# Peanut or Runt?



## johnsonfarm

What do you think? This litter is one week old today. My son is already attached to the little thing so I'm wondering if it has a chance, it seems to be fine so far.


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## johnsonfarm

I should add, they are black otter mini rex


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## kirbyultra

Oh! So cute!


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## irishbunny

He does looks like a peanut to me 
Gorgeus though!


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## tonyshuman

Peanuts have large heads, disproportionate to the body. From the pic, it is very hard for me to tell.


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## johnsonfarm

Ok, so I just found this photo of a typical peanut, and now I'm thinking he's just a runt? I've never come across this before so I'm not sure.

http://www.welshrabbitry.com/images/peanut.jpg

Mine seems pretty proportianal, I'll try to get a side photo and post it if it helps. Also, his legs seem normal for his size.


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## irishbunny

They don't always have huge heads and funny legs though, I have seen peanuts that look pretty normal but are still too small.


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## polly

I would say more runt from the looks of things. You can get some none fatals which are runts though whether he will make it or not depends. Peanuts usually last a few days at most.


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## naturestee

Do you have pics from other viewpoints? From this direction he looks like he's proportioned normally. That would make him a normal runt, which has a chance of survival.

Irishbunny, not every runt is a peanut. There are many causes of runts and they aren't always fatal, whereas the double dwarf gene that causes peanuts results in a seriously deformed baby with essentially no chance of survival beyond a few weeks.

Johnsonfarm, you can help the baby's chances by making sure he gets enough milk every day. I had to give extra feedings to my runts because they couldn't compete against the larger siblings. You can tell if it's getting enough if it's belly is nice and round like it's siblings. If it looks under fed, just hold the mom in your lap and then hold the baby under her belly. 

FYI one of the runts from Jazzy's first litter turned out to be one of the largest as an adult (Myheart's Zappa).

Here's a pic of that litter at 10 days.





See those two brown bunnies? One was the biggest and the other the smallest of the litter. They ended up nearly the same size as adults. That little dutch was the second smallest and turned out to be larger than the rest of them.


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## OakRidgeRabbits

He's very small, but I'm not sure that he is a peanut. My peanuts do not usually look as disfigured as the one in the picture you found, but by a week old they look very skinny and malnourished. Your kit looks to be doing pretty well and is well filled out. I am putting my money on just a runt, but we'll see what happens. :/


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## irishbunny

Oh right, I was just looking at BSAR mini rex baby pics and they had two peanuts that died and they didn't look deformed


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## johnsonfarm

I will try to get some different shots tomorrow, and I'll keep you updated on what happens, keeping my fingers crossed he's just a runt and makes it


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## Bramblerose

Its hard to tell from the picture but the hindquarters do not look like a peanuts, and it appears to have decent body weight. I don't like to cull peanuts for this exact reason, I've had a lot of runts that end up perfectly healthy, smallness alone does not make a kit a peanut.


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## Bo B Bunny

Lots and lots of pictures would help a lot I think. 

I love mini-rex to pieces! That little one is so cute! I hope he's just a runt!


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## Sweetie

Those babies are cute. That small one looks to be a runt!


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## RAL Rabbitry

He doesn't look likea peanut to me. He would be much thinner and the ears are too big for a peanut. I think the other baby is big and making the little one look smaller.

Roger


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## minirexmama

I would say runt- I had one this small in a litter a while ago. It turned out just fine.


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## kirbyultra

What's a peanut?


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## TinysMom

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> What's a peanut?


A peanut is a rabbit that has received the dwarfing gene from each parent (hence they're often called "Double-dwarf") - and the dwarfing gene they've received is fatal if they have two copies of it - its like it keeps them from thriving.

If I remember right from Pam Nock - there are many dwarfing genes that are not fatal - or something like that - but the double dose of this gene makes it fatal.

Sometimes peanuts can last weeks or maybe a couple of months - I think there was one documented case that lived over a year....but many times they die at birth or within the first few days.


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## kirbyultra

Oh... sorta like a double recessive genetic disease... I hope he is not a peanut then.


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## peppa and georgie

Oh i didnt know they had peanuts in rabbits too, i only just found out that guinea pigs with the roan gene can produce peanut babies too. Is this something in all animal breeds, the guinea pig one is the white gene and obviously the rabbit one is the dwarf one. I do so hope he survives and is just a runt. xx


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## johnsonfarm

Here's a side profile, their eyes are starting to open!





His belly has been nice and full so if he is a runt I'm sure he'll make it.


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears

They are very cute. Looks like a runt.


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## OakRidgeRabbits

*TinysMom wrote: *


> If I remember right from Pam Nock - there are many dwarfing genes that are not fatal - or something like that - but the double dose of this gene makes it fatal.


That would only make sense.Netherland Dwarfs, Jersey Woolies, Holland Lops, American Fuzzy Lops, Mini Rex, etc. are all "dwarf" breeds, as a dwarfing gene contributes to their small size. If they lack the dwarfing gene, they generally end up going overweight as seniors. These are the animals you'll often find as "brood".


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## naturestee

*want* Too bad I don't have space/time for another bunny!:inlove:


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## tonyshuman

Too cute! And VERY runty! I'm pulling for this little guy!

Like OakRidgeRabbits said, non-dwarf-gene carriers of these breeds also exist. They frequently are breeding stock, or are sold out to pet homes. Our bunny Frida was once a breeder's bunny (by the tattoo in her ear) and we think she is a non-dwarf netherland dwarf (also called a big ugly doe (or buck)). She was probably a pet at one time, although we'll never know her whole story as she came in to the humane society as a stray. At the shelter, we get a lot of surrenders that are big dwarf breeds, since they have been re-homed in pet homes and the people sometimes give them up. Benjamin is a true dwarf nethie, so we don't know how he ended up in a shelter.


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## peppa and georgie

So what do the non dwarf netherland dwarfs look like??? I am intrigued now xx Tell me more tonyshuman xx


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## anneq

Aww just too adorable.
Our last litter had a runt in it - he was doing good for about 5 days and then just went down-hill very fast.


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## TinysMom

*peppa and georgie wrote: *


> So what do the non dwarf netherland dwarfs look like??? I am intrigued now xx Tell me more tonyshuman xx



Tio is a Netherland Dwarf without the dwarfing gene - here are a couple of pics..


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## peppa and georgie

Arrr tinysmum thanks he is gorgeous, what is different about him, he is really cute, can you tell from looking at him..xx


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## OakRidgeRabbits

Non-dwarf rabbits generally look about the same, they are just larger and exceed the show weight limit as adults since the weight limit is set for dwarfed rabbits.

Sometimes their ears and bodies will be longer than the ideal show length too. It really depends largely on the individual animal.

Once in awhile, you'll even get a non-dwarf that IS showable, just because his or her parents were very small so they turn out small enough to show too. You generally don't find out that they are genetically non-dwarfs until you breed them and don't get peanuts.


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## tonyshuman

This is Benjamin (gray, dwarf) and Frida (black, we think not dwarf)







It's kinda hard to tell but she's a good deal larger than him and defintely out of the weight range for nethies without being fat.


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## peppa and georgie

arr they are a gorgeous pair, how cute on the suit case .. thanks for that, i find all the breeding combinations really interesting xx


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## Bo B Bunny

OMG I love your suitcase bunnies! LOL!


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