# peanut/ alien rabbit kit - cull or keep?



## giant snail (Oct 25, 2009)

sire netherland dwarf
dam netherland dwarf x dwarf lop not much bigger then him


she has had 1 litter of 6 before no problems same buck.

she has a liter of 3. 1 is a ' peanut' baby looks like a litte alien to me

always has a huge belly of milk

its eyes are open but cant blink so i have to clean them several times a day.

shall i keep it or cull it its only 48 hours old.......... i didnt expect it to survive the night.


----------



## Kovu07 (May 14, 2011)

I would keep.


----------



## quizicalkat (Jul 7, 2007)

They never survive - much kinder to PTS in my humble opinion

:-(


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

Most peanuts don't survive past a week anyway. Personally i would cull it, it isn't fair to keep it alive & prolong the suffering (it will be suffering if it has no eyelids & can't blink). A peanut only shows up when the dwarf gene is bred, it is the result of the double dwarf gene (both parents will be carrying the dwarf gene & peanuts are the result).


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

Kovu07 said:


> I would keep.



Can i ask why? Have you ever seen a peanut? They often don't live past a week so to prolong it's life is cruel, especially as it has no eyelids so will be prone to infection & blindness :devil:.


----------



## giant snail (Oct 25, 2009)

okay thanks. i will cull it tomorrow morning if its still around.


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i`d cull.
i get them in my nethies and minilops, they usually are weak when born and die in a day or so.


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

pigglywiggly said:


> i`d cull.
> i get them in my nethies and minilops, they usually are weak when born and die in a day or so.



Yeah i had them in the Mini Lop litters, don't live past a week usually (saying that a friend had one in Nethies who survived, not convinced it was a true peanut though).


----------



## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

can i ask... what is a peanut baby?
i have read this with interest as i have never heard of this before... i'm not being morbid i'm just curious!


----------



## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Rach1 said:


> can i ask... what is a peanut baby?
> i have read this with interest as i have never heard of this before... i'm not being morbid i'm just curious!


This.

Any chance of a pic?


----------



## LiamRatSnake (Jul 3, 2007)

If it can't live a normal life, then I would absolutely cull. Which it obviously cannot, try to imagine the pain in your eyes being unable to blink and I can imagine it will end up blind if it lives. I hate waste (don't want to upset anyone) but is there any animals who could make use of the poor mite?


----------



## giant snail (Oct 25, 2009)

a peanut baby has a deformed head its what can happen when breeding dwarf rabbits
funny shaped head and open eyed with no eye lids.

http://www.welshrabbitry.com/images/peanut.jpg


mine wasnt as bad as this.

my little boa can have it next week. thats if it will take it. but im sure it will as only used to mice and rats.


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

top tip. 
roll baby bun in the cage litter of the mice so it smells mousey, they`ll take it then.:whistling2:

dwarf rabbits are genetically dwarf because of a gene that makes them tiny.
seems to be a co-dom one, 
so if baby bunnie has 2 dwarf genes its born as a peanut or jelly baby, and is overly small, with a deformed head like an alien, i had one born this week, mine have the domed deformed heads.
they`re usually born dead or die by 3 days old as they cant feed 

i think its kinder to pts rather than leave it to starve slowly.
and its one of the reasons true minilops ( not starved dwarf lops ) and nethies have smaller litters


----------



## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

How sad.... It's funny how this kind of thing happens in all types of breeding. Even with reptiles etc such as head wobble or deformities. Natures a funny old thing ain't it. 
I wouldnt like having to cull it tho. I know it has to be done and I'm not in ant way being judgemental but it must be one of the harder aspects of the job!


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i`d rather peanut had a quick flick on the back of the head like a pinkie mouse would, rather than be left to starve to death, sorry if i come across as a heartless cow!
i personally couldnt walk knowingly shut the hutch door and walk away and leave something to suffer, it`d have to be dealt with appropriatly.

i think that if you breed rabbits you have to deal with the not-so-nice bits as well as the cute.
unfortuantly not everything thats born is destined to survive, so you have to deal with it.
sad but true


----------



## quizicalkat (Jul 7, 2007)

Here is a pic of another peanut (scroll to bottom of page)

Breeding with Care. - Registered Pedigree Breeder


----------



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

peanut rabbits - Google Search


----------



## giant snail (Oct 25, 2009)

pigglywiggly said:


> top tip.
> roll baby bun in the cage litter of the mice so it smells mousey, they`ll take it then.:whistling2:
> 
> dwarf rabbits are genetically dwarf because of a gene that makes them tiny.
> ...



ahh okay. you say smaller litters my nethie girl had 12 babies! 2 didnt make it but the rest did =P


----------



## giant snail (Oct 25, 2009)

quizicalkat said:


> Here is a pic of another peanut (scroll to bottom of page)
> 
> Breeding with Care. - Registered Pedigree Breeder



looks just like the one i got. part from eyes are( where) misty as blind.


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

where is a pure bred dwarf rabbit weighing a kilo going to fit 12 babies?


----------



## Mischievous_Mark (Mar 16, 2008)

BLoody heck a Nethie giving birth to 12, i bet she looked like a balloon.

My mini has just popped have about 5 ( from the quick head count ) and id consider that too big for her when her previous litter was 2.


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

5`s quite a big litter for a propper minilop.
the last 2 were cute :2thumb:


----------



## Mischievous_Mark (Mar 16, 2008)

pigglywiggly said:


> 5`s quite a big litter for a propper minilop.
> the last 2 were cute :2thumb:


I hate it when they pull all their hair out though,

Im hoping she has a blue/smoke i can keep =D

I now double check ive shut all doors and the locks were changed to more strudy ones, Going to try and check the babies over properly later though as im sure one has died, I can smell something rotton and cant locate it just dont want to stress her out oo much.

Sorry hi jacking a thread haha

Hoping none of them are peanuts which they didnt look but will find out under a little closer inspection will attempt to get a few quick pics.


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

I think the biggest litter i had from a Mini Lop was 5 or 6 (most had 3-4). 12 kits for a pure bred Nethie is unheard of, the Nethie must be a cross :whistling2:. Nethies only have 2-3 kits as they just can't carry big litters due to their small size. I had Dutch that had litters of 10+ (i used to cull them down to a reasonable size for the Doe's to look after, luckily being a marked Rabbit it was easy to do).


----------



## giant snail (Oct 25, 2009)

no she is a pure netherland. i shared her babies out with other does. my other one earlier this year had 7.

but yes looked huge little pop belly. :lol2:


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

whats she weigh and have you got pics of her ( preferably next to a tin of beans for size comparison )

if you had a big litter from a nethie, you would have to have got at least one peanut. 
if you got alitter of 12 there should have been a few.
if there were none it kinda rules out her being a genetic dwarf imo

dutch and lionheads have very big litters for the size of rabbit.
i know of lines of standard rex that do 10`s and 12`s all the time also, but the breeders thin them out to 6 or so.


----------



## giant snail (Oct 25, 2009)

definalty a pure bred. ill have to get some better pics

she is a blue one the buck is the one behind nope no peanuts in that litter. only had 1 out of three litters of netherlands from 2 different does.


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

sorry but she is a crossbred, have you popped her on the scales?

shes the wrong shape and her ears are double the length they should be.


----------



## giant snail (Oct 25, 2009)

ill get her out of her cage and take some pictures when i have time. as she came from a breeder she is tiny. all the x netherlands iv seen are 3 times the size.

4 of her kits went to a breeder of netherlands and mini lops in ashford. im sure they would of noticed if she wasnt a 'pure bred' ....?

but as i say ill get other pictures of her.



start of april she was 1.23 kgs.
and the buck was 1.35kgs

my other nethie was 1.18kgs


----------



## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

I'm not an expert but even I would say those ears are far too big for a pure netherland dwarf!

My mini lop is smaller than her to be honest....has bigger ears of course...lol

Mark,

Angel and Gary are doing great....still waiting for him to get big enough to neuter though because I'm scared to have him done with being so small.
He still does the one up and one down jobbie as well...it looks so cute.


----------



## Kare (Mar 9, 2010)

Can I ask all the breeders here at what age it is safe to start looking at the baby rabbits? I always thought it was 3 weeks as until then I thought I read their eyes couldnt cope with daylight, but then it seems you are all looking at days old.

I have never looked into breeding rabbits as I know there are more than enough in rescue so don't slate me for being so wrong, its not something I have had to know.

What age do you first look and most importantly at what age is it safe to handle them?


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

rabbits eyes open at 10/11 days old, so its a good idea to chck they`re opened proppery, otherwise infection can set in resulting in blindness.

tbh i always check the day they are born for any peanuts or stillborns babies ( or they`ll attract flies and maggots )

and overthe next few days make sure they`ve all got fat bellies, not wrinkly as if moms not feeding them.

then a quick poke at their eyes at 11/12 days incase any need to be soaked open.

my moms are all ok with me handling the bubbas from the off, its what they`re used to, if you have a doe thats not so good with it its better to pop om in another hutch with a carrot while you do it, and rub your hands in the dirty cage litter so she dosnt pick up any strange scents, or she could kill them.


----------



## Mischievous_Mark (Mar 16, 2008)

saxon said:


> I'm not an expert but even I would say those ears are far too big for a pure netherland dwarf!
> 
> My mini lop is smaller than her to be honest....has bigger ears of course...lol
> 
> ...


Im going to tell my dad you named a rabbit after him :2thumb:

Ive still got his sisters here, just waiting for someone to come for them ( theyve had a few personal problems so i said id keep them here until they are ready to take them ) All his siblings ears have fallen he must take after his dad haha ( mind you he is the same colour )


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

That Doe looks more like a Pole (Polish) than a Nethie & even the Buck looks like a crossbred as he's just to heavily boned to be a pure Nethie :whistling2:. Both look like crossbreeds to me. Here's a Nethie i once had, she is only pet quality but as you can see she is nothing like your Doe :whistling2: (excuse the state of her as she was moulting).


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

the difference is body length and boning between her and a pure nethie is quite considerable.
and the ears are massive.

heres 2 of mine


----------



## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

Mischievous_Mark said:


> Im going to tell my dad you named a rabbit after him :2thumb:
> 
> Ive still got his sisters here, just waiting for someone to come for them ( theyve had a few personal problems so i said id keep them here until they are ready to take them ) All his siblings ears have fallen he must take after his dad haha ( mind you he is the same colour )


How coincidental!!!!

My boss's wife named him.


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

pigglywiggly said:


> the difference is body length and boning between her and a pure nethie is quite considerable.
> and the ears are massive.
> 
> heres 2 of mine



My Smoke was pet quality (which is what i wanted as i didn't want to show Nethies) as her ears were a bit too big :whistling2:, apart from that she was a lovely Doe (was bought from a show breeder who did a lot of winning with best fancy & B.i.S's).

PS, Can i nick your REW Buck, he's gorgeous (had 2 REW Bucks aswell).


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

your smokes colour is fab. love how short she is too, she would have made a nice breeding doe :whistling2:

i stupidly sold the buck ( he was only 6 months old in the pic ) his new owner swung his ring and did some winning with him. next time i saw how his head had grown i was a bit sick, lesson learnt eh?


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

pigglywiggly said:


> your smokes colour is fab. love how short she is too, she would have made a nice breeding doe :whistling2:
> 
> i stupidly sold the buck ( he was only 6 months old in the pic ) his new owner swung his ring and did some winning with him. next time i saw how his head had grown i was a bit sick, lesson learnt eh?



Yes she was a gorgeous colour, unfortunately she was heavily in moult when the pic was taken & it's the only pics i took of her :devil:. Your Buck is gorgeous, i do love REW Nethies (which is why i had 2 of them, first i lost when i got hit with Pasturuella). Yeah they can develop all of a sudden & theirs heads just fill out lovely & have that run into a brick wall look :2thumb:.


----------

