Splayed hind legs

Question
I came across a rabbit that is being given away in my area, that has it's hind legs splayed. I was just wondering if this will have a severe impact on the rabbit health wise - will there be a shorter life expectancy or other more serious health problems?

Answer
Dear Erika,

A splayleg bunny will not necessarily have a shorter lifespan, nor is it necessarily true that he'll have more health problems than a regular bunny.  But he may need special care, such as making sure his bum is clean, cleaning his ears for him (he probably can't reach to do it himself), and other such things.

We have two splayleg bunnies, and they both get around fine.  Rusty is fitted with leg braces that keep his legs under him, and he runs and plays almost normally.  Boris refused to keep his braces on, even when he was a baby and they might have helped his legs grow normally.  But even with his splayed legs, he can run like the wind (though he looks like a little rowboat when he runs!).

You can see an article about one way to brace the legs here:

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

If this is a baby, it's worth a try to see if you can get the legs to permanently grow straight and in a somewhat normal position.  

If bun is an adult, he may or may not tolerate the braces, depending on the reason for the splay.  A good start would be radiographs to determine why his legs are splayed, and then go from there.  You can find a rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope he'll be fine, and it would be wonderful of you to adopt this little, needy guy!

Dana