Since I just became a rabbit rancher there will most assuredly be a bunch of bunny questions!

I have one doe who has actual scabs on her hocks. Last night was the first time I noticed them and I put a&d ointment on and flushed it with hydrogen peroxide soap and water prior to that. I also put pieces of playwood in for all the bunnies to sit on. Does anyone have a method for treating sore hocks? Do you give antibiotics?

I was worried about the constant living on wire, too. It seems that it would be a bit painful. What do you do to alleviate the discomfort for your rabbits? When I lived in the north we always had bedding, but everyone here says to leave them on bare wire. Opinions? Regardless, I will always have a board in for them to sit on as I don't want them to be hurting from the wire. Thanks!

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), May 04, 2001

Answers

Hi, Doreen. The last pair of rabbits we kept in our penned in front yard ! I have raised many in very large penned in areas giving them small hutches to escape to safety. I lost a few to one of my own dogs who found a 4 ft section and she jumped in and out with her dinner. Anyway....for you rabbit with sore hocks, I would nurse her back to health by giving her access to a nice lawn....and making sure it is safe from predators. My neighbor started raising large rabbits to slaughter and eat. He got overrun with them and kept them in wire hanging cages with pens 4' by 4'. He started turning some loose ! They multiplied so well, he had to start shooting them because they were becoming a nuisance. I don't recommend that method. That, and all the loose big bunnies attracted more wild foxes and coyotes to set up family raising very close by. But, for your sick one, mother nature should heal her up fine. They will lick off any meds. Peace, Nan.

-- Nan Bignall (jdnabgnl@midwest.net), May 04, 2001.

I've always done what the books and "experts" always tell you not to do: I put the cages on the ground or on old pallets, which is best. That keeps them pretty dry. You can also put in old feed sacks in the bottom of the pen. They will chew on it, but I've never thought it hurt any of them. The wire is still there of course, but it is supported and doesn't bother the rabbits. You can use bedding here in cool weather, but when it is really, really hot they need all the air they can get. Don't even bed the nest boxes if any should happen to kindle in hot weather, although that isn't likely. Just line the boxes with cardboard or pieces of feed sack. Most of the rabbits I've lost have been lost due to heat.

-- Gren (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), May 04, 2001.

Doreen -

They will be fine... Don't worry.

Usually the problem is caused by the wire itself, but if there is any swelling or pus, it could be because they are getting dung in the wounds. No matter how well you clean, or how often, this will always be possible. Using a 'triple-a' product can't hurt, just make sure you don't overdo it... Read the labels.

They won't sit on the wood all the time, but they will avoid getting sores in the future.

You've got it completely right!! ALWAYS have some wood in there for them to sit on. That's all thats required. They will chew it, move it, and make it impossible to keep things where you want them, but, heck... its their house, so I guess they will move the 'furniture' around if they want, lol!! Funny little critters, ain't they?!

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), May 04, 2001.

Doreen, if this is the doe you got from me, she actually had burns from the hot wire last summer before I realized the problem and started bringing them in. Also gave her access to her box. I don't know if what you are seeing could be the scarring from that experience.

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), May 04, 2001.

Thanks for all the help everyone. It's actually 2 does, Mary, The one from you and one from another lady which I noticed when I checked all of them. Wow, burns from the cages...and you had them in a shady spot! I'll take into account all that you have said. I am hesitant to put any rabbits on the ground here with any kind of sore because of the fire ants. It would probably be fine, but man, those things are purely evil and they go for sores.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), May 05, 2001.

You're right, she was in the shade, but it was 115 degrees several days in a row. Still, I also was surprised about the burns. Forgot until you mentioned it.

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), May 05, 2001.

I have noticed that one of my bunnies also has sore hocks. It says that in another article that the problem is int he breeding and that his toenails are to long and cannot walk right, personally I think that is a bunch of bull. My rabbit has his toenails trimmed once a week and I do not really think the breeding has anything to with sores on his feet. So anyway I have been talking to some other breeders in my area (Texas) and they recomend blue star ointment on their feet. I have not yet tried this but we will see. I hope your rabbit gets better let me know if you find a way to heal it that works better than mine. I put some soft rubber in the bottom of my cages they seem to really like it. I raise californians, and Holland lops. Kathleen

-- Kathleen Ellis (ellis1@totalaccess.net), June 28, 2001.

I always kept squares of plywood in each of the pens. Weekends when the water bottles were cleaned and each rabbit looked closely at, I would just replace the plywood with a new square. The old ones were hosed off and set in the sun to dry. We never had sore hocks, but then I always bought my beginning rabbits from 4H kids who showed, and knew as much about rabbits as I do about goats. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 28, 2001.

Okay, I'm new to rabbits and was wondering if heat and/or rust had anything to do with causing sore hocks. My rabbits tend to get sores worse in the summer. And our cages are old and we didn't know if rust could be causing the sores. My rabbits aren't overweight and I don't remember having this bad of a problem a few years ago. If anyone has any thoughts I would really appreciate them!

-- Laura (bethy_03@msn.com), June 24, 2002.

hi Doreen! I have also got rabbits your rabbits problems are not bad at all all I would reccomend is placing old rags on the bottom of the cage wood is good but until it heels you need to treet them this way also I would reccomend rubbing there hocks every day even if they are heeld. Adios

-- jessica shelby guenther (jessicaguenth20@hotmail.com), June 30, 2002.

I don't understand all this sore hocks business,I breed french lops outside in pens and have a polish dwarf as a house pet-guess which one has sore hocks? I feel like a bad owner,just noticed it last night.He sleeps in a cage in the bedroom which i fill with meadow hay twice a week ,but most of the time he has the run of the house, we have carpets so it isnt like he is on bare floor. i wasnt sure what to do so just applied an emmolient as i didnt want it splitting and cracking.What else can i do?

-- kim (kim_hannigan@hotmail.com), July 11, 2002.

My rabbit has sore hocks too and they just keep getting worse and worse! I asked my dad about it and he said to put some hydrogen peroxide on it but I didn't know because usually when you put it on cuts or sores it stings and I didn't want that to happen! What else can i put on it? Kristina

-- Kristina Gentry (mikajack9@hotmail.com), October 26, 2002.

I have a question for those who know about rabbits. I want to raise some but not in cages. People tell me that you must keep adult rabbits seperated. It would seem you could raise them togeather if they were in a large enough area. Is there some rule of thumb about how much space each rabbit would need to live in a common enclosure, or is this just not possible?

-- Jimmy Blessitt (blessitt@tecinfo.com), November 07, 2002.

I'd be very careful about using hydrogen peroxide on any wounds, animal or human. There have been a few articles out that say it makes things worse than better. I'd say rinse with a light salt water solution instead.

-- Jet (ladyjet@pocketinet.com), May 05, 2003.

I have tried various remidies and the best solution I found is to put dressing on the wounds replaceing the dressing daily and washing the wounds with a salt/water solution.Another help would be to keep rabbits on plastic slates very easy to clean and defintly more comfortable then wire.

-- Louie scerri (jat301@maltanet.net), May 25, 2003.

HEY,

-- SARAH ELIZABETH (HIPHOPDANCER533@CS.COM), June 18, 2003.

HEY, I HAVE 2 RABBITS AND IM KINDA NEW AT ALL THIS. BOTH MY RABBITS HAVE SORES ON THE TOP OF THEIR FEET. ONLY ONE OF MY RABBITS HAS A SORE ON THE HEEL OF HER FOOT. I WAS WONDERING IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS AFTER THEY ARE ALTERED SINCE I HAD BOTH OF MINE ALTERED RECENTLY. HELP I NEED ADVICE!WHAT DO I DO TO MAKE THEM ALL BETTER? ~SARAH

-- SARAH ELIZABETH (HIPHOPDANCER533@CS.COM), June 18, 2003.

My bunny has bare skin exposed on his heels. I'm baffled how it happened as I only noticed it recently because fur from other areas covered it for the most part. He has a carpeted room to his leisure. How could this happen? Should I be worried?

-- Jes Crownover (jescrownover@msn.com), January 08, 2004.

Bunnies have an exposed pale pink bit of skin on their heals which is covered over by long fur growing beside the exposed spot. Not to worry there.

I'm looking for tips on how to heal sores on the hocks.

It's winter here and she's not going outside to sit on the grass for at least another 5 months. Her cage has a plastic bottom. I've put carpet on the plastic and then a 100% cotton towel on top of that. Her nails are about as short as I can go right now until the quick pulls back. I don't have a supply of straw at this time of year for her to sit on so I've filled her house with Timothy Hay, at least I know it's ok for her to eat and soft enough for her to sit on. The hay also allows her toes and nails to sink in taking pressure off the back of the foot.

I noticed the sores nearly two months ago. A trip to the vet resulted in some ointment to be applied three times a day. At the moment I don't remember what the ointment is but the vet says it helps with inflamation. Her feet aren't getting any worse but the sores aren't getting better. Yesterday her heal had been bleeding, I'm wondering if she maybe just licked it enough to open the sore?

The vet put a flexible e-collar on her to keep her from licking her feet but that only resulted in fur loss on the neck under the chin. Will it grow back? We took the collar off after only 3 days because of the fur loss.

Is there anything else I'm not doing that would help the sores to heal? It's tough because anything put on the feet will either be licked off or chewed off. Thanks for the help.

-- julie Gourlay (julie@gourlay.com), January 09, 2004.

I can't believe some of the sad, sad stories of some of your bunnies - let on hot wire cages, in heat, predators, and being shot and killed. Unfortunately my house bunny got so fat from her bunny sitter while I went out of town that mine also got sore hocks living indoors on soft flooring. At least she is kept cool and safe. But its still a problem and she is miserable and won't eat. What to do?

-- shirley watkins (harefan@cox.net), May 26, 2004.