Bald spot on toe

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Jamie714

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I have a 5-6 month old unneutered male bunny. We are in Saudi Arabia where the vets are incompetent(one tried to tell me to give bute to a cat, that's how bad they are), so neutering is on hold for awhile until we return to the US. Most vets don't know anything about bunnies.
Our bunny is quite spoiled. He has free roam of the bedroom, except under the bed which is blocked by pillows because there are power cords, etc there we don't want him nibbling on. He has his own blankets on the floor, plus is allowed on the bed and couch, he just prefers the tile floor for some reason unless we are on the bed.
My husband and I went on a weekend trip and had his mom and sister taking care of the bunny. When we got back, I noticed a bald spot around his toenail. It's kind of greyish and soft, doesn't seem sore, just not very attractive. His coat looks and feels healthy overall, no signs of any parasites. I can only think of 2 things.
1. He does seem very determined to get under the bed and will dig at the pillows for hours. They are the couch/ornamental type that aren't very soft. I don't know if it's possible for him to rub the toe bald like that.
2. His mom decided to be helpful and washed the floor with Clorox, which I normally wouldn't do, and it irritated his foot. BUt if this were the case, I would think it would be on the bottom of his foot, not mostly at the top and sides of his toe.

Anyone have ideas or solutions on what could cause this? Like I said, there isn't really good vet care around here and I think in this country Google seems better than the actual vet...
 
If your rabbit has bald patches on his feet, it may be his living conditions to determine why it's appearing, and then change it to Change what is causeing it. If he is on a wire floor, provide him with something solid on which to sit so he can get relief from the wire. If possible, buy a piece of vet bed - a synthetic material that resembles fleece and is designed for animals - and put it in his cage for him. Keep his litter box, if he has one, as clean as possible at all times, as many bunnies are known to 'hang out' in the litter box, which exposes their feet to damp, bacterial conditions. And if he does start to develop sores, see if you can find a product called "New Skin":

http://www.newskinproducts.com/


It's a liquid bandage made for humans, but some breeders will use on their rabbits to help protect sores and wounds until they've healed. Some breeds of rabbits are quite prone to sore hocks, including rex rabbits as well as the giant breeds.





~Breeding Quality Holland Lops Since 2012~
 
I doubt it's his living conditions. We don't leave him in a cage, except maybe half-hour at a time when we clean the bedroom. The bedroom floor where we keep him is tile but he has plenty of soft spots to rest in. He usually just goes in his litter box for going to the bathroom, I've never really seen him hang out there. I clean it daily.
The bald spot is on top of his foot just above the nail.
 
One of my bunnies crosses his back feet while he is sitting and the toenail from the opposite foot has rubbed a little bald, swollen bump by the toe on his other foot. Maybe your bunny is doing that too?
 
As long as there is no flaking or crusting in the area, and the skin is healthy looking, it's possible that your bun was barbering due to stress from you being gone. I would keep a close eye on it, and if it continues/gets worse, there may be a diet or health problem going on. I've had a rabbit do it from stress and one fur chew from not enough protein in her diet, so there can be a variety of causes.

With your bunny liking the tile floor, it's actually pretty common for rabbits to like laying on hard cool surfaces, especially in warmer temps as it helps cool them down.
 
Thanks. I think you might be right about the stress thing. The first couple days and nights of us being home he has barely left our side. Even at night he wants to be on the bed snuggled between us. It's quite cute. He does usually pout for a bit if we're gone.
 

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