# Baldness



## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

Iv just been out to put the rabbits to bed as its absolutely freezing and noticed that Elfie has pulled out near enough the whole right side of fur. His back leg looks like he's got alopecia and all his side is all tufts. He's fine in himself,he's eating,pooing,hopping about as usual,so i dont think hes stressed. There doesn't seem to be any sign of mites. There's no fur anywhere,so he must of eaten it. What is it? I'm really worried.


----------



## Guest (Feb 22, 2013)

Can you grab a picture of it?
Is he in a heavy moult at the moment?


----------



## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Well that's a strange one. 

My first thought was same as yours - mites, but although you might not be able to see anything, it wouldn't happen in a day.

Other thoughts - 

Does he he live alone or with a friend? If with a friend, s/he might have done it. Buns can sometimes over groom their mates, but it can be because they know something is wrong (sometimes internally, where they are grooming) - so get him checked out.

Also have any friend checked out too - it could be they have a behaviour problem or something else going on, and he is victim.

Could their have been a "predator" problem? Cat?

Sorry to be so vague. Never come across sudden fur loss here, so hopefully others will have better ideas.


----------



## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Has he been vaccinated recently?


----------



## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

I dont think he's moulting atall,iv added a photo to see what you think.

He's one of 4 and they all seem to be getting on well. He got a bit down when Tink was at the vets over night the other week,but i thought he'd got over that. The others arnt doing it to him as i sat and watched him do it to himself. I kept stopping him and he would for a bit and then start again. They had their vaccinations in November.

The skin looks slightly pink/sore in the photo's but it's not,it just skin colour and doesnt look irritated or anything.



















This is all patchy white bits but doesnt look so bad when he's sitting normally.









This is him doing it to himself,he's brought his leg really far forward just to get to the back bit.









I dont think he seems to be moulting atall.


----------



## Guest (Feb 22, 2013)

I would get him along to the vets for a checkup tbh just so you can rule out mites. But mites normally effect the neck area first so I don't think it is mites but it's best to rule it out.

Is he drinking and weeing more than normal?


----------



## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

B3rnie said:


> I would get him along to the vets for a checkup tbh just so you can rule out mites. But mites normally effect the neck area first so I don't think it is mites but it's best to rule it out.
> 
> Is he drinking and weeing more than normal?


Yeah i think a vet trip might be in order. I have got some mite spray which i sprayed on some kitchen roll and rubbed it over all 4 just incase,i didnt want to put it on direct as i didnt want to make their fur too damp as its so cold out there.

Not that iv noticed,im not topping up the water anymore than normal and he's probably the one that spends less time in the litter trays than the others.


----------



## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Hmm, I would get him checked just incase of mites, I didn't even realise my lot had them, until one little bald bit on Mclaren and the vets told me. 
If it is mites, you can get Ivermec on hyperdrug.co.uk for a fraction of the cost as you will have to treat all 4.
If he was female I would say maybe a phantom and she has got confused as to where to pull the fur from but he's not...

Its odd that its all of a sudden and not gradually.

*Heidi*


----------



## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

hazyreality said:


> Hmm, I would get him checked just incase of mites, I didn't even realise my lot had them, until one little bald bit on Mclaren and the vets told me.
> If it is mites, you can get Ivermec on hyperdrug.co.uk for a fraction of the cost as you will have to treat all 4.
> If he was female I would say maybe a phantom and she has got confused as to where to pull the fur from but he's not...
> 
> ...


oh really? how does a vet tell if its mites? Thanks for the website.

Yeah if one of the girls was doing it then i would have thought the same. Its also odd that he's eating it,its not even scattered about anywhere. im worried it will now cause his tummy problems with all the fur in it.


----------



## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

I'm as stumped as you are, and can't be of any help 

Just wanted to say I hope you get to the bottom of it and it's nothing serious x


----------



## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

JordanRose said:


> I'm as stumped as you are, and can't be of any help
> 
> Just wanted to say I hope you get to the bottom of it and it's nothing serious x


Thankyou. Im totally baffled by it. I wouldnt mind so much if it was a small patch but he's just stripping himself of fur and its freezing out there!


----------



## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

to me baldness between the legs is a sign of a urinary track problem and the urin is burning the hair off. Although I have to say he does look dry in the photos. 

Both mine are shedding at the moment. 

I would take him to the vets for a check over. 

Have you changed any of their bedding recently?


----------



## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

emzybabe said:


> to me baldness between the legs is a sign of a urinary track problem and the urin is burning the hair off. Although I have to say he does look dry in the photos.
> 
> Both mine are shedding at the moment.
> 
> ...


Urine burn was the first thing i checked for but all his bum area is very clean and hasnt got any reddness or anything around it and has more fur on it than his leg. He does feel a bit dry,only very very slightly but if it was my hands then it would make me put hand cream on.

No i havent changed anything. The only thing that threw him was Tink being in the vets a few weeks back,they are inseparable and he felt like he'd lost a part of him,but once she was back,he seemed to get over it. Iv not had any concerns until i went to put them to bed,even then,inbetween pulling his fur out,he still managed to take a treat and eat it,then continued eating his fur again


----------



## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

If he is eating the fur, I would give him some pineapple juice - even if you make up a 50% pineapple solution in a bottle - it wont hurt the others to have a bit, and it will help to break it down to stop a blockage forming 

The vet said it was mites and pointed it out to me, if you part the fur down to the skin, preferably where its most white, you can see like little red dots (well more like - and proberly about the same size), and that is the mites, I could (when she pointed them out) really see them on Mclaren and Kimba, but they are TINY!


----------



## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

hazyreality said:


> If he is eating the fur, I would give him some pineapple juice - even if you make up a 50% pineapple solution in a bottle - it wont hurt the others to have a bit, and it will help to break it down to stop a blockage forming
> 
> The vet said it was mites and pointed it out to me, if you part the fur down to the skin, preferably where its most white, you can see like little red dots (well more like - and proberly about the same size), and that is the mites, I could (when she pointed them out) really see them on Mclaren and Kimba, but they are TINY!


I shall get the pineapple juice in as i do feel like he's eaten alot.

oh,il have a look in the morning!! il get the magnifying glass out!!


----------



## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

Unfortunately I can't offer any advice I just hope he gets better soon, poor little chap. 

Barney tends to have heavy moults around late summer through to autumn, I didn't realise they can moult at this time of year too.


----------



## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

It's unusual, so it definitely needs to be looked at by a vet

Could be mites driving him crazy.

Could be a bacterial infection, although you might expect his skin to look more sore.

Could possibly be behavioural.

Could also be something internal that is causing itching/irritation.

Let us know how you get on at vets.


----------



## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

Iv put some pineapple juice out this morning but they don't seem too keen!

I had a proper look in day light and he hasn't lost anymore fur overnight,but his skin is very dry and when I parted the fur near to where he's been pulling it out,which is white,there are these teeny tiny specks of something,kind of looks like nit eggs in hair but on a much smaller scale. I had a look through the others,I couldn't see anything on Rosie or Jim but they are black and I couldn't see anything on Tink and she's white but her skin did look a bit dry and there was the odd small flake. If its mites,how would he have got it?? The last bale of hay I got,I'm nearly at the end of now but do mites take a while to show themselves? It's made me feel all itchy!


----------



## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Mites are just a part of small animal owning I think, they can come in on hay or straw and I'm sure from other places, I don't think you can really work out where, or thats what the vet said. I had a rabbit Angel who didnt seem to be able to keep without them  And Kodi who kept getting ear mites but Rascal who was with her never did?! Mites are really odd things.

It sounds like (with the little flecks) that it is mites and its just started to drive him nuts on his legs. I would get it confirmed and then get yourself some Ivermec. You treat once a week for 3 weeks and I worked on 1 drop per KG of weight. I only used about 1/2 bottle on my lot over the 3 weeks - guineas aswell. It can be a nasty treatment, so just kept to less rather than more to be safe 

*Heidi*


----------



## Guest (Feb 23, 2013)

zowie said:


> Iv put some pineapple juice out this morning but they don't seem too keen!
> 
> I had a proper look in day light and he hasn't lost anymore fur overnight,but his skin is very dry and when I parted the fur near to where he's been pulling it out,which is white,there are these teeny tiny specks of something,kind of looks like nit eggs in hair but on a much smaller scale. I had a look through the others,I couldn't see anything on Rosie or Jim but they are black and I couldn't see anything on Tink and she's white but her skin did look a bit dry and there was the odd small flake. If its mites,how would he have got it?? The last bale of hay I got,I'm nearly at the end of now but do mites take a while to show themselves? It's made me feel all itchy!


Personally I would hold off on the pineapple juice anyway because it can actually upset the gut bacteria levels, and then you have the added sugar annnd the fact that pineapple juice doesn't actually break hair down.
I tend to stick with syringing water in to help move hair along 
Lots of people use pineapple and I used to actually advise to use it too but after many hours of research I don't tend to rely on it anymore 

The mites could have come from anywhere tbh, how do you store your hay?


----------



## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Zowie, you may have answered your own question now you've had chance to have a good look.

Just get it checked by vet to confirm, then treat them all.

Don't stress too much. They can come in on anything...... and they won't want to live on you.


----------

