sore hock paranoia/prevention

[AaronJ]

well, just had a bit of an “oh crap” type of moment when I read into sore hocks, being still in the early stages of my bunny dadhood. I know that it can be caused by too small of a home, carpet etc won’t repeat it. I know apparently it’s notorious to be rid of and supposedly bunnies have them for life. so enough rambling here’s my scenario
Netherlands dwarf bunny,
kennel specification blurb from living world:
78 cm L x 48 cm W x 50 cm H (30.7″ x 18.9″ x 19.7″)
generous amount of aspen shavings down
could be considered small by some but the bunny only goes in during the night or when neither me or mom are home
carpet flooring. (yes I know, it’s all we have available for bunny space currently)
bunny will NOT let me inspect their (hasn’t been sexed still) feet. horse kicks ensue, and carrot bribing turns into a fluffy robbery.
kennel is dry, cleaned daily (obviously right? haha!)
but the good news is, no gruesome looking callouses or abrasions to be seen with visual hands-off inspection, nothing it’s just thick fur.
now you’re all wondering “is this guy going to shut up yet” well yes. long story short, ladies and gentlemen. what can I do or change from our setup to make sure our little fluff ball doesn’t get bad hocks?
thank you! ?

[Sarita]

I wouldn’t worry too much about sore hocks to be honest as long as you keep his area clean and dry, it’s not really an issue. My little netherland is free roam 24/7 and he has some small bare spot/callouses on his feet but it’s not sore hocks. Nothing wrong with carpet flooring as long as you keep it clean and dry too.

Are the aspen shaving on the floor or just the litter box? You only need those in the litter box.

[AaronJ]

we use the aspen as bedding until the bunny gets litter trained better then we’re moving fleece and foam mats in

[Sarita]

It may be confusing him with his litter training….what are you using in his litter box?

[AaronJ]

I’m using recycled paper pellets

[Sarita]

Honestly I would not continue to use the aspen shavings as bedding – I imagine this is confusing for your rabbit and is most likely deterring him from learning how to use the litter box…

[summer]

My bunnies’ space is dry but one of them likes to stick his paws in the water bowl sometimes. Should I be worried about this? I have a water bowl and a bottle and they use both. But they need the bowl to wash their face and stuff. The same one pees when he’s out of the cage (in the process of litter training outside his cage…) and doesn’t mind sticking his feet in and hopping around, leaving pee marks everywhere.
The same one is unhappy about being picked up.

My other bunny doesn’t get his feet wet whether intentional or not and doesn’t mind being picked up, fortunately.

[Sarita]

Hi summer, it’s best to start your own thread for your concern in the future instead of piggybacking on someone elses.

But to answer your question, not you don’t need to be concerned.

[summer]

I wasn’t trying to piggyback onto someone else’s… I just read this thread and someone said wet feed is the cause so I became concerned for my bunnies and asked a follow-up question. I didn’t have a concern about this until I read this thread. If that’s not allowed then I will refrain from follow-up questions in the future.

[Author]

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