This might be serious–I’m not sure

[MD]

The other day, I woke up and went to say hi to the bunnies and give them their daily pellets.  I was shocked to find that Daphny, my gray bun, had a large chunch of fur missing from her face–between her nose and her left eye. It is about 3/4 of an inch long and 1/4 inch wide–rather large on a small bunny face.  My only conclusion was that Misty, my white and black bun, chewed/bit it off.  I could Daphny’s pink skin showing in that missing patch.  Today, I checked on them in the morning, and the patch has changed–it looks more red and slightly shiny, like it might have bled or could easily.  I have no idea what to do about this–how can I stop behavior if I don’t see it?  Do I need to separate Misty in the bunny carrier so she stops attacking?  I am only blaming her because I do not see how Daphny could have cause this herself.  Do I need to take Daphny to the vet?  I just don’t know what to do.

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[MooBunnay]

MD – have no fear – this is actually the topic that brought me to Binky Bunny! I have actually experienced this with my bunnies, its something that I was told is called “barbaring” or “over-grooming” (I prefer over-grooming because barbaring sounds bad to me). Anyways, what happens generally is a bunny will just “over groom” a spot on another bunny, which leaves a bald patch. Once this happens, the bunny gets concerned with the bald patch on their friend, and grooms it even more because they thinkk that there is something wrong with the bunny’s fur there. I have found that putting any ointment or medication there generally does not help because then the bunny will just groom the spot even MORE because now it is “dirty.” My boy Kramer was over grooming Juli, and she got to the point where the skin was very pink and inflamed – but it actually did not ever bleed, it did get quite red though.

Over-grooming can start pretty randomly, it started with my bunnies a couple months after I first got them. There are a few things you can do to help remedy the situation:
1. Do your bunnies have something to play with or chew on? Sometimes over-grooming can arise from boredom, and a few cardboard boxes to hide in, paper towel rolls, a phone book, some grass mats, or some new toys can help. Also, try giving some extra time for exercise for the overgrooming bunny to get her energy out.
2. Do your bunnies have a strict schedule? Sometimes over-grooming can arise when a bunny is feeling nervous, so maintaining a regular time for feeding, cleaning, exercise etc. can help the bunny feel more secure. Have there been any changes in the house recently? that could have triggered it as well.
3. Observe your bunnies grooming each other. WHen you see your bunny grooming the other bunnies bald patch, redirct the bunny to grooming another area. Try putting a bit of honey or mushed banana on another part of Daphne to distract her friend to a new spot

The best way to really get Daphne’s friend to stop overgrooming her is to temporarily separate them by putting a divider in the cage (something where they can still see and lay next to each other, but just can’t groom each other. This is only temporary, so even setting up a pen right next to their normal cage for a few days will work. You just need to give Daphne enough time to grow back a bit of fur on the patch. Then, her friend won’t remember where that spot is and won’t become fixated upon it while grooming.

OK – SO, I know that was a lot of info. – it was the first bunny problem I ever had so I did pretty extensive researching on it!

[JK]

Boy I seem to learn something new every day on this site!  That is very interesting!

[Spacehopper]

Same as.

[Lisa_43]

Excellent MooBunnay, same here I really love learning new things about bunnies.

I really feel more prepared to handle most situations that come up, the ones I don’t know it’s great to know I can always ask the people on Binky Bunny.

 

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