Hi Everyone,
We adopted 2 bunnies almost a year ago, One was a good size, fluffy, The other was smaller, not so fluffy, had some hair missing on back of neck (probably like the runt) but very cute. I brought them to the vet at about 3 months old for check ups. At that time, the hair was growing back, so I never thought to mention it. Then I brought them in to be neutered (both boys so i really didn't need to but they are so much calmer!) a few months later. Now, the little one seems to be going bald again. It's around his neck and now it's going down his back. They get along great....always sleeping together, laying their heads on each other's back. I googled it and I found out that it says he could have some serious disease or another bunny may be pulling the other's hair out. That doesn't seem the case with our bunnies. He is eating and pooping normal...seems happy and playful with other bunny. They have already been to the vet twice (i didn't think to mention it because it wasn't to bad but you could see a small bald spot) so I'm thinking they would have seen the small spot on his neck and would have said something if it was serious. I will call the vet but I have a feeling they might say, you need to bring him in. And between the check up and neutering for 2 bunnies, I have already spent a ton of money! So, I was wondering, anyone might know? Has this happened to anyone's bunnies before and it was nothing? Thanks!
See if you can send a private message to DVMMOM. She's a vet. :-)
I wanted to at least chime in because I am a veterinarian (and I was already mentioned!) but unfortunately I don't have a lot of experience with bunnies - I am mostly a dog and cat vet. But I would go with some of the answers already provided, such as the website with house rabbit info and the possibility that the one bunny is doing it to the other bunny, or the possibility that it's getting rubbed on something. I had a dog as a patient once that had developed this weird crusty rash on top of it's nose and nothing we tried was making it better - it had been going on for weeks and we were at the point where we were either going to have to biopsy it or refer the owner to a dermatologist, but then the owner discovered the dog in the back yard trying to dig under the fence, and getting it's nose all scratched up in the process!
The other choice would be to bite the bullet and at least just put in a phone call to the vet, and tell them about the bald area and just say you forgot to mention it last time. They will probably want to see the bunny back to check for parasites, like skin mites, but some places will cut you a break by charging for a recheck exam instead of the full exam. Or at least, sometimes I do. If people are nice about it. ;)
Not a vet...but had bunnies and mice and had hair falling out when there was a food allergy.
Call your state veterinary college and ask for a referral to a vet that regularly helps rabbits. Most small animal vets are good with dogs & cats because that is what they have lots of experience with, but really most vets many only have limited experience treating rabbits, just due to the fact that they are not as common or commonly taken to the vet. The vet school can give you the name of either a vet on staff there or a vet more local to you.
Also, you could try Massachusetts House Rabbit Society--they probably have lots of info, and I'm sure would be happy to try to help you. Their website is http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/contact.shtml.
Call the vet and describe it. Or try separating the bunnies at night when you can't watch what's going on.
One of the problems with pet adoption is that people don't consider the cost of care. If you let this go on, it will probably be more expensive later on, and what if he's uncomfortable from this condition?? You owe it to him to get him checked out.
We had this happen and took our rabbit to the vet and he said 'do you have another rabbit and is it a male too?' and yes we did and he said they do that because two males don't like to be together due to dominance or something. We had to put a color that prevents the rabbit from biting or pulling the hair out and it grew in and then they have to be apart from each other. If you don't put them where they can't see each other they will keep doing it.
There could be lots of things that cause baldness. Allergic reaction is a big one. Have you changed foods? Added new things to his diet? Could he have fleas?
I've had two dogs go through baldness issues. One, had mange. We got him from a rescue, then a few years later, he started going bald again. We took him to the vet who told me he had fleas. Well, I was shocked because I had just frontlined them not two weeks before. The vet at the time told me that he had heard that Frontline was becoming ineffective on some pets. My dog had fleas and was having an allergic reaction to their bites.
We also had another dog that developed an allergic reaction to grass. Her full fell out in clumps. We ended up giving her some Benedryl and that took care of it.
