Common Deformities in Rabbits

1 Overview

Which Situations Indicate Rabbit Deformity

1. Overlong front teeth.

Overlong incisors are called mandibular prognathism. Some lower incisors grow up and out like reversed tusks; some upper incisors curve inward, long and curved like ram’s horns. Both hurt eating and can pierce the palate and gums.

2. Splay legs.

The two front legs splay forward in a figure-eight, making walking hard. It can be congenital or acquired. Congenital splay is inherited; acquired comes from poor nutrition (wrong calcium-phosphorus ratio) or poor management (long time on a too-slick floor). Either way, such a rabbit cannot breed.

3. Body-part defects.

Some rabbits have crooked body parts, hard to breed and unattractive, unfit as breeders.

4. Drooping ears.

Some breeds are born with drooping ears (French Lop, Holland Lop). Most breeds have upright ears. Acquired droop can be treated with ear drops, but it is now a defect and the rabbit cannot be used for breeding.

Also, some bucks have cryptorchidism, monorchidism, or genital deformity, and some does have too few teats – none of these can breed.

The above is our full introduction to rabbits unfit for breeding. A reminder: do not focus only on the buck and ignore the doe’s quality, since a poor doe cannot produce good offspring even with a great buck. We hope this helps rabbit farmers.