wounds from aggressive grooming

[laurainthesky00]

Alice and Toasty are newly bonded-ish.  They are safe to be together (ie. no violence. a little grooming. some ignoring. sleep near eachother. spats do not go beyond dominant nipping). 

Anyhow, they are still working out who grooms who and how they take turns.  They are both rescue bunnies.  I got Alice from Craigslist and Toasty from a rabbit rescue.  Alice’s previous owners told me that she had a bonded partner as an adolescent bunny (before they rescued her after being abandoned outside >_<).  Alice is now about three years ago and had not had any rabbit contact since then.  I have no idea whether Toasty has any partner experience.

Bonding was frustrating as Alice is aggressive and dominant and Toasty is stubborn, independent, with a dominant (but completely non-aggressive) streak.

Alice does most of the grooming because I am pretty sure her aggression comes from a place of being hungry and desperate for love (which is why I knew she absolutely HAD to have a partner).  

Alice is an aggressive groomer.  At first, she used to stick her head as far into Toasty’s ear as she could to groom (which looked painful for Toasty).  He finally broke her of that bad habit and he has started to like more gentle inner ear grooming.  She grooms his eyes which he does not like, but tolerates some of it.

the infrequent times he grooms her, he is very gentle with little licks.  

What worries me:  She created a bald spot near the back of his ear, but will not stop grooming it!  It is red and raw. (I need to buy some betadine). no blood….yet… and he tolerates it for some reason unless she pulls too much.

It does not appear to hurt him as he does not flinch when she grooms the area.  His eyes are closed in the pic because he blinks with flash!

Any suggestions????

 

[longhairmike]

are you anywhere near scottdale? there is a great vet Dr Holmes with offices in tempe & kenilworth. he handles all the medical needs for the bunnies at Tranquility trail sanctuary. you can probably being your bun into TTAS just to see if they think it needs a vet’s attention or just i standard wound. you want to make sure its not a bug bite that the other bun just happens to think he’s being helpful by liking repeatedly.

[laurainthesky00]

thank you for your reply =)

I am in the Tucson area.  I did make the trek to Phoenix to Brambley Hedge where I rescued Toasty.  Fortunately, I did find a good rabbit vet in town.

I know that Alice is the culprit.  I have watched her do it and watched the progression unfold.  I guess I was hoping she would just stop once it was already bald. but no, she kept going >_<. 

I was hoping that getting betadine and keeping a watchful eye would be appropriate (although of course, I would not deny my Toasty needed medical care).  Any tips to get Alice to stop? 

[longhairmike]

next time youre in the valley, you shoudl check out tranquility trail just south of scottsdale airport.
you’ll end up spending the whole day there..

[jerseygirl]

Mmm… thats a tough one to sort out. It would be difficult to monitor them all the time to distract her from doing it. I wonder if liquid bandaid would help on that spot? Give it a chance to heal and the taste maybe put her off? I know this can be used on sore hocks but I don’t know if the skin at the ear would be too sensitve or not. Ive used Sudocream before which is a thick zinc based cream used for diaper rash.

You could try adding new things to their environment in attempt to distract her. New toys or boxes to climb on etc.

It is most likely calming for her to be doing the grooming also. So the only other thing I can think of is to try some bach remedy drops (like Rescue Remedy) on her – not on Toasty. He already looks preeetty calm lol. Try a snuggle toy also. My bonded pair seem to give occasional grooms to a toy or things around them. Maybe Alice will let up on Toasty and give a plushie toy a good groom instead.

[jerseygirl]

Yep. I spotted a sofa in that TTAS video where I could sleep. They really have a great set up. One other shelters can model themselves on.

[bunnygirl]

Ohmygosh! I wish I lived near that bunny sanctuary! I’d spend days there…sleeping in my sleeping bag on the sofa. Heck I’d even clean out all the bunnies and play with them all! Awww!

[laurainthesky00]

to longhairmike: bunnies!!!!!!!! what a nice living set up for them! maybe I will.  I cannot take anymore home though =P bonding a duo was bad enough!

jerseygirl: appreciate the advice!  did the other bunny lick the sudocream?  I don’t think that distractions would work because it is Toasty who initiates the demands (never in an aggressive manner) for grooming.  He puts himself in the situation!  She is the aggressive one.  She bites him sometimes. makes her own demands for grooming which is ignored. then she gets angry. circles him. challenges him.  and he calmly sticks his chin on the floor and tolerates a few bites on his side and waits for her to calm down. then she grooms him and he appears to enjoy it.  He only grooms her when she has been nice to him for a period of days.  She is the hyper destructive one (although a very kissy sweet bunny).  He is the mischievous one who finds all nooks and crannies to get into and she learns from him.  He can be very excitable in a happy childlike way.  Otherwise, he is pretty chill.

He appears to heal very quickly.  The wound healed by itself and already has a little fur back on it. almost looks like nothing ever happened.  He is a very hardy bunny (for a bunny that is) but now she is at it again >_<.    

[jerseygirl]

did the other bunny lick the sudocream?

Sorry, I had just meant I’ve used it on their skin before. On one rabbits hocks. Not for a situation like yours. But that rabbit herself didn’t lick the cream off. I also used it yesterday on one who is moulting and has very dry bald patches. He also left it alone whereas another cream I tried he licked off.

Just realized you said they are a newly bonded pair. I dare say this problem will settle with time.

[laurainthesky00]

very new. I brought Toasty home december 2nd. His wound is healing nicely. It is no longer raw and red. I hope it settles! It really freaked me out to see that wound and watch Alice still groom it!
thank you so much for your responses =)

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