How old is she, really?

So we were in the market for a bunny to try and bond with our Holland Lop. We got Willow, a Netherland Dwarf from a farm about an hour from our home. I was sick so my husband went and got her.

When he got home, I had questions that he couldn't answer, so I called and asked the "breeder", what her birth date is. Talk about red flags.... She said, well.... I'm not really sure. She says that she bought the brood from a breeder at a show a week or two ago and they were 8 or 9 weeks old when she bought them. So the bunny is 9 or 10 weeks old but she kept waffling and saying she's 8 or 9 weeks, I mean... 9 or 10...

But when I look at her....... she's soooo small. Keep in mind, I've never had a netherland dwarf. BUT she's the size of a softball. Fits in your hand.

I'm attaching a picture of her next to my 3lb holland lop. And a video of her first bath. I think I'm gonna weigh her. But what does a healthy netherland dwarf usually weigh at 10 weeks? Do I need to be concerned or handle her differently if she is only 7 weeks as opposed to the possible 10?

She is drinking water, eating hay, and she is eating her pellets and oats. So I do know she is getting nutrition. I just feel irked that we may have inadvertently contributed to compromising her health and I want to do right by her. She's precious!

[ame]https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=yVt-GBm62wY&feature=youtu.be[/ame] This is the video we took of her first bath the day after we picked her up.

Cocoa said:

I just feel irked that we may have inadvertently contributed to compromising her health and I want to do right by her.

Click to expand...

Dont bath her then!

Please don't bathe your rabbit ever!

As the others said do NOT bathe your rabbits, it can be potentially fatal to them. They are very capable of cleaning themselves.

Rabbits also tend to panic when in water, and can easily fracture their spine or a limb if they thrash around whilst in water.
On top of this, when wet rabbit hair clumps together, making getting them completely dry a very difficult task, and rabbits who are left damp are potentially prone to respiratory infections and hypothermia.

My Netherland is 10 weeks nearly and only a touch bigger than yours View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1426441594.652245.jpg

We don't bathe as a practice. But she came to us from a farm and was caked in poop. It was stuck in her hair on her back, legs, and her genital area was so crusted and caked. I couldn't get it off of her any other way. It was awful. It took 3 water changes of warm water and lots of picking to get it off of her. We kept her warm, dried her well after and she handled it very well. She's none the worse for wear and can now clean herself. She's very happy and a little spitfire. Thankfully. Just want to make sure that going forward, we care for her properly.

she looks like a happy content young rabbit. I'd put her age between 8-10 weeks. If she came as part of a brood, legally aged in the states she would have been a minimum of six weeks, more probably 8 weeks as brood size for netherlands is generally less than 6. So the breeder would be correct in saying between 8-10 weeks.