The first day I weighed the XCY-3 kindle, I examined each kit as I usually do: ears, eyes, nose, mouth, legs, paws, genitals, and so on. I saw nothing out of the ordinary. The very next day, however.... XCY2, the largest of the kindle, had an obvious abscess. I looked back at the weighing day pictures and could see a little possible swelling, or maybe I just thought I should.  It could have been an insect bite or sting or just irritation from who knows what. I was going to open it up the next day, but I found the abscess had opened on its own and she had white drainage on areas of her face so I wiped her down with a free and clear baby wipe and took a good look at the nose. It looked already cleaned out and ready to heal so I let it. It had scabbed over but I gently moistened it and lifted part of the scab to allow it to drain if it needed to do so, but it did not.  I kept taking pictures to be sure it was healing well and ...

I have spent quite a bit of time with Black Ivy the past few weeks while doctoring her sore hocks. I have been watching how she hops, walks, sits, and lies. I have felt all over her body, particularly her hips, back legs, and hocks.  She is walking more on the hocks rather than always on her toes and even standing up on her back legs which she had not done since we got her. When Ivy would sit, she is still purposely positions her legs to be close together when settling, but she is doing that less often now. Her hindquarters, hips, and legs are still thinner than they should be. Her hocks feel narrow. I believe she has pinched hips with a narrow frame. All these things could contribute to or even cause sore hocks. In the picture below, she is stretching up with more pressure on her back legs than she would tolerate previously. Her back legs are still kind of close together, but I am wondering now that she has no pain walking and standing, if she will begin to hop and stand up...

This being my first (and hopefully my last) experience with sore hocks, I really did not know what looked better or worse as they were healing. However, understanding that sore hocks are quite similar to bed sores, so the main concern is to get pressure off the area. I have been searching on the Internet and found some suggestions, including a plastic mat I could order or perhaps find at a store like Tractor Supply. I was looking around for a small wood board or even just heavy cardboard and then I recognized a plastic cage mat among some things in the garage. I had completely forgotten that my husband had bought one of those plastic mats to test in a rabbit cage a long time ago, but we did not use it because it did not fit well with the floor wiring. That is probably because the cage floors are not perfectly flat. They do not sag in the middle, but rather they are made of such a strong wire that it was practically impossible to make them perfectly flat coming off of the roll when b...

I was kind of concerned about Black Ivy. She came to me with ear mites and sore hocks. We saw the ear mites, although it was a mild case in deep inside of one ear, but we missed the sore hocks. Honestly, as a breeder, I will not sell any rabbit in this condition and I am rather trusting that other established breeders advertising a rabbit would also have that same policy. I should not be, obviously. Black Ivy's ear mites were treated and she was good on that point throughout her quarantine. Her sore hocks, also called pododermatitis, are healing slowly. They are not oozing or bleeding anymore. They are still raw and red but becoming more pink and they are smaller. Actually the sores were really not that large when we saw them later the day we got her and if they had been bigger, we probably would have noticed them at the time of pick up. It just takes so long for them heal once they have gotten that bad.  To get the pictures of how one looks now, I had to move ...

A few days before Christmas, I had contacted another Silver Fox breeder, who was recommended to us months before. I had tried to get with her in August when I was looking for a buck but she only had does. I had needed a doe then also, so I was hoping to have a look, although a SF buck was my priority at that time. Still, we scheduled a meeting that was canceled because she was called into work, and we just did not get back with each other. I did not pursue it then because I was a little hesitant about getting Silver Foxes that were white carriers, which usually is not a gene most Silver Fox breeders would want, and at that time, we were still planning to cross with New Zealand Whites, so I already had enough with whites. Since we decided to go with Silver Fox only, I began to think that I would not be completely opposed to a SF carrying white. At the very least, I would find out if either of the bucks were white carriers. Plus, having whites with that thick SF no-fly-back fur would ...