Runt or Peanut Mini Rex

[jorey]

I was just a kid and we sold them for meat. Had a lop for 4 h when I was 10 after that. That boy lived forever. I keep thinking about getting another for a pet.

 

[Bunnylady]

Obviously, if this guy has made it to 2 weeks old, he's not a peanut. In large litters and with older does, it isn't unusual for some kits to be smaller than their siblings at birth. These can be perfectly healthy, normal kits that are just small due to restricted nutrition before birth, so they can grow up to be healthy, normal adult rabbits. I hope your little guy is one of them.

But then there are the others, the ones that clearly aren't quite "normal;" that don't look quite right, somehow. I've had a few of those over the years, and it's always hard to know what to do about them. Since whatever is wrong with them may be genetic, they shouldn't ever be bred, to avoid the risk of passing it on to another generation. Because I don't know what's wrong with them, I can't even guess at how long they might live; whether they even have a decent chance at growing up.

I can't keep them, because they take up cage space and I wind up feeding an animal that has no actual "use" (and one can afford only so many "pets"). Also, there is the problem of an animal that doesn't look "normal," and people's perception of them. The inevitable question of the potential rabbit buyer, "What's wrong with that one?" Will visitors to my rabbitry who see this clearly "not normal" animal talk about it when they leave, "she's breeding all these deformed rabbits, and doesn't care, she just keeps on. . . .?" "Why she keeps that poor thing around is beyond me, it should be put out of its misery . . . ."

I can't in good conscience sell them, since accepting money for an animal at least infers that it is worth something, and the buyer may feel cheated if the rabbit doesn't live very long. I have occasionally given such animals away, but with (I hope) the understanding that I knew it had a problem, and that it may be living on borrowed time. Once again, there is the risk of the person who takes the rabbit considering it a "rescue" from this callous, careless breeder, who turns out these abnormal rabbits and then just throws them away . . . .

I understand the "underdog bias;" the desire to aid something that is struggling is a noble and beautiful thing. It is hard to stand back and let something die and feel like you never gave it a chance. Perhaps it is callous to "let nature take its course," but sometimes, it isn't a case of saving a life, merely postponing an inevitable death. Sometimes, letting a kit die in the nest box relieves me of having to "do something about it" later on.

Just some musings from a long-time rabbit breeder. Hopefully, none of this applies to this kit, and he will grow up to live a long, healthy life and be a well-loved member of a family.

 

[KimTatum03]

Oh bunny lady... I have a new one for you. My four week old kit...

None of the other four kits or mom are symptomatic. Help