I'm hoping to not make this too long. I'm new to rabbits, my husband is not (4-H'er, grew up with all sorts of critters). We'd been considering getting meat rabbits for a while, and had decided last month to go ahead. We have two hutches, were looking online to see if anything came available.
A local who had dutches had advertised his for a steal ($65, plus two hutches & two cages, Bottles, etc). The ad was posted late at night and my husband responded early in the morning before I awoke, and went and brought them home.
I'm not 100% sure I would have purchased them, two don't look like belted dutches at all to me, and one of the girls is dreadfully thin, missing fur all over. They are clean of mites, ticks, and have healthy appetites and are mostly friendly, but skittish in their new environment.
I misunderstood the hubby and when setting them up in their temporary new digs (transferring them to our larger hutches so I can make repairs to the ones they came with) I accidentally put the two males together. In quick time, a fight ensued. I'd never actually SEEN a ball of fur roll around before. I separated them, and one looked untouched, the other had blood on his.....wee-wee. I kept an eye on the "bitten" one and he seems fine. That was Saturday. Fast forward to late Monday, and I'm trying to spend 30 minutes 3x a day to get them used to me, and handling them once a day. I'm looking over the unharmed Buck, and it looks like he has hard ridges on his very swollen testes( one was pink and softer initially). They are extremely hard and wrinkly to the touch, and look discolored. I showed my husband and he said it looked to him like it was an old injury. I put pulvex on it and returned him. As of yesterday evening, it looks worse (both testes are hard now).
I feel badly, he has a sweet disposition and I know I'm scaring the heck out of him when I put the pulvex on his (probably hurting) testes. After a couple of moments in my arms, he just lays on his back and will let me do it. (that or I've been suckered into pleasuring rabbits now)
We're only looking for meat rabbits here, not pets, so I'd prefer not to have to take him to the vet. It'd be a different situation if I knew him as a proven breeder. But, I have two males and only need one. Can I treat with antibiotics or is it a lost cause? Even if I save him, will he "shoot blanks"? Is it possible he's suffering and I'm not seeing it? In that case, I'd like to put him down. I'm assuming that if he does have an infection, I should discard him and not feed him to the dogs or myself, etc.
Also, the one unhealthy-looking girl has a bad temperament, and a scratcher. Reformable? Or not worth it.
Thanks for any help/advice. It's appreciated.
-Summer
A local who had dutches had advertised his for a steal ($65, plus two hutches & two cages, Bottles, etc). The ad was posted late at night and my husband responded early in the morning before I awoke, and went and brought them home.
I'm not 100% sure I would have purchased them, two don't look like belted dutches at all to me, and one of the girls is dreadfully thin, missing fur all over. They are clean of mites, ticks, and have healthy appetites and are mostly friendly, but skittish in their new environment.
I misunderstood the hubby and when setting them up in their temporary new digs (transferring them to our larger hutches so I can make repairs to the ones they came with) I accidentally put the two males together. In quick time, a fight ensued. I'd never actually SEEN a ball of fur roll around before. I separated them, and one looked untouched, the other had blood on his.....wee-wee. I kept an eye on the "bitten" one and he seems fine. That was Saturday. Fast forward to late Monday, and I'm trying to spend 30 minutes 3x a day to get them used to me, and handling them once a day. I'm looking over the unharmed Buck, and it looks like he has hard ridges on his very swollen testes( one was pink and softer initially). They are extremely hard and wrinkly to the touch, and look discolored. I showed my husband and he said it looked to him like it was an old injury. I put pulvex on it and returned him. As of yesterday evening, it looks worse (both testes are hard now).
I feel badly, he has a sweet disposition and I know I'm scaring the heck out of him when I put the pulvex on his (probably hurting) testes. After a couple of moments in my arms, he just lays on his back and will let me do it. (that or I've been suckered into pleasuring rabbits now)
We're only looking for meat rabbits here, not pets, so I'd prefer not to have to take him to the vet. It'd be a different situation if I knew him as a proven breeder. But, I have two males and only need one. Can I treat with antibiotics or is it a lost cause? Even if I save him, will he "shoot blanks"? Is it possible he's suffering and I'm not seeing it? In that case, I'd like to put him down. I'm assuming that if he does have an infection, I should discard him and not feed him to the dogs or myself, etc.
Also, the one unhealthy-looking girl has a bad temperament, and a scratcher. Reformable? Or not worth it.
Thanks for any help/advice. It's appreciated.
-Summer
