• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Why would an adult rabbit's ear suddenly flop?

helgalush

helgalush

Wise Old Thumper
As title, what would cause one ear of an adult rabbit to start flopping?

Zebedee's ear on one side has started hanging down today. Is it anything to be concerned about?

He seems to be his normal, happy lively self, begging for treats this morning. I dont know his exact age but he's definitely an adult.

Thanks.
 
I really don't know. Does his face look normal or is it droopy at all? A stroke maybe? An ear infection? Could he have hurt it somehow? Hope it's nothing serious xx
 
I've been wondering this as my 6yr old Nethie's been doing this! Her ears are normally upright but one is against her back and the other is just upright as it normally is! Only noticed it the other day, but I'm just going to keep an eye on it and if she starts showing any different symptoms pop her down to the vets :)
 
Thanks for the replies. His face looks normal, he looks and is acting completely normally but it is really lopped down and he has been scratching it so think I will get him to the vets this evening in case its an infection. His ear doesnt look red and there's no obvious swelling or smell but he looks so odd as he's a proper uppy-eared bun.

will let you know how he gets on. Thanks.
 
In my bunnies, a dropped ear has meant all sorts of things - not always ear / dental related - but there has always been a reason. Definitely something I would get checked out at the vet.
 
One of mine Harley does this occasionally but his ears are fine, for some reason when he sits on the stairs he flops one down. His parents were both lops though so his head shape is probably going to make ear flopping more likely than a purebred uppy eared bun
 
Last edited:
hi beauty ears move a lot, she speaks to us by moving her ears.
when she is huddled up in a small ball, her ears are flat on her back and mushy eyes, means daddy i would like a cuddle.
it looks so strange but her way of telling us how she feels.

les
 
I'd suspect an ear infection, especially if he's scratching it as well.
Get him to the vets tomorrow if possible and hopefully a simple course of antibiotic drops will sort it if it is :wave:
 
Zakura is half lop, and she's had uppy ears for most of her life. However for the past few years they've started dropping, at least one of them, when the weather was hot. Recently its been happening a lot more often even during the winter. She seems perfectly healthy otherwise though, despite her 8 years.
 
Zebedee has been to the vets. No obvious signs of infection, the ear is very clean. Can't rule out middle ear infection from the point you can't see with the scope but doesn't think its an infection as there's no temperature and he's not out of sorts).

Vet thinks its most likely to be a muscle strain or the ligaments around the area. Not sure how that could have happened but hoping that with rest it will go back to normal in time.

Vet has prescribed some Lapizole as a precaution in case its an early sign of any EC, and advised us to give a couple of drops of loxicom that we have at home just in case he is any discomfort.
 
We had an uppy eared bun that lopped both her ears at the age of 6 years. It happened in a heat wave as she was just so hot but strangely they never went back up again,even the following winter!
 
That's interesting, the other night the kitchen (where he is based) got really really hot, its usualy the coldest room in the house by far, so if there is a connection, then that could be why. I can't quite follow how floppy ears would follow a heatwave though...but then again the ears are how they regulate temperature arent they?
 
He did drink a lot of water on the day it was really hot in his room, so again that would make sense. Its strange its only one side though. I really hope it goes back up.
 
When the myxi jab was given 10% under the skin, a lot of vets did this in the back of the ear.

My bun's ear flopped after he had this vax one year. Most odd. No other symptoms at all!
 
The ear seems to have gone completely lopped now, base and all. Its most odd. :?
I wonder if he will be a proper helicopter bun always now. I liked him being an uppy-eared bunny, not that it matters really!
 
He could just be a borderline flopper anyway. Human cartilage continues to grow with age and causes your nose and ears to get bigger, I don't know if that would affect rabbits too. Also with age things just tend to get a bit saggier :p
 
Thanks. Maybe he was destined to be a flopper or helicopter ear bun - I am looking at the other ear and wondering if its going to flop. I think he may possibly be younger than we thought...he was deemed to be a "young adult" when we rescued him last November by which I took to mean under 1yr.

It seems to be affecting his hearing a bit and its making him look a bit disconcerted. He's still lively but normally he hears me coming down the stairs and about to enter the kitchen so that he is already running over to the door before I've even gone in but he's not doing this so much. I guess if the ear has lopped over it may make things a bit more muffled on that side?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
Bunny still off food and hay, drooling and teeth chattering
2 3
Replies
49
Views
896
twistedtiggerz69
twistedtiggerz69
N
One ear has started hanging
Replies
2
Views
729
Jack's-Jane
J
L
Sparky has crossed the rainbow bridge
2
Replies
22
Views
2K
Pets mum
Pets mum
Back
Top