Mae troubles again

[BunnyLiz]

Yesterday I noticed Mae’s hair on her back seemed a bit shed like and made a mental note to brush her out good today.  Then today I realized it is most definitely not time for her to shed yet, she went through one not to long ago.  I skillfully bribed her with pellets to let me take a look and thankfully she let me with minimal flipping out, just a tiny chase and a few small jumps.  Anyways, her hair is completely gone, bald skin, in a few chunks on her lower back area.  A few chunks seem to be growing in too.  Her skin doesnt look irritated at all, normal except the no hair part.  So either she is pulling her hair out herself or she is sick?  I don’t know which is perferable!  Her being sick and being able to be treated or her being so stressed out that she is pulling her hair out.  I havent caught signals indicating she is sick at all, she seems fine.  And I thought she was improving since coming here, she seems comfortable and follows me everywhere.  I can even pet her neck and sides (very bad spots for her) after maybe 20 minutes of head rubs, which she will sit and enjoy now for hours.  She is far from “normal” still, she still has her moments and gets very very anxious but I thought she was doing so much better.  If she is doing it herself its when I leave her, when Im home she is with me always.  Could it be she gets scared when I leave?  If it is stress related I dont know what to do, I stick to her routine as strict as humanly possible, I keep all animals away from her and close doors so she cant hear them as much (I have 9, so its noisey sometimes).  I try not to clutter the floor with my school bag and such because she is out all the time, I never rearange her cage, no loud music or tv, Hammer and Lucy no longer have a water bottle to drink from (a trigger of her’s).  I’ve unstressed her life of everything I could think of.  She is an angel really, super sweet and hasnt destroyed a singe thing, the only times she messes up her cage and tears at her phone book are when Im gone sometimes.  Thoughts?  Do you guys even think Im on the right track, with maybe stress related?  Or do you think this is medical?  I have no clue what to think or what to do!  Help!?!

[jerseygirl]

My first thoughts are mites…I don’t know how they get to the buns they just do! Maybe from hay or other animals that have been outdoors. Also, it could be further shedding – some do have back to back sheds. Can you contact her former foster carer and see whether she ever saw anything like this with Mae.
As to stress related and pulling – it might be hard to discern. Do you see the tufts of fur about her pen? Since you said she’s less secure when you’re gone anyway, I’m wondering if trying some things might be worthwhile. Like actually providing some white noise (maybe talkback radio on low volume).. Even giving rescue remedy everyday. It might do much but it’s pretty harmless too isn’t it? Or chammomile…valerian?? Maybe vet could suggest something calming you can give her.

[Elrohwen]

I’m going to ditto Jersey. It is possible that she’s shedding again, or is having a long shed and didn’t get all of the back fur out initially.

Or it could be mites. I kind of doubt she’s pulling it out herself … Somehow I just imagine that if a female bunny pulled fur, she would pull it out of her chest/stomach the way a pregnant doe would, just out of instinct. Just a theory.

[BunnyLiz]

Cant you see mites? If you can Im sure I would have spotted one by now because Im with her for days straight sometimes. And all three live close together, so wouldnt I see something weird in Hammer and Lucy too? And its only in that one concentrated area. Then again I do have animals that go out, they have frontline or whatever and never come in my room, but still I guess they could have tracked mites inside. Could it maybe be mites that are causing her to pull out her hair?

Do they shed bald sometimes?! Weird. I’ve only ever dealt with shedding that leaves that super soft undercoat behind. I havent seen clumps of hair lying around, though I deal with so much hair that I dont even know if I would have noticed honestly.

I can contact her foster, she was the chapter manager so not hard to find. Im just iffy about emailing her because I dont want to worry her, she put a ton of tlc in her. She had just recently decided that she was ready to find a home for Mae when she was successfully rehomed to another foster for a short while. Im fairly certain she would have mentioned this if it was common for her, we talk and talked and talked forever about her.

White noise creeps me out, think she would settle for classical music instead? Lol jk, but if she finds it comforting that is doable while im gone. RR I could do too, thats not difficult.

[jerseygirl]

No, not all can be seen. Doesn’t always cause scratching either. I was doing some reading just now in regards to fluffybunny’s Mr Bunny and there is often a small population of mites living on the skin but they only become an issue when rabbit becomes stressed.  Anyway, seems the mites don’t have to come via another anilmal, they might just have them at all times but no symptoms.  There’s also a variety of them too though…argh!

On shedding – they can shed bald.  Wendyski put a picture up once of Pepper with bald spots – a normal shed for her.

[MimzMum]

My three seem to be in a state of perpetual shed. Mimzy just started again in the last few days…needless to say, this does not bode well for his nasal problems.
How warm is it in your house now? Do you have air heat or baseboard? Perhaps the air in the house is just too dry and warm and she’s dropping fur to be more comfortable?
Vibes for Mae (((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))

[hooty22]

My aunt and my mom’s cats both have this problem when winter first starts up and the gas heat gets turned on. They both get insane bald spots on their low back areas.
If she’s acting okay, I would just wait it out. She might have some itchy dry skin issues.

[Sarita]

My white rabbit is also having some weird shedding tufts as well – I think it’s because of the change of season and the fact I’m using my heater now.

I think I would just watch her and see.

My feeling is it’s probably not mites as they would have probably treated her at the rescue if they suspected this already and I don’t see why she would get mites at your house…

[BunnyLiz]

Good thinking with the dry heat! I have been putting more lotion on while im home and it does seem very dry. I hope thats the problem! Ill run one of those put water in the air things a few hours a day and see if it helps. If that doesnt work ill ask my vet what she thinks about it.

[RabbitPam]

Bunnies can shed up to 4 times a year, so it could be almost 3 months before you know it and there’s another shed starting. Some are heavy and some are light.

[BunnyLiz]

I hate sheds! They are all so different its hard to get used too. Hammer sheds ALL the time, he always has some shed lines/spots where you can see his under fur. Lucy never sheds, she is a year old and Ive never noticed her shedding more then the normal few hairs here and there. Mae, I havent had long enough yet to tell. I guess she could be starting to shed, and Im just not aware of her normal shed clock yet.

[MimzMum]

Something I notice about sheds is, the new hair coming in gives a distinctly rough feel to the overall normally silky coat, no matter the bunny. I often run my hand over Pip’s nose, only to squeak out in surprise when I feel a ‘rough spot’, then of course I got frantically searching to be sure she hasn’t been bitten or scratched herself raw…but it’s just he new fur coming in. On Fiver it looks particularly unglamorous. He reminds me of a Brillo pad when he sheds…gosh it’s awful! >.<
Mimzy’s looking a little ‘chunky’ about now. Poor thing. Even I could give him a better hairstyle than the way this shed is turning out!

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