I need help!

What is this and how do I treat it? I have a group of doe' that have been in a communal ground cage that get moved of a daily basis. Sometimes twice a day to different locations with grass. This 2 year old Dutch was bred June 24 I was moving the cage this evening when I noticed that she was warmer than the other rabbits to the touch. After looking her over well I found the above picture. She is not lethargic and is eating and drinking and has not lost weight. If I had not noticed the heat I would have not known anything was wrong!

I checked the other doe that are with her and found that they also have the beginning of the same thing.

Please help me I am not completely new to rabbits but I am new to the backyard rabbitry. The ground cage was a temporary solution while I was working on building some new cages, but it was also an experiment to see how community keeping worked.... It was working well until someone got sick! Now I am worries that I may loose some good bunnies :-(

My first thought is something like rabbit syphilis/vent disease since it can be sexually transmitted and the doe that was bred seems to show worse than others. That being said, it could be something else from the ground that is irritating them. I'm also not 100% sure how vent disease presents and progresses. I would be contacting a vet since it appears to be contagious, best to get on top of it before the kits are born if possible.

My first thought is also rabbit syphilis. The good news is if that's what you're dealing with it's typically very treatable, but I would get them in to see a vet.

One of my bunnies had syphilis a few weeks ago. I'll post some pics of his symptoms. He had scabs on his eyes, mouth, chin, stomach, and vent area. I took him to the vet and he got an injection of Penicillen once a week for three weeks and it cleared it right up! This is very curable. The last picture I'll post is of his vent area and it kinda looks like your rabbits. I can't say for sure so you should see a rabbit savvy vet before it gets worse.

if it is syphilis, the only way it can be spread is by direct rabbit to rabbit contact so you need to take all the rabbits affected by this and have them in a separate area, do not breed them. Check all the rabbits that were in contact with these does or bred to them and it can pass on to the babies. Maybe the doe got it from the buck you bred her to? Either way he probably has it and any rabbit in direct contact with him will also. definitely see a vet. Good luck.

Assuming that this is the correct diagnosis will the syphilis be gone once treatment is complete? This is something I am not clear on.

We do not have a rabbit savvy vet here. I am treating with penicillin injections. Any info is appreciated. The Dutch that was so advanced is much better. The sores are still there they have changed some. But her fever is gone so I think what I am doing is helping. The others are not getting worse that I can tell. Everyone is eating and acting like bunny business as usual.

Yes it should be gone after treatment.

It should clear up completely, provided it is the correct diagnosis, the right med is given at the correct dosage, and at the correct frequency. ETA: And as long as the bacteria hasn't become resistant to the antibiotic being used.

Thank you. Then what I was understanding was correct. The word syphilis was throwing me off. Equating a bacterial infection to an STD is odd!

Well this is interesting. Even though my Dutch improved the blisters did not improve until we took put her back into a raised cage and off the ground tractor. This was not rabbit syphilis. We are pretty sure it is urine scald. The only rabbit that was not effected in that tractor was my flemish that sits higher off the ground. All of the compact close to the ground does are improving now that they are back in wire bottom cages.

Why do you think it's urine scald? Here's a definition.

Urine scald:

The symptoms are noticed when the rabbit’s urine flows down one or both hind legs instead of being expelled backwards cleanly past the tail, causing it to be either very damp or soaking wet, depending on the severity of the condition. It often starts in a very basic way with the owner noticing that the rabbit seems to be wet around the tail area, and then over time (sometimes days, sometimes weeks) it gets progressively worse to the point where it is very painful and distressing to the rabbit concerned. Look at the below photo. His skin was very sore, red and wet.

With that being said, I still think your rabbits have syphilis. In my understanding, urine scald does not involve scabs on the genital area. When my bun had syphilis it took about 2 weeks for the scabs to go away, was it about 2 weeks when you noticed there weren't any scabs.? The scabs on my bun looked a lot like the ones on your rabbits. I'm no expert this is just my opinion.

here's the pic of urine scald, it doesn't resemble your rabbits symptoms

Is it possible the tractor floor is contaminated with something that is causing the blistering? Or if let out on the grass, could there be a poisonous plant causing it? I agree that it doesn't look like urine scald. You would see other signs, such as urine soaked or urine stained fur, fur loss, reddened and inflamed skin. I don't believe blistering even occurs with urine scald.

My rabbits never had scabs they had what looked like fire ant bites. Either way they have been treated as if they had syphilis. Maybe it is just running it's course. Their tail has been wet. I have a breeder friend who has thought all along that this was urine scald and not the syphilis. She says it looks like other early stages of scald she is seen. Without a vet diagnosis I don't think I will have a clear answer.