yaretzi
Wise Old Thumper
I've had a runaround setup for 4-5 years and I love it, it's perfect. My recently adopted new boy has some trouble with his back legs - it's a muscle weakness, or old wastage, which means he drags his back legs a little. It is mainly noticeable when he tries to jump anywhere as he sometimes misses or his back legs splay out underneath him. Also when he hops on the patio you can hear his nails scraping along the patio sometimes.
He is really struggling with the runaround tube. I took 4ft of the length out and put it in the shed and he manages that fine, and he has been down the full 24 or 28ft length of the tube two times but once he's in the run he then is very hesitant to go back up the tube. It's not on any huge hill or anything.
He knows what the tube is for and he's forever putting his head and shoulders in but I notice that when he tries to go in his back legs splay out whereas Tapla uses them to push herself in, and his back legs definitely do drag along the inside of the tube as you can hear it when he goes down the 4ft piece.
He was very nervous of the garden which I let them in to free range (supervised) once a week or so. He is gaining in confidence and I've been hoping that his confidence would extend to trying the runaround tube, as well as the fact that the more exercise he gets perhaps his back legs will increase in strength. However I've had him 2 and a half months now and he's still stuck in the shed. The shed is 6 x 4ft and I'm making sure he has plenty to do but I don't want him confined there long term.
I'm considering upgrading my entire runaround system to the 'larger bunnies' version. I've emailed Caroline at runaround who has been so helpful and offered to find some seconds to reduce the cost and said that recently she had experience with a bunny with a displaced hip who managed the large tube well, but I wondered if anyone else has experience with mobility problems in their bunnies and whether upgrading the tubes helped? I imagine it will really help... he's only 2.25kg so the larger tube should give him the space to nearly hop properly...
He is really struggling with the runaround tube. I took 4ft of the length out and put it in the shed and he manages that fine, and he has been down the full 24 or 28ft length of the tube two times but once he's in the run he then is very hesitant to go back up the tube. It's not on any huge hill or anything.
He knows what the tube is for and he's forever putting his head and shoulders in but I notice that when he tries to go in his back legs splay out whereas Tapla uses them to push herself in, and his back legs definitely do drag along the inside of the tube as you can hear it when he goes down the 4ft piece.
He was very nervous of the garden which I let them in to free range (supervised) once a week or so. He is gaining in confidence and I've been hoping that his confidence would extend to trying the runaround tube, as well as the fact that the more exercise he gets perhaps his back legs will increase in strength. However I've had him 2 and a half months now and he's still stuck in the shed. The shed is 6 x 4ft and I'm making sure he has plenty to do but I don't want him confined there long term.
I'm considering upgrading my entire runaround system to the 'larger bunnies' version. I've emailed Caroline at runaround who has been so helpful and offered to find some seconds to reduce the cost and said that recently she had experience with a bunny with a displaced hip who managed the large tube well, but I wondered if anyone else has experience with mobility problems in their bunnies and whether upgrading the tubes helped? I imagine it will really help... he's only 2.25kg so the larger tube should give him the space to nearly hop properly...
