growth/lesion on paw

Question
Dear Vet:
We have a Mini Rex rabbit who is 2 1/2 years old and we noticed that his right front paw has a whitish wart like growth on it. It is on the outside of the paw but up from his nails. It is about 1/4" in diameter. This seemed to happen over night as we did not see it yesterday. Can you shed some light on this as to what it could be? Do they bite at their skin at times like when a dog has a heat rash. The rabbit is in an outside protected hutch and he does put his feet in his water at times.

Thank you for your kind help,
Anne Kahlbaugh

Answer
Dear Anne,

Without seeing the lesion, I can't really guess what it is.  It could be a wart/papilloma, or it could be a small abscess, a tumor, or even a very early sign of mange.  Without seeing it, I can't really know.  For this reason, I'd suggest that you get bunny to an experienced rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

to determine exactly what the bump is, and then see if it's something that needs treatment.  

If you can take a very clear, close-up picture of the bump and attach it to an AllExperts question, I'll be better able to help you.  But there are too many possibilities that fit your description for me to make a guess at this point.

Hope this will help.

Dana