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Tip of Rabbits ear going floppy

22 9:50:08

Question
Winstion
Winstion
Hi Dana.

I recently adopted a 5-month old mini rex-holland lop mix from the Humane Society. Up until recently, both of his ears have stuck upward at a slight angle so he looks like a little airplane--cute! A few days ago I noticed that the tip of one of his ears has folded over. He looks almost like a cartoon or chocolate rabbit now. I have checked his ears and they are clean so I don't think he has an infection or ear mites. Seeing as he is part Holland Lop I suspected his ears might be falling naturally, but his ear isn't flopping at the base like a lop should, but only at the tip.

He lives in a pen and has supervised run time in one room. He eats pellets, timothy hay, and fresh vegetables every day, so I don't think it is due to any nutritional deficiencies.

Answer
Dear Shelby,

We have a BIG bunny with what we call "flippy tips".  The lopping trait is polygenic (i.e., controlled by more than one gene), and part of the lopping involves a defect in cartilage integrity.  As you have said, this usually occurs at the base of the ear.  But the genes are the same in every cell of the body, and it is quite possible that the genes causing weak cartilage at the base of the ears are being expressed (idiosyncratically) at the tips of his ears.  Hard to say for sure, but that's my suspicion.

If he's acting healthy, is not scratching at his ears or showing any sign of distress, I would not worry about this.  Flippy tips are very cute.  :)

Hope this helps.

Dana