How to tell age of bunny

Hi,

We've recently adopted a rabbit from our local rescue shelter who told us he's about a year old. I assume a vet has checked him over and estimated his age when he arrived at the RSPCA but is it possible they got it wrong? Is there any way to roughly tell how old a rabbit is?

The reason I'm asking is that he seems old to me. I can't really explain it, he just seems like an old rabbit. Our other rabbit is 10 months old and is much more lively, fit looking and acts like a young rabbit would. Our rescue rabbit doesn't run around much, spends most of his time exploring then napping. He kind of plods along and his demeanour is what I'd expect from an older rabbit. He's much slower and tires more easily than our other rabbit.

The other thing is I think he's small for his breed and maybe that's why the RSPCA thought he was younger. I always thought lops were bigger than mini lops but he's actually smaller than my younger adolescent mini lop. He was quite thin when we took him in and the way he eats made us think he's not used to getting much food. Could he possibly have stunted growth due to poor nutrition/care with his previous owner?

He's not ill and seems happy enough but I'd like to know if we got his age right

Thanks, much appreciated

It could be as you say but it is difficult if not impossible tp tell the age of a bun. I have just taken 3 rabbits off people, one was dumped, and I asked the vet if they could throw any light on their ages and they said it's difficult. So I will never know. Maybe someone else will come on with a clue but I dont think so.

Buns don't show their AGE....ALAs. All we can do is look after them ,no matter what!

Once they are adult it becomes harder, under a year/18months and you can tell they are a young bun, getting to 8+ they tend to look older, in between and it's more of a guess. It's quite possible its personality and previous living conditions you're seeing. It might take a bun that's not had a lot of exercise months to build up muscle tone and stamina to be running about - same as a person that's no very fit. Confidence takes awhile too, they can settle in a few weeks, but sometimes it takes much longer to feel confident about really letting lose.

At a year you'd expect a rabbit to be full grown, so I doubt they thought it was part grown because he was small. Bunnies of the same breed vary a lot in size, so it could be he's a bit of a cross or just genetically small. If he's low on muscle he might get more chunky/heavier as he builds that up.

I asked FHB about this as we don't really know how old Scarlet is and she said once they are an adult you can't really tell. She said her appalling teeth couldn't give any indication either, she could be 3 she could be 6, we just don't know.

Thanks for all your replies, much appreciated

I guess we'll never know, not that it's really that important. However long he's got left with us we'll pamper him and spoil him and hope he's as happy as possible. His previous owner dumped him in a busy car park and he was quite thin so I don't think he's had a very good life so far, poor little thing.

Thanks again xx

RedFraggle said:

I asked FHB about this as we don't really know how old Scarlet is and she said once they are an adult you can't really tell. She said her appalling teeth couldn't give any indication either, she could be 3 she could be 6, we just don't know.

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You've beat me to it - I've had the same conversation with her.

We did manage to get Elijah's age within a month or two because he was a young adult who needed his head x-raying. They could tell by the stage of development of his bones (not yet fully fused, or something such) that he was about 8 months old.

I'd had the conversation about Erin too - adult, but not old was all that could be determined. The previous owner had had her 2 years and the previous owner had said she was one year old when they gave her up.

He could be acting older if in his previous home he was a small hutch bunny. If he was never given the opportunity to run and stretch etc he will take a little while to build up muscle and fitness and to be able to learn how to play

Geoff's people said:

He could be acting older if in his previous home he was a small hutch bunny. If he was never given the opportunity to run and stretch etc he will take a little while to build up muscle and fitness and to be able to learn how to play

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I hadn't thought of that, it's quite possible as he seems sort of frail and certainly not as muscular (lol!) as our other bunny which could make him look older.

Hey sorry I don't want to hi-jack your page but I've im a regular on diff forums who hate people starting topics without reading through so I thought i'd post in here as it seems relevent!!

Just bought a rabbit in all excitement and asked loads of questions about him then when I looked at him at home he definitely does not look 8 weeks old? He's absolutely tiny and can fit on my palms? I'm worried the seller sold me him a too early age? His ears haven't even lopped yet ? I've read up a lot about rabbits but I'm no expert and I've been in preparation for ages but I'm not sure if I care for it the same as the info I've been getting?

Still need to take him to have a check up at the vets but he does look very very small?? Somebody help please =(


pic of him in the pet carrier... looks tiny

oh the cute baby!

Well first I wanted to tell that even if Chrisi is a free indoor bunny and was never restricted to her cage only, she never used to run thaaat much - she likes walking and hiding, but I assume not every bunny is as lively as what we imagine it to be. As long as it seems healthy to you it's ok. Just like there are lazy people, there are lazy bunnies.

And for the cutie - to me it seems to be like a month - 5 weeks old, it depends on the specie as well I suppose. But it is possible that it is 8 weeks old as well - I observed than in the litter of almost every animal there's one baby that seems to be half the size of the others.

To Young ??

Beccaberry said:

Hey sorry I don't want to hi-jack your page but I've im a regular on diff forums who hate people starting topics without reading through so I thought i'd post in here as it seems relevent!!

Just bought a rabbit in all excitement and asked loads of questions about him then when I looked at him at home he definitely does not look 8 weeks old? He's absolutely tiny and can fit on my palms? I'm worried the seller sold me him a too early age? His ears haven't even lopped yet ? I've read up a lot about rabbits but I'm no expert and I've been in preparation for ages but I'm not sure if I care for it the same as the info I've been getting?

Still need to take him to have a check up at the vets but he does look very very small?? Somebody help please =(

pic of him in the pet carrier... looks tiny

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Hi

I have a few babies, and kind of know there age, odd thing to say i know, but they were born underground so wasn't expecting them, by the time they surfaced i put there age of about 4 weeks, but looking at your Baby, it looks about 5 weeks depending on its breed. So yes to young to leave mum. But as long as he/she gets the right care should survuve as by now they are now definitely eating and drinking, vet advice and keep an eye on him/her.

mandyksmith said:

Hi

I have a few babies, and kind of know there age, odd thing to say i know, but they were born underground so wasn't expecting them, by the time they surfaced i put there age of about 4 weeks, but looking at your Baby, it looks about 5 weeks depending on its breed. So yes to young to leave mum. But as long as he/she gets the right care should survuve as by now they are now definitely eating and drinking, vet advice and keep an eye on him/her.

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The post you're quoting and giving advice for is 11 months old.

Beccaberry said:

Hey sorry I don't want to hi-jack your page but I've im a regular on diff forums who hate people starting topics without reading through so I thought i'd post in here as it seems relevent!!

Just bought a rabbit in all excitement and asked loads of questions about him then when I looked at him at home he definitely does not look 8 weeks old? He's absolutely tiny and can fit on my palms? I'm worried the seller sold me him a too early age? His ears haven't even lopped yet ? I've read up a lot about rabbits but I'm no expert and I've been in preparation for ages but I'm not sure if I care for it the same as the info I've been getting?

Still need to take him to have a check up at the vets but he does look very very small?? Somebody help please =(

pic of him in the pet carrier... looks tiny

Click to expand...

OMG cute!!!!