I dont think this is normal....

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 11sd replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 8 months ago by Scarlet_Rose.

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- 10/21/2008 at 3:55 PM
  Kaitlyn*[ily]*
  Participant
  145 posts
  I started noticing this yesterday and today it is worse. I have noticed that around ashleys eye’s she is losing some hair….around both eys’s. What could cause this? and should i take her to the vet to have it checked out?
  
  Here is what it looks like, it looks like this on both eyes….should i be worried?
- 10/21/2008 at 4:43 PM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  is she caged with the other bunny? if so, it could be that the other bunny is grooming her eyes a bit too much and that is causing fur loss. have you noticed discharge from her eyes recently? how is she eating, drinking, and pooping?
- 10/21/2008 at 4:53 PM
  Kaitlyn*[ily]*
  Participant
  145 posts
  yeah is eating and drinking, but she is cage with another rabbit. should i split them up?
- 10/21/2008 at 5:06 PM
  bunnytowne
  Participant
  7537 posts
  It could be if it is infected there the other bun could be grooming off the evidence of infection. I would go to the vet to be sure and if not infected to prevent infection. They get sick very quickly so a good preventative would be super. Could be overgrooming.
  
  Yeah I can see seperating them so you can see more of what is going on with it.
- 10/21/2008 at 5:33 PM
  MooBunnay
  Participant
  3087 posts
  Hi kaitlyn!
  
  I’ve been through the EXACT same thing with my bonded pair (literally exact, my female’s bald spot was even in the same place!) The cause of this is likely called “barbaring” where one bunny excessively grooms the other bunny.
  
  I have received the following causes/solutions for barbaring in all my research:
  
  1) Sometimes barbaring is caused by stress, this can be reduced by giving your bunnies a very regular schedule, for example feeding, cleaning, and giving them play time at around the same time each day.
  
  2) Sometimes barbaring is caused by boredom. If your bunny has a particular toy he really likes to chew on, for example cardboard or willow wood, provide a LOT of this for him to chew on and to play with. I gave my boy a couple big willow boxes (found them at IKEA!) and he has been having the time of his life chewing holes in them, and it keeps him distracted for a long time.
  
  3) Sometimes barbaring can be caused by an irritation or bald spot on the skin. If your female had some type of irritation in her eye, it could have caused the male to start overgrooming, and now that there is a bald spot, he will become even more fixated on it.
  
  4) Binkybunny found out that sometimes it is not enough fiber in the diet that can cause this. When I changed from one kind of hay to another that my boy bunny liked more, the barbaring stopped.
  
  What to do now that there is a bald spot:
  
  In order to prevent the male from continuing to fixate on this bald spot, you want to separate them for 2 or 3 days, just long enough for her to start growing some fur over the area. Then he won’t notice the bald spot so much and try to clean it. I did this by just using some nice cubes to put down the middle of the cage, and put a make-shift litterbox on the side that didn’t have one. You don’t have to be very complex about it because its only for a short period of time.
  
  OK – that was super long *sorry* ! I hope this helps!
- 10/21/2008 at 7:38 PM
  kralspace
  Participant
  2663 posts
  My Daisy is a compulsive obsessive barber. When we first got Lola he drove himself and her crazy trying to ‘groom’ the light tan spots off of her, especially around her eyes. He got a little over enthusiastic but luckily Lola would jump everytime he got too close to her eye.
- 10/22/2008 at 6:29 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  MooBunnay! great response. i forgot you’ve been thru this! her other bunny is a female, does that matter with the barbaring? you mentioned male so i was not sure? is it more common betw/ male/female pairs?
- 10/22/2008 at 12:19 PM
  Kaitlyn*[ily]*
  Participant
  145 posts
  yeah i have two female sister rabbits….does that change anything?
- 10/22/2008 at 2:12 PM
  bunnytowne
  Participant
  7537 posts
  kralspace thats funny. HE tried to take her spots off. He didn’t know they were her hair color heheee. Buns are something else.
  
  I hope your bunnies get better and the eye grows in some hair so the other can stop fixating on it.
- 10/22/2008 at 5:32 PM
  MooBunnay
  Participant
  3087 posts
  I don’t think it really changes anything if it is a female barbaring another female, or a male barbaring a female. Is it the dominant one barbaring the other one?
- 10/23/2008 at 12:02 PM
  Kokaneeandkahlua
  Participant
  12067 posts
  Oh i hope this is something you can correct quickly! Are you able to take her into a vet for a just in case exam?
- 10/25/2008 at 2:54 PM
  Scarlet_Rose
  Participant
  4293 posts
  Moobunnay to the rescue! I was going to suggest that if she hadn’t been here yet to talk to her. She’s been through the over-grooming issues galore. Isn’t she awesome? Kaitlyn, I hope Ashley is better. Have you tried anything yet or is the overgrooming still happening? It might be necessary to take Ashley out but keep her in view and let the fur grow back and take it in for a vet exam and perhaps some ointment as it looks pretty red and may be a cause for concern of infection. I was also wondering if the patches that are bald are darker or lighter patches than the surrounding fur? The reason I ask is because Daffodil has dark gray around her eyes and Bonsai used to have a tendency to “overgroom” that part – but not make her bald and I suspect that it is because it was darker than the surrounding white fur, which made him think it was “dirty” and needed some intensive grooming to remove it. He doesn’t do this much anymore so I think he finally figured it out or Daffodil just got sick of it. Anyway, I thought I would just share.
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