Dirty Face/Greasy Hair

[Nicolene]

Hi, I’m hoping someone has some insight for me. We adopted a white/albino New Zealand rabbit in June. My other rabbit sprayed him with pee (both of them are fixed) while they were bonding at the rescue. So he had yellow drip spots all over his face. I figured he’d clean it, it’s wear off and I’ll have an all white bunny. Well his face never did get clean and now he has a horribly dirty face. We finally tackled him tonight to get closer to what is going on. For all this time I figured he got his face wet in his self watering bowl and then stuck it in the 3 hole hay rack they have. But we burrito wrapped him tonight and I sprayed a little water on the dirty parts (it’s also under his chin) and combed it and cut a bunch of dreadlocked hair off.

But his facial hair seems greasy.I didn’t get his face clean, but I got the nasty knotted stuff off. His ears seem SLIGHTLY dandruff-y (but I’m not sure, no real flakes).. I’ve treated mites on my guinea pigs years ago and he doesn’t have any of the really telling signs of having mites. No patches of missing fur, no scratching, no sensitivity to touch.

I AM going to take him to the vet as soon as I can, which is likely next week. Maybe we’ll just treat him for mites if they can’t tell what’s up with him.

He has no health issues. Eats like it’s his last meal. Runs around, comes for head pets, follows me around hoping for snacks. I have not noticed any drooling, sneezing, runny nose, anything that could hint at what the issue might be.

Any ideas?

Here are some pictures of his face before I cut his hair tonight. He looks a hot mess now..

 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Gosh I haven’t got a clue! It doesn’t sound or look like mites, which is a phew! I can only think like you do-perhaps he’s getting wet and then hanging out in hay? But all our buns hang out with lots of hay and drink out of bowls…so I’m stumped. Please keep us posted, really interested to hear what the vet finds.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I would suggest having the vet check his teeth. The wet, green, crimpy looking fur near his mouth looks similar to how my lop gets when he’s having dental issues that cause him to dribble.

I would take a facecloth and a very small amount of bunny-safe soap (get something all natural, with no chemicals or scent. I use “Nature Clean” bar soap) and then rinse off really well with a wet facecloth.

[BinkyBunny]

I ditto LPT, the gunk under his chin could be due to teeth issues. .

My bunny Rucy would also get that. Even a slight malocclusion can sometimes create wetness and mats, whether it be drool or the dampness from greens, or just drinking water, but the moisture would run down from the bottom of her mouth (not very noticeable) and then settle underneath her chin creating mats and cause discoloration. She had a slight malocclusion and would get spurs, (sharp points that develop on molars)a few times a year. She could still eat all as it wasn’t severe. I still had to have the spurs removed though or she would end up having problems eating, so I just made sure to take her to the vet when I saw this dampness/mat stuff begin under her chin.

Let us know what you vet says. 

[Nicolene]

We removed his bowl and replaced it with a bottle, then our vet had to cancel the appt we had and I just rescheduled everyone (all our pets go at the same time) for their wellness check up in January. His face is almost completely clean now, the hair is soft looking again. I suspect it was the bowl. We will, of course take him in if anything changes.

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