permissible on the does, but not for the bucks.)

Most of the time when I see dew laps on bucks its flemish giants and Californians.

Those seven breeds are the only rabbits that can be disqualified for a dewlap. The other breeds can be faulted if it detracts from the appearance of the rabbit. If you are disqualified from show you can and should take up a complaint with arba against the judge

 

[woahlookitsme]

My friend that is a judge said these exact words:
"Nope not a dq...he's probably pretty over conditioned though if it's a buck with a dewlap especially on that breed"

 

[RabbitGirl321]

Alright, great! Hopefully I'll have no problems showing him then, thank you all very much! He's already gained a pound since he got here and is at show weight again, and that was without anything extra in his feed, just the same I feed the other rabbits. I was rather surprised when I weighed him and saw that, guess both the weight and dewlap issues aren't a problem anymore though!

 

[Camilla]

Just because it said 7.7 doesn't mean that's true. He very well could be just small for his breed which is why they chose him to trade away. If hes a healthy weight now, that could potentially be a lot of weight to pack on such a small animal. Unfortunately people lie sometimes.
Perhaps post some properly posed photos of him in profile and from above and somebody like Sarah here can help you guage his body a bit better.

 

[Camilla]

I I've just discovered that dewlaps aren't normal seen on Male rabbit I have a Male nearly 3 yrs an neutered he has free roam in the back garden along with a 2 story hutch he gets Timothy hey some burgress nibbles and plenty of fresh water he also get apple carrots and lots of fresh greens I wouldn't have said he is overweight for his size but his dewlap is very big I dont know what breed he is as got him from a pet shop who said he was a min lop I dont think he is as his ears dont lop and he looks more rex is his dewlap down to breed or weight don't know if you can see in pics any advice would be great ty