Rabbit not growing?

[Demismith]

My baby Thrianta is nearly 4 months old, but no where near as big as what my buck was at that age, and he's small for a Thrianta, he was hand reared. She's a lot smaller than her siblings too. There was never a runt when they were all together, but at 8 weeks the others seemed to grow quite quickly where as my baby didn't. All of the siblings have lovely thick, dense coats the same as my adults, but babys is thin and whispy, if you stroke her backwards the fur just stays there

Any ideas on why this could be? Genetic? An illness?

 

[BlueGiants]

It would be hard to "guess" at why your Thrianta isn't growing the same as it's siblings. Could be a physical deformity... (poorly developed digestive tract?, injury from birth/injury after birth?), could be a genetic issue (is this the first litter out of that Sire and Dam?). I generally don't see all the babies in a litter develop and grow exactly the same. Someone is going to be bigger, someone is going to be smaller... and some just "fail to thrive".

Do what you can for her and hope for the best. Try giving her a little bit ofrolled oats (Quaker Oats) with her pellets, and you can encourage her to drink if you give her Pedialyte mixed with her water (50/50). That will boost her electrolytes and my help her immune system.a

 

[Demismith]

The mother came from another breeder, mated to his best stud buck. Both had produced litters before. Apart from the size issue she seems just as healthy if not more than my other rabbits, eats and drinks the same as the rest. It's not really the size that has me stumped, it's the fur, they did used to all have the same fur, but baby's never changed

Never heard of pedialyte is it available in the UK? I know you can buy immune system boosting treats in the pet shops round here

 

[BlueGiants]

Pedialyte is sold for babies and children in the US, available in pharmacies or where ever baby food is sold. It's usually available in unflavored and fruit flavors. (I prefer the unflavored variety for the bunnies). I used to give it my children when they were dehydrated (after being sick or having diarrhea).

If her fur is that thin, have you had her checked for mites? How does the skin look? Any flakiness? Redness? Peeling? If her immunity is low, mites or other skin parasites would bother her more than a rabbit with a higher immune system.

 

[Demismith]

Nope, no mites, redness or flaking. It's not like a thin adult coat, it's just a coat an 8 week old rabbit would have. She dosen't seem to be maturing in any way. She's been to a show and in the car plenty of times, she never shows signs of illness at stressful times, been through feed changes too with no effects

 

[Liddellsbunbuns]

It sounds almost like a failure to thrive in children. The child appears to look and act healthy but they just do not grow or put on weight.

 

[BlueGiants]

I'm at a loss to find a logical explaination. As I mentioned, some rabbits just "fail to thrive". I would guess a vet could do an exam and some tests to see if there is anything that would help her along.

I havebeen told that some Thriantas carrya dwarfing gene, if she inherited two of the many variations of dwarfing gene's, (-one from each parent-) she could have stunted growth, and that could affect her fur as well.

If you repeat the breeding, or use one of her brothers back to the Dam, and see a repeat, that would tell you it was a genetic issue.

 

[Demismith]

Hmm, that is strange. I'll leave her a while and if she still hasn't changed I'll take her to the vets. Definately no dwarfing genes, parents are large, especially the mother. I don't think a repeat breeding is likely, the breeder of the rabbits lives at the other side of the country, and the only male has gone to a pet home.