Would appreciate some input..

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Bunnymom,K

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Broadview, Montana, USA
Our mini lop had two babies earlier this year (we were not trying to breed her, she was housed with a 5 year old angora buck that I had been informed was sterile- apparently not!) anyways, she had two babies- I think Cerridwyn (momma) stepped on the girl bunny- not sure what else could have happened, but when the girl kit was about 3 weeks old I noticed her hind legs were turned out one morning- I checked her out and it appears their was some kind of break or injury to the knee joint- I debated putting her down but she didn't seem to be in pain or stressed so I thought I would just keep an eye on her. Well her and her brother are now 10 weeks old and their names are Gunther and Lorelei. My good friend Judy fell in love with them and bought them a nice hutch and they live at my house.

Lorelei's legs seem to have fused at the knee. She walks on her knees, but it does not seem to cause her any discomfort and certainly doesn't stop her from being playful and hopping. We are monitoring food and treat intake so that she does not become obese. We have built them a nest/shelter box with her in mind so it has a wide opening and nothing to hop over so that she does not hit her legs on anything. I am worried about her injuring her legs, is there anything else that we should be doing? Judy is going to have Gunther neutered so that he can continue to live with his sister Lorelei since they have a very strong bond. Lorelei is not able to scratch her ears when she wants to, but she will go to Gunther and he will groom her.

Here are some pics of them, I am open to any advice if there is something more that we should be doing.

Lorelei
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Lorelei and her brother Gunther
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and one of Gunther
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Aw, poor bunny. That looks to my inexperienced eyes like splay legs, which she would have been born with.

I would say its very important to get her off of a wire floor and use something soft for her to be on, so maybe board that up, and then use fleece on top of it. She will be very susceptable to pressure sores, so its important to take as many measures as possible to avoid that.

I think you're right about getting her brother neutered. ASAP because a pregnancy in her would probably be fatal (so bear in mind that her brother will be fertile for up to 8 weeks after his neuter unless he is neutered as soon as his balls drop).

The member Leaf on here had two boys with splay legs, called Holiday and Fiesta. It might be worth you searching for their blog, it's very sad, but also very lovely.
 
Her legs were normal at birth, and it was overnight that they turned out- that is why I was thinking momma stepped on her.

We will get some fleece and make her a soft fleece pad to rest on. I do check her legs daily for indication of sore spots or inflammation.

Her brother is also checked daily now to watch for his testicles to drop- as soon as they do he goes in for his neuter.
 
Didn't notice if you are separating them or not,but if you are waiting for his guns to drop before the separation or vet. does his job,you might have a litter problem .:stork:
 
I think that yahoo has adisabled bunny group. I think that it would be a good idea to join the group.(plus remain here too :))At this age she is young with good skin integrity but you are going to need to take a lot of precautions to prevent the breakdown of her skin.

As other suggested t she should be taken off the wire and placed on a solid surface with something fleece over it. placing fleece over the wire won't be enough . .
I have really only seen splay legs of the front legs but that doesn't really mean anything other than I don't know if it is splay leg or not.
She is really cute but with issues like this you need to do a lot of preparation to prevent problems.

I am wondering how she moves when out of the cage ..for ex. on grass or in the house on the flooor?
 
Thank you Angieluv, she moves really good on grass, dirt, and wire. I have never had her on a smooth surface before other than their marble tile in the shelter box- and she slides herself on that. I will rig up some padding for the cage other than the potty corner. She stands up on her knees to investigate things and even hops on and off the shelter box. She moves pretty fast.
Her brother will be neutered soon, so that they can stay together- Lorelei becomes very depressed and won't eat if her brother is not with her.
 
if you think he is getting at the sexually mature age you could separate them and just have them living next to each other so they could see and smell each other.

it would be terrible for her to get pregnant.:(
 
I agree it looks like splay leg. Leaf had two young'uns with it. It can be genetic or due to the floor they were raised on, but I am guessing genetic because the floor looks pretty standard for most breeding facilities (ie fine). However, they're going to need special care including soft flooring.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. They now have a nice soft cotton rug that covers most of the cage bottom (potty corner and just under the water bottle is open to the wire), Lorelei seems much happier on that! She's much more playful since we put that in for her. Gunther will be getting neutered within the week.;)
 

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