Help! My baby is bald!!

[Daisy1029]

I am freaking out.  Yesterday, My mother came over to help me out at the house.  I have been ill and so she came to help with a few things.  Benjamin is in the middle of shedding and hates brushes and combs.  I mentioned to my mom that I wished he would sit still so I could pluck him.  Well, later on she told me got him to relax for a while so she plucked some loss fur from his butt area.  Well…. My husband just noticed that he has a big bald spot in that area.  Depending on how he holds his tail, you can’t see it (which is why we are just now noticing it).  It is about the size of a quarter and there is not obivous signs of new hair growth.  You can see his pink skin.  He is acting completely normal.  Eating and drinking fine. Pooing and peeing as usual.  He is still exploring, hiding and we even saw some binkies earlier.  The only difference I have noticed is that he doesn’t want your hand anywhere near his rear. 

I don’t know what to do. I am so upset with my mom right now..  Is there something I should do for him?  Will fur grow back into that place?  Will he remain bald?  Can he get an infection?  Help!!  I’m sorry for all the questions… I don’t know what to do. 

I’m probably getting overly dramatic (I do that with Benjamin) but he’s lost big patches of fur before but there was always new fur underneath. This time its just his pink skin.

[KatnipCrzy]

Is the bald spot in the area where your mom plucked the fur from?  Is he bothered by the bald spot, licking, scratching, etc?

[Daisy1029]

It is where she plunked. I called her this morning about it (it was too late to call when I discovered it last night). She says she groomed him all around his tail. That is exactly where it is. My husband took a picture on my phone. Its not the best quality but I can try to post it soon.

Benjamin doesn’t seem to act like it bothers him. No licking or scratching. He just doesn’t want us petting him near it. Which I can totally understand that.

[Daisy1029]

  Here is the spot. 

[jerseygirl]

I can see why it’s a bit upsetting.  I thought the picture in this thread might help. It’s one Wendyzski posted when her bun was going thru a heavy molt.  https://www.binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/a…fault.aspx

So it could be that Benjamin is blowing his coat big time. Have a look around this area and see if more hair comes away like this. I imagine if it were pulled out the skin would appear more irritated. It could be it has literally fallen out or rubbed off.  Have you seen him go through a major molt before?

It did make me thing of fur mites too. Actually, I wonder if big molts and fur mite activity can coincide. Buns can become a bit cranky, maybe stressed during a molt & mites can take advantage when the animal is stressed.

[Zombie-Sue]

Ohhh, heeey, you know, when I FIRST went to see Tank, he had a little bald spot in about the same spot. It was a little smaller, but it all grew back just fine. The lady said that he got his butt stuck to a scotch lint roller, and when they pulled it off, weeeeell… but by the time I took him home, and he won’t let me brush his butt really, but there’s hair there just the same as there is everywhere else. He’s also shedding up a storm xD

Also, from the HRS site:

Bald spots on rabbits are quite common when they are shedding. I have one Angora rabbit for instance, that gets totally naked except for her face and feet. But, short haired rabbits can do the same thing. If these bald spots occur from shedding, they will begin to grow back within a week or two.

on this page: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/groom.html

Plus the example Jerseygirl linked… I think it is okay if you relax a little (; You might need to check him over for other problems, but I think it will come back. If you think about it, rabbits are probably pretty good at growing back fur–they rip it out on their own if they become preggy. (;

[Daisy1029]

Thank you all for your help. I am feeling better about it after reading your responses. Jerseygirl- Thanks for posting the picture and the previous thread. It really helped to calm my nerves. After reading your suggestions I also checked him over very well today and I see no signs of mites. He has not really scratched/itched anymore that normal and not anywhere near that area. On closer inspection as well, I see some new fur coming in along the edges of the bald spot so I am taking this as a good sign that the rest will follow soon.

Again, thank you all so much for your help.

[BinkyBunny]

I agree that this is more likely some molting as the rest of his fur looks uneven (which is normal for molting) It is also easy to accidentally “pluck” too much as the fur can come out too easy and what can happen is as fur begins to grow back in, and pushes the other fur out, sections can look “taller” and that fur can sometimes be mistaken for “loose” fur. (and it will be soon if it isn’t) so sometimes the taller fur can accidentally be plucked.

And some bunnies just naturally get a bald spot, but even if your mom got over zealous with plucking, the fur would have most likely been a bit loose already,(and the skin looks pale pink not irritated)  so I wouldn’t worry too much  It will grow back. Rabbit fur grows in stages, so he may be bald for a bit, and then all of sudden the fur grows back rather quickly.

[RabbitPam]

The skin there looks healthy, so I wouldn’t worry. It can take a while for new growth too, (ask MimzMum who is waiting for Mimzy to grow in a patch the vet shaved) so don’t worry as long as it continues to look that way.

My brother has a big bald patch on his head and is still waiting for it to grow back. Been waiting 30 years now.

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