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Rex rabbits

bluebunny

Wise Old Thumper
Do they have more problems than other rabbits,I got Claude from a breeder at 8 weeks old he started to suffer with sore hocks from 12 weeks old and stasis /bloat from 9 months old,He has just passed away at 5 years old which isnt old really,The vet thinks he was born with an abnormal problem with the nerve which gets that gut going,and thats why he didnt get better:(
 
My first rex acorn i had from 8 wks. He lived to about 5. He started in a hutch with woodshavings and hay. then when i got the shed he was in there. He never had a problem with sore hocks, however i think the change from a hutch to a shed was what brought on his arthritis as he chose to sit out in the rain a lot :roll: he was a right grumpy bun, lovely but grumpy. One of his front legs became quite badly inflamed, and it didnt matter what i tried he always sat in the rain.
x
 
Our lovely Floss cmae to us with sore hocks, but as we were able to let her on grass during daylight hours they eventually cleared up(vet also gave us Flammazine to help initially, which it did:)). She had nodular myxi twice despite being vaccinated avery 6 months. She fought off all of that only to succumb to pyloric stenosis a few weeks ago and the age of 3.5 yrs. I've talked to Jane(jack'sjane) about rexy stuff before and she suspects they do tend to have digestive and heart problems due to inbreeding. They are a beautiful breed, but at what cost?:(
 
Our lovely Floss cmae to us with sore hocks, but as we were able to let her on grass during daylight hours they eventually cleared up(vet also gave us Flammazine to help initially, which it did:)). She had nodular myxi twice despite being vaccinated avery 6 months. She fought off all of that only to succumb to pyloric stenosis a few weeks ago and the age of 3.5 yrs. I've talked to Jane(jack'sjane) about rexy stuff before and she suspects they do tend to have digestive and heart problems due to inbreeding. They are a beautiful breed, but at what cost?:(

Before i got Claude id never seen a rex rabbit i couldnt belive how cute they were:love: Claude was a lovely friendly bunny he always asked for fuss and used to groom your hand:( Shadow is a rex ive had her about 4 years she was a rescue though she doesnt have sore hocks and has never had any tummy probs
 
Well I got my Eclipse in april he is around a year and a half old, so far he has been suffering from sore hocks and has had a quite bad case of statis but that cleared up thankfully, none of my other buns have had this *touches wood* :)
 
As far as I know the closest to "breed-spesific" problems rexes get are sore hooks (sure, any rabbit can get them, but its easier for rexes because of their short fur) I know someone here mentioned they could get heart problems easier but I haven't heard of this in the Norwegian rexes at least (yeah I know it helps little for all Englishmen out there:roll:)
I've only had one rex with sore hooks...he got it because of rain and me not liking rain...so yeah it was my fault.
Normally I'd clean his cage every 2-3 days and let him out on the lawn every day, but it had been raining for several days straight and thus I had been sloppy with the cleaning and didn't take him out of the hutch, when I checked on him his feet were swollen and sore, could be due to the humid weather, the hutch being dirty or lack of exercise (sitting too long on a hard surface can damage a rabbit's feet... it may well have been a combination of all three)
I took him indoors to protect him from the humid air, and he sat on a pillow for weeks straight, even after his feet had healed it took some time before he was confident to go out of his cage...in fact he never did, I had to build him an indoor run and THEN he started running around again :D Thank goodness he chose to use the litter box on his own accord... I tried covering his cage in newspapers and he pushed it all into one corner:roll:

Some rexes are more prone to sore hooks than others, but as the vet told me: its easier to prevent it than to treat it..
Good ways to prevent it is:
-Make sure the rabbit gets enough exercise and won't have to sit still for so long.
-Clean the hutch/litter box often.
-Make sure he's got somewhere dry to stay. Don't just leave it in a run with no shelter.
-Pillows and vetbeds are nice, if your rabbit doesn't break them (like Sasuke eventually did) or pee on them (like Aroma did).

Sasuke hasn't had a sore hook since that incident.
He's now moved back outside. I clean his cage regardless if its raining (perhaps ESPECIALLY when it's raining...or at least at days it's raining a lot and the sun peaks out for a short while, I use that to clean the rabbit hutches). He used to have a permanent run, but now Aroma uses it, but the hutch he's in is larger than the one Aroma now uses. (Aroma doesn't mind the small hutch, she only goes in there too eat anyway, or if its raining very bad.) I have another run on the lawn that he can go in though:D But I have to carry him back and forth. :lol:
 
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In my expereience Rexes certainly do have more problems than other Rabbits if they are very inbred

The problems I have seen include Congenital Heart Disease, gut problems and sore hocks. Orange Rexes can have poor eyesight which makes them appear to be aggressive.

You wont get a breeder to admit any of the above though. The breeder with the Congenital Heart Disease in her 'stock' is still using the same gene pool :evil:
Producing beautiful Rexes with a life expectancy of 18 months-2 years :cry:
 
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Ive had Joey my Rex for 5 and a half years and to be fair he has never had any problems. His hocks are clear and he eats any veg and as much as he can. He is bonded with Mr Chambers who is the same age as him. They are the only two gay boys in my bunny village :shock: :lol: As has been said though there are bound to be exceptions. I love Rexes but have only had the one :love: :love:
 
Last week I adopted a rex bunny from the rspca. He is lovely and so playful, he is an indoor bun who is free range when we are at home and has a large dog crate with an attached run for when we are at work.

I have been doing lots of reading regarding the rex breed since I knew I was going to be adopting him and this forum is helping me a lot with advice especially regarding possible health problems and how to prevent some of these.
 
My lovely Beau was a mini rex rescued from RSPCA in Worcester but died very suddenly. He was only around 2. Fell in love with them because of Claude - he was the first I had seen. There do seem to be alot of problems but as they were the 'in thing' in the rabbit world a short time ago - they are probably being mass bred.
 
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