very dry skin on rocky

[5cats1bun]

He didn’t have the dry skin like this over the summer (maybe just a winter thing?) is there anything i can do for him? it’s mostly on his back/bum end it almost get chunky and I have to use a flea comb for it other wise he will dig at himself….

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hi Amy, have you had a vet take a look at it to make sure it is dry skin and not something else like mites or fleas? If it really is dry skin I can think of something that will help everyone: a humidifier for your home. There are ones that are pretty pricey that attach to your furnace or units that are self-contained. I prefer the ones that are misters or use heat, not the ones that have a filter that absorbs the water and the fan blows on it. I’ve seen them for good prices at Walgreens and Target. I opted for a more expensive one from BB&B that has a UV bulb that kills anything in the water and it vaoporizes with heat.

I think that gently brushing every day with a baby brush will help distribute the natural oils enough to help the skin as well as it may stimulate production of the natural oils that help to condition the skin.

As for applying any type of creams etc. it would likely get licked off and would lose its efficacy. I think that aloe would be good for it, but would make the fur matted and cause more problems. There might be something that your vet can recommend be added to your buns diet like more vitamin A, or an oil to help. I would steer clear of anything unnatural and is not vegetarian (rabbits are herbivores). I had a vet recommend to me that I give my two an oil composition that had fish oil as part of its ingredients! Needless to say, I do not see that vet anymore. I am trying to think of any veggies you could feed to help out too. I’m going to have to think about that.

[5cats1bun]

I know it’s not fleas as I all ready took care of that and he has advantage on him. I guess you know what I will be buying soon… and I’m sure another trip to the vet couldn’t hurt.

[MooBunnay]

It is soooo dry here in TX, and I’m assuming in other places too, that if there is any time for the rabbit to get dry skin, I would assume it would be now! I’ve shocked my bunnies at least once each just because the air is soo dry, so now I try to “ground” myself by touching metal before I touch my bunnies – poor things probably take the shock a lot harder than I do Try looking up a few different articles on mites just to compare the symptoms just in case, and the humidifier can help too.

Here are a couple articles for comparison to Rocky’s symptoms:
http://www.mybunny.org/info/mites.pdf
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=18&cat=1803&articleid=1597

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