sick baby bunny

Question
Hi,
I used to work as a veterinary nurse  years ago and a  rabbit breeder friend of mine has given me a netherland dwarf baby rabbit because of blindness..The bunny was born this way and is now only 5 weeks old...the right eye has a spot which looks like glaucoma but the left eye has cloudiness although the pupil dilates and retracts..and has developed conjuctivitis in this eye only at the moment..The other kits of the litter are fine and healthy..except for one that the breeder said its eyes were shut and couldnt be opened which they put to sleep...this is the mothers second litter  and had a blind bunny in the first litter and also one born without toes...could this be a result of the mother carrying a parasite or deformed genes ?
What are your views on this baby bunny and how can i help him now with conjunctivitis etc ?...I don't know much about bunnies myself

Answer
Dear Julie,

A blind bunny can live a completely happy life, especially if blind from birth and not knowing anything else.  Once the baby learns the "lay of the land" and you keep things constant, he should be fine finding his way around with his hearing and whiskers and nose.  It's a shame the other one was euthanized, as the two could have been companions.

The breeder should have a clue that something is amiss with the genetics of the parents if they continually have babies with eye disorders.  This could be a sign of inbreeding, or simply of poor husbandry.  Please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/breeding.html

I hope your baby will be fine.  The conjunctivitis should be seen and treated by a good rabbit vet, and I hope you can find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.

Dana