Eye oozing a little bit

[LBJ10]

Hi everyone! This is my first post and I have a question about my new bunny. We just brought him home a few days ago and I noticed that one of his eyes has some ooze coming out of it. Not a lot, just enough for there the be a little “booger” in the corner of his eye and a skinny wet streak on his fur right below it. He has long hair and he is only about 8 or 9 weeks old. We have another rabbit, but he is in a separate room. We were going to wait a little while before attempting to introduce them anyway (since our new addition is so tiny). Is this something that could be contagious? Or did his eye just get irritated from something. We have never had a long hair rabbit before, so we didn’t know what to expect.

[MissKris&Koji]

Eye discharge can be due to a lot. Sometimes from teeth problems, allergies or irritation, problem with the tear duct, or infection. You should take the rabbit to see a vet – aside from this problem people recommend that you take all new rabbits to the vet for a physical checkup. I just found out why that can be so important – my rabbit seemed 100% fine but I took him in anyways a few weeks after getting him and it turns out he had ear mites. So even if the rabbit seems okay, and especially with a symptom like this, you should take the rabbit to the vet.

I’m assuming you have a vet since you have another rabbit, but if not, usually you can go to rabbit.org and find your local chapter of the House Rabbit Society and they will have a vet referral list to help you find a vet that has experience treating rabbits.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/eye-health-1.htm
This article is also by a well regarded rabbit expert and seems to be similar circumstances. Perhaps it will give you some insights.

[jerseygirl]

Many rabbits enjoy having the eye groomed so you might be able to clean it with a slightly warm wash cloth or a cotton ball and saline. Be sure to wash your hands well before touching your other rabbit incase it’s anything contagious like conjunctivitis. But as suggested, a wellness check is always a good idea for a new rabbit.

Another thing to note with longer haired bunnies it they can get bedding trapped in their fur more easily. They could then irritate their own eyes when grooming. So take care in the choice of litters and/or bedding. No sawdust or anything too fine.  Generally, they require more brushing to keep the fur under control, reduce the amount ingested and to help against fur irritating the eyes and nose.

[Beka27]

All rabbits will get the “crusties” in their eyes from time to time, but usually they can keep it cleaned themselves. If not, like Jersey said, a slightly damp cloth can be used to clear away any discharge. If you notice it returning tho, I would definitely suggest a vet check-up, and like MissKris said, this is a good idea anyways for any new bunny. New bunnies are sometimes at risk for coccidia and other parasites depending on what kind of conditions they were kept in, so a fecal check and baseline exam is important.

[LBJ10]

It looks better today. He doesn’t mind me messing with it so I tried cleaning the fur a little bit with a damp cloth. It sort of looks like the typical eye goo that you will see in the corner of the eye except the fur right around the rim of his eye is “spiky”, presumably from being wet. Otherwise his eye looks clear. I just wasn’t sure if this was something to expect from a long haired breed or not. I could see how an eye could get irritated from fur or debris that is stuck to the fur. His other eye looks fine and the fur looks nice and pretty on that side. We take our other rabbit to the only small animal vet in town. All the others just do dogs/cats. We were planning on taking him anyway to talk about getting him neutered, but I guess he’ll just have to go a little sooner than we had thought. Like I said, we just brought him home a couple of days ago. I know that a new rabbit could potentially have something contagious, so obviously we are keeping him in a different room from our other rabbit.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Great news! Just keep a close eye on it, because eye problems can be signs of bigger things, and often it’s baby rabbits who get it from momma.

[BinkyBunny]

The eye crusties are normal but the wet streaks down the fur are not. So, I too recommend getting him into a vet. Sounds like that is your plan, so keep us updated!

Oh, and congrats on your new bunny and WELCOME to BB!

[LBJ10]

Okay, so the vet couldn’t find anything wrong. She thinks that maybe he just got something in his eye and that was what caused the tears. And since he has long hair, she said his eye boogers would be a little more noticeable (as they tend to get stuck in the fur). She said to just pick them out whenever I see them. We talked about neutering him but she said he was too small (size wise), so we’re going to wait. From what we can tell, he’s only a couple months old anyway.

Do you think it will be difficult to introduce him to our other rabbit if he’s not neutered yet? Our other rabbit is also a boy, but he’s been fixed.

[Deleted User]

Don’t introduce any rabbits who are still intact. Both have to be neutered to be able to start bonding with each other.

[Sarita]

Like Petzy said, never ever introduce rabbits until both have been altered and healed.

[LBJ10]

Hmm… what to do with him then. He doesn’t really have anywhere to get out and play at the moment. We put him down on the living room floor last night and he was slipping and sliding everywhere. The other rabbit has his own room, complete with slip proof floor.

[BinkyBunny]

For his playtime out on the living room floor, can you put a blanket down? That should help him stay more stable and it’s easy enough to fold up and put away or throw in the wash if he pees on it.

[LBJ10]

Yeah, we will have to figure something out. Maybe set up a little playpen? His living situation (i.e. cage in living room) was meant to be temporary, but it looks like “temporary” will be longer than I had hoped. Serves me right for “rescuing” a rabbit without thinking things through. He is REALLY tiny though, so I can understand the vet’s hesitation.

[BinkyBunny]

Many vets also want to wait until the testicles drop (which is usually around 3 months)

[LBJ10]

Yes, he’s about there when comes to that. But he’s just so tiny, we had to crack out the gram scale to weigh him. I knew we couldn’t do it right this minute, but it is more of waiting for him to get bigger rather than waiting for things to drop. Hehe!

[BinkyBunny]

Oh, I gotcha — if he’s that tiny I do understand that vets will wait until more weight is put on.

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