Moulting

[Slater91]

This may be the most simple and/or stupid question of all time, but I found what looked to be a clump (well, some) hair in the corner of my rabbits’ cage this morning.

It is not a lot, but I have never noticed this before, he looks fine, and is behaving as normal, but is this shedding normal for a 4 month old?

Thanks in advance

[jerseygirl]

Some do moult like that. It can come out in clumps and leave bald patches. Sometimes it’s called ‘blowing their coat’. He’s probably losing his baby coat and at 4 months, he’s hit puberty would you believe. Sometimes the weather change can trigger the moult, sometimes hormones.

He’ll likely ingest more hair around this time so be sure to give him plenty of hay. You can groom him too if he’ll allow it.

[MooBunnay]

Yes, bunnies can sometimes shed in big clumps. Does is all the fur loose but just in a big group, or does it look all stuck together at the bottom? The reason I ask is because when bunnies just shed a big clump of fur, it doesn’t pull any of the roots or skin off with it, but I’ve also seen a chunk of bunny fur after a fight from one getting bitten and it is stuck together at the bottom because it pulls a bit of the top layer of skin off. You might just want to look at that corner of the cage to see if there is anyway your buns fur somehow go stuck in there and pulled it out, but otherwise it sounds like shedding.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Huh seems a bit young to be molting….I’ll ditto moobunny-you should see if their is anything that could have caught a tuft of hair

[Slater91]

It seems that the hair was not pulled out as they were not stuck together, he also has no bald spots or anything like that (had a good old wrestle with him last night). It looks loose, and almost like he was putting it all in a corner to make a nest….. I will keep a check, and thanks again for the help.

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[jerseygirl]

This may sound like an odd question, but have you ever had a vet check that Jimmy is actually a boy? Females sometimes have false pregnancies and they pull fur from their “chest” area to make a nest. (This is the reason I asked.) It’s seems pretty common that people get what they think is one sex and it turns out to be the other!   I may be way off with this – not sure if female can have false pregnancies at the age that Jimmy is…

Likely, you would have noticed the fur pulling though, so it probably is just Jimmy shedding and the fluff gathering in the corner.  He’s still so little! ^^.  He’s a N. Dwarf isn’t he?

[Newman]

I’m no expert, but I can report that when Newman (neutered) hit about 9 months, he shed like crazy for more than a month, it was insane. Thank god that’s over with. It could have been weather related since this happened in the winter, a month ago here in Massachusetts. Now he’s back to his lightly shedding mini-lop self. Good thing: I was going through a ton of those 3M hair removal roller things.

[CaseyK]

yup, every three months mine lose their coats.

[Slater91]

Thanks again for all the replies, I am intrigued by the idea that he might be a she? We haven’t had him at the vets yet, but will be going soon for advice on getting his little bits removed  so I am sure we will find out then (that is not something I am looking forward to that is for sure).

It is strange as it almost looks like it was being gathered rather than falling off…… I’ll keep you informed, but it would be sweet having a little girl Jimmy

I will try to take a picture of it tonight and post it, might shed a bit more light on the subject, until then, a kiss from the little shedding he/she

 

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[Beka27]

HUH! I could have sworn he has gone to the vet. That was my first thought when reading that: false pregnancy, but I thought you had taken him for something else, must’ve been thinking of a different member. Weird!

Anyways… he is 4 months old? I wonder if females even have False PG that young, I always thought it happened more around the time they were in full-blown puberty (for females a bit later, around 6-9 months). I suppose anything is possible. Does he seem like he is shedding heavily now?

[Slater91]

Hey all, he seems to be doing ok, and I have noticed no more fur than before. Tried to take a picture but my camera phone is poo.Will have another good root around when I clean out his (or her) cage tonight and let you know. Thanks you all soooooo much again 🙂

[BinkyBunny]

I agree, this seems rather young, but I think I read somewhere that a light molt can happen then to some rabbits.  Also if there is no more hair than what you found that would not normally be a molt. A tuff of hair in the corner wouldn’t indicate a molt unless he continued to shed. Usually, especially a bunny’s very first molt,(normally around 6 months)  is very heavy. So either this is a prelude to a big molt explosion or something else was going on.  Definitely keep us updated with what else you find, and if Jimmy turns out to be a female.

Here is a great article about molting - kind of gives the run down of different types of molting.  Not all rabbits molt the same way.

http://www.allearssac.org/newsletters/05Spring.pdf

[MooBunnay]

I just realized that when I posted to you I wrote a sentence that made absolutely no sense…I’m glad you could understand the rest of my post! Anyways, just wanted to say that little Jimmy is SUPER adorable!! I have a little girl named Nilla Bean that looks just like him.

[bunnytowne]

IF the bunny is 4 months old normally the testicles will have dropped and you coudl tell if was a he.  Still though it could be a he and they havent’ dropped yet.         OR a she.    I guess it can be a mystery gender lol.

HOPe it is just a shed though.  Can the hair have caught on something in that area you found it and been pulled out by whatever it was stuck to?

Or has someone already asked this. I think so.

[bunnytowne]

Hey that was a good article.

[hooty22]

Felony, who is a boy, “nests” his hair when he molts. whenever he grooms himself he piles up all the fur in the corner and under his litterbox. He’s a cleaner.

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