Help! Diagnose this young rabbit

Thanks everyone also for your info and support. I kinda thought about something the past few days. Usually rabbits give birth to a litter right? Like half a dozen or so? I remember about a year back or more, the mother rabbit (when she was alive) gave birth and i saw one of the newborns just laying on the ground untended for. Later on I found out that the baby died since I couldn't find it and the worker told me. I didn't actually see a litter of 5 or 7. I only remember seeing one (but back then I never paid as much attention to them as I do now). Since this little rabbit is the only baby around, I'm thinking it may be the case that he was the "strongest" of the litter and had the genetics to survive whereas the others didn't. It made me realize how this baby rabbit was able to have a bad case of ear mites for so long (i know I said 2 months but it probably actually started about 6-8 months ago as I remember seeing small scabs and thought they were just bites or scratch cuts that would heal). Now seeing him improve so quickly and also moving around a lot more than I've ever seen him do, maybe he's a lucky one and has the best genetics from his parents.

He used to just sit and move very slowly and sluggishly. His eyes always seemed tired or sleepy (maybe cuz he was weak or lethargic) but since the treatment his energy has quadrupled and his eyes are wider open and he seems to move around like little rabbits should.

On a bad note, since I've been spending a lot of time hanging around the rabbit pen, feeding them cucumber and occasionally pieces of apple (they love that) and now the timothy hay he told me in a very bothered tone that I shouldn't feed them so much because he's the only one that cleans their pen (meaning that he is bothered that me feeding them more lately is making them drop more). I had thrown in once a few cut rolls of toilet paper for them to play with or chew on (which they did) but he didn't like that either as it was messy for him to clean up.

So that really pissed me off that he's more bothered by having to clean up more droppings than their health and well-being. I mean, it's his job whether he likes it or not, he's gonna have to clean the pen regardless...so why is he making it such a big deal that I'm feeding them hay or apples slices or whatever and thinks I'm making it a mess for him to clean up?? I'll put the hay in a bowl to minimize the mess but that comment really upset me.

Imbrium wrote:

I can't believe how much fur is missing off the baby's back - those mites were BAD!!

it was SO cute when the dad was grooming him! and it looks like the cardboard house is a hit

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YES, he lost a lot of fur on the neck and back and it looks kinda cold for him thats why I wanted to put in a house. I think maybe why he snuggles close to the dad is that he gets body heat. I hope the fur grows back quickly before full blown winter season hits.

Yes, when the dad is not chasing him, they often snuggle like that and 9/10 times it's the baby that goes to the dad to snuggle. Sometimes the dad rabbit falls on the ground sprawled out to let the baby rest on him. I had never seen that before and couldn't believe it lol. I never really knew rabbits were a lot more like cats and dogs and liked things like toys until now and watching a lot of rabbit videos and researching.

Wow. He looks so much better! and honestly, I love the dad bunny. He's beautiful
If there's a way for you to get a normal cat litter box from the dollar store or something it may save some mess to put hay in there. They tend to throw it around some and often a dish isn't enough to contain that.
I'm so glad you've helped these bunnies when no one else cared!

Thanks. Yes, I might try that then. I'm just worried the worker there will get angry for putting something else in there.

that worker's got a stick up his butt, he can get over cleaning up after healthy rabbits instead of sick ones >.> the effort of sweeping is based on the area that has to be swept, not the amount of stuff there is to sweep up, anyway.

as for the babies, litters can be anywhere from 1-12 kits, so it's quite possible there were only ever two.

if you want to see something *really* cute, try giving them each a little slice of banana! they look SO adorable with their little mouths all full of mush

Faith doesn't like banana, we were sad. :dunno

But I digress.. Have you thought of what's going to happen once they are both healthy? They are still living in less than ideal conditions, and who's to say they won't get mites again later on in their lives? I feel like they should have a better home. :hearts

Thank you so much for doing this though, I bet the baby feels a LOT better.

I love the videos!! Baby looks really good. What a vast improvement. It was fun to see him checking out his new box. He really does seem more alert. You can just see by looking in his eyes that he's feeling so much better. Having those mites must have been pretty painful for him. I'm really glad he's on the mend Thanks for keeping us all updated on his recovery!

Thank you so much for helping these poor bunnies. They baby is looking so much better. So sorry the guy who takes care of them is being a jerk.

Imbrium wrote:

the effort of sweeping is based on the area that has to be swept, not the amount of stuff there is to sweep up

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Yes!! You're brilliant! That's exactly what I was thinking to myself when he said that! It just sounded like an excuse for something else he might be grudging about. It may be that he just doesn't like having someone around his work area all the time now and feels invasion of space.

In response to everyone else, yes, the baby rabbit looks and feels so much better now. It makes me so happy to see him move around like he does now and it literally seems like a WEIGHT has been lifted off his shoulders. Do you remember that scene in Lord of the Rings where the King of Rohan (forgot his name) was under a curse for a long time and he was all rotted away on his throne like a dead vegetable? Then Gandalf came and released him from the curse and the King was alive, well, and strong again. Well, that's feeling I got. lol.

I don't know what will happen to them when I leave here...but that's not until next August so while I'm here, I'll be sure to take care of them. I realize that as long as I can do what is within my power and ability, then that gives me some peace. Whatever happens to them in the years after I'm gone, I hope they will live out as best a life any outdoor wild rabbit can live.

Oh, and another breakthrough today! Just before I was leaving work, I decided to go into the rabbit pen (I let myself in teehee) and to put some more timothy hay in a little basket that I put in the cardboard house. They were both sitting far away from me but within a few seconds, the dad rabbit came over to me! He knew I was giving some food so he just came over and I actually fed him from my hand. I probably could have pet him if I wanted to but decided not yet. That's the first time he's not run away from me. The baby rabbit was sitting by the food bowl so I walked over to him to put some hay in the bowl and the baby rabbit didn't run away either! He just sat there and i was within petting distance of him too, so it seems they aren't scared as much anymore and may even greet me from now on if I go inside. This is good news so that next monday I can put the 2nd treatment of revolution on them without having the worker chase them frantically around the pen and hold them down in a panic. I hated seeing them struggle like that. Especially the baby since it gave a little yelp too.

Oh, one more thing,I noticed they both have a little twitch in their paws when they are about to scratch or clean themselves. You might have seen it in the video where they both had the twitch...it's quite pronounced in the little one as I see him twitch his paw a lot, but when I saw the dad do it today also, I kinda laughed cuz I thought it might be a hereditary thing he passed along to him. My other thought is that it could be a case of arthritis in both of them? In any case, it doesn't look painful or bothersome...just a noticeable twitch everytime he's ready to lick his paw and clean himself.

With you giving goodies everytime you see those buns, they are going to end up being totally in love with you! Before you know it, they'll be doing little happy circles around your feet

By the little twitch, do you mean when they shake their paws before they groom? That's actually normal rabbit behavior. They're shaking any dirt off their paws before they start grooming themselves. Perfectly normal

Have you thought about taking them with you when you leave?
Having them shipped back to your home in Canada when you leave Korea?

The baby looks so much better. They're large rabbits, I didn't realize how large they were. You've done a very good job helping this bun out! I'm so glad that you took the steps to help him.

Be careful with the apple! That really corrupts a rabbits' eating habits. They all just love it but will then not eat as much hay as they should and the extra sugars in the apple tend to throw their gut bacteria off. They really aren't meant to have many simple sugars in their diet. . . .

It's a good thing to treat preventatively for mites every six months, especially the more rabbits you have. Ivermectin can be absorbed orally, by syringe or through the skin. I typically dribble the preparation for injection into the fur behind the ears where it can readily absorb into the skin.

Ivermectin is available in a number of different preparations at any farm store. Some people really like using the paste that is developed for oral administration for horses. My rabbits have always hated that though.

thanks for the tip. Yes, I read that you should only give some fruits sparingly (once in a while) as a treat.

There is a small straw basket i threw into the cardboard house and put some hay in it but for the 4th time in a row now, when I come back a an hour or so later, the straw basket is sitting outside the house as if it had been thrown out.

Are they saying they don't like the straw basket or is it just a case that they might have been playing with it (throwing it around) and it ended outside? 4 times I put it back in, and 4 times i found out back outside lol.

Oh, it absolutely sounds like a toy.. . If you are having trouble getting them to like timothy hay, try switching them to a spring grass mix or even oat hay for a while and then gradually reintroducing the timothy. Sometimes they just want variety and depending on what cut of the season the timothy is it can be rather bitter. . . .

aww, that's SO sweet that they're warming up to you! I'm going through the same process with two stray cats that adopted me

Today is Monday, exactly 2 weeks after the 1st treatment of revolution. Just updating with new pics and a video.

Fur is starting to grow back now (darker color at the roots i guess and will lighten up later). I'll apply a 2nd treatment sometime this week. I guess it doesn't have to be exactly 2 weeks but within this week. Other note, they are eating the timothy a lot more now. I didn't leave any for the weekend and when I saw them this morning, they seemed eager for it so I gave them a couple handfuls and they were eating it up. The young rabbit still really likes the pellet food most and he often sits himself inside the food bowl while eating lol.





VIDEO
eating

EWWWW, that's their pelleted food?? please tell me my eyes deceive me and it's not positively RIDDLED with corn the way it looks to me like it is! (corn is super bad for bunnies, they can't digest it properly)

good thing I'm too tired, lazy and cheap to hop a flight to Korea right now (or wherever you are if I remembered wrong), or else I'd wind up in jail on assault charges for smacking some sense into what is quite possibly the worst bunny owner I've ever heard of.

*wonders how much it would cost me to ship some PROPER pellet food over there out of sheer pity for the bunns*

seriously, the owner(s) of these bunns do NOT deserve to have animals!

Yeah, I've seen them eating that for 2 years since I've been here. But I'm giving them timothy hay everyday now and hopefully they'll eat more of the hay. The young one really seems to like the pellet though lol. Today I tried giving him some cucumber and even some almonds, cashews, walnuts (i had some today and the dad ate some but not the baby).

It looks like chicken feed. It actually looks a lot like what I'm mixing for my chickens right now. I wouldn't worry too much about them being cold this winter with all that corn. Corn is a hot food, so it heats up when its being digested. My chickens get it in the winter time only, so they'll be a little warmer at night.
Rabbits have a hard time digesting the hulls of the corn kernels, but if they've been eating it for that long then it may not bother them. Corn is one of those controversial rabbit foods. I think some other countries feed corn more than we do in here, because corn is more readily available than pellet food.

The baby does look SO much better, it looks like his new fur is coming in quite nicely. And his ear looks so much better too! I would treat him again this week, just to be on the safe side. You're doing a good job taking care of them. Hopefully with the new hay, the corn husks will pass better!