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Sore Hock foot HELP

22 9:42:34

Question
foot
foot  
Hey guys,

I bought this rabbit in June.. He is 3 years old and he is a really good show rabbit.

Anyways.. The color on his belly is white like my other rabbit Lila. She has no stains on her and is perfectly clean (I don't clean her) My other rabbit Charlie is black tort like a brown color and he is perfectly clean with no stains.

My new rabbit Basil has a white belly like I said and it's like all yellow and full of stains. I keep all my rabbits in the hutch below, they are each in their own hutch:

http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Hendryx-461-Large-Rabbit/dp/B004HSQQY0/ref=sr_1_1?i

They have a wire part on the hutch that they stand on and I took the tray out so their "droppings" won't be near them and I just let everything fall on the ground and I clean it up weekly. In the hutch, their is a little box and I put bedding in there and hay. All my rabbits just eat and sleep in there and poop/pee on the wire.

Basil ONLY poops in the box and WON'T poop on the wire. He then lies on his poop/pee in the box. It's so gross and I have to clean it up almost everyday. They also have playpens in the grass that he goes out in every other day.

I'm 16, in 4-H and so I show them in the county fair... My fair is next week. I was looking over my rabbits today and noticed this on the bottom of his foot today (attached picture)

I didn't notice it before because there is fur on top of it, I pulled back the fur for the picture. Is this a sore hock? If so please, how do I get rid of it fast? Also, what are good ways to get stains out of white rabbits??

I've never had to deal with this as all my rabbits are clean and tidy. I don't understand how he would get a sore hock.. I feel terrible  

Should I treat his foot and keep him in the playpen until the fair because the playpen doesn't have wire?? Where should I have him live??

His stomach and feet are SO gross..

Like I said his hutch doesn't just have wire there is his box but he poops/pees in it and I don't keep him in the hutch all the time he goes in the playpen and I take him out to play just like my other rabbits.. I don't think the wire would give him sore hocks..

Any advice ASAP would be awesome! Also, if he does have sore hocks, how do I treat it fast?

Answer
Hello there.
You need to keep the rabbit In a hutch that has a all were bottom, not hardware cloth. Those hutches use thin guage wire which can cause sore hocks.
Rub in preparation H.
Twice a day keep the rabbit on a thick 4" bed of course pine shavings for a week. Then keep an eye on its hocks.
As far as cleaning. The fur try woolite every day till fair..
Good luck