New bunny with bald spots?

[Cassandra Jane]

Hello!

When I brought the little lionhead Panipopo home last Saturday, I noticed that he had a couple bald spots on his back. I didn’t notice them at the pet store, but he did stay in their backroom the night before I took him home and they boxed him up before I got to see him when I came to pick him up. His sibling who he was previously housed with didn’t have any bald spots nor did any develop over the following week (I went back in to check a few times).

Panipopo’s spots seem to have gotten bigger. First nice and smooth skin, then with mild flaking. They’ve sort of connected into a curvy line down the middle of his back. Little furs are finally starting to grow.

I have a bunch of questions! Could this have been triggered by stress via overgrooming or mites taking advantage of a stressed bunny? Can healthy bunnies show no signs of mites? Could it be a molt, but also could ~8 to 10-week old bunnies molt this early?

On a side note, he is TINY. He seems to be between 50-75% smaller than his biological sibling. Seems healthy though. Very fast, very binky, very poopy. He also somehow escaped his cage in the middle of the week and met our other rabbit Opu a lot sooner than planned. I don’t think Opu pulled his fur, but he definitely didn’t start them. We still keep them separated, but Opu really likes sleeping by Panipopo’s cage now (since he already got exposed to the furball). Anyways, we are all going to the vet on Friday!

[Bam]

It could absolutely be stress from getting a new home that gave pre-existing mites the opportunity to multiply. Getting a new home and being separated from a sibling is stressful, no matter how excellent the new home is. You can treat on suspicion only with Revolution (selamectin), but it’s prescription only in most parts of the world (exept Australia). Ivermectin is another alternative.

Now for the warning we always give when someone mentions mites: never use any compound containing fipronil on a rabbit. It’s deadly toxic to rabbits. It’s sold under many brand names, Frontline, Sentry, Effipro are some of the common ones.

It’s difficult to say why he’s tiny. He’s probably a mixed breed, pet stores rabbits often are. There’s not even any guarantee that he and his litter-sibling have the same father. I’d just keep an eye as long as he seems healthy and is eating, the poop looks good and he’s gaining weight (I recommend weekly or, for starters, twice weekly, weighing and keeping a weight-journal), A heavy mite-infestation can take a toll on the body, so it’s best to have that seen to as soon as you can. Repeat treatment should be done after a couple of weeks. You should see improvement quickly, more and bigger skinflakes will start to come off within a day or two.

[Cassandra Jane]

Thanks for all the info!

All the spots are growing back fur and there’s no more flaking. Not that I’m ruling out mites, but would the spots have remained bald if they were? I do want to get them treated just to get the suspicion out of the way because I’m still convinced that it is mites. Is Revolution safe even if this wasn’t mites?

[LittlePuffyTail]

Revolution would not be harmful as a preventative. Just make sure to ask your vet about the right dose for your bunny’s weight.

[Author]

Messages