Almost 3 week old bun with a bald head..

[canadagirl]

Alright. I didn't fill out the checklist because there isn't much info to give. I think I have a really unusual one here.

I had a mini rex doe have babies all over the floor of her cage outside and jump all over them before I found them ice cold and almost dead. I brought them in the house and using the oven, warm blankets, etc spent the night trying to get the babies temp stabilized. They were cut up and literally covered in bruises. ugh. I finally got them warm enough for long enough that I figured they could eat. Well three of them flat out wouldn't suck. They just didn't seem to understand. I spent HOURS with them trying to help them figure it out . Oh, btw, I was using momma to feed them. Just holding her still. The three littlest ones finally figured it out after being alive for just over 24 hours.

Well, they were born on day 29 and were very very small. They barely had any fuzz at all at a week old. They are still not growing totally right, but I am fairly confident they are all going to make it.

Now here is the problem. The runt never did grow hair on the top of her head and under her chin. She is almost totally bald there. :? They are going to be 3 weeks old on sunday (but they barely look like 2 weekers).

I understand the babies have had a traumatic start in life....but does that explain why my littlest one has no hair on her head? I have never seen or heard of such a thing. Mites, lice, bugs, etc are OUT. There is nothing like that going on and I would see something like that on her little pink head. Oh and incase it matters, she is a broken black with very little black. Ears, half her nose, few spots all over.

 

[tonyshuman]

You're sure there's no mites going on? What about a fungal skin infection, like ringworm?

 

[bettanip]

You are using oven to warm them? If no infection cause the hair loss, maybe it was a side effect using the oven

 

[Maureen Las]

I am thinking that possibly someone in the Rabbitry has seen a runt with a bald head so I am moving this thread to the Rabbitry for more answers

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

It sounds most likely that the cause of the problem is that she is the runt or peanut. Does she look like a peanut - large head, small body? Is she significantly smaller than the others, or not that small compared to them?

Pictures of her with her littermates would be helpful. It sounds like she's a peanut, in which case she will not make it, unfortunately.

Emily

 

[canadagirl]

Alright. I am going to try to post pictures.

Here is her and her litter mates. She is the one in the middle.

Here little head.

Her chin. This picture was very hard to get because she is super wiggly.

All of them climbed onto my lap.

Alright. Yes I used the oven, but I don't mean I stuck them IN the oven. I opened the door, put the oven on low, set a cookie sheet with a towel on it on the door and placed the bunnies on the cookie sheet and then covered them in a towel. So far it seems to be the best way to warm cold babies like bunnies and kittens. Warm heat that radiates over them but certainly isn't hot.

And no. No bugs. I have around 35 rabbits and not a spot or a mark on any other rabbits and certainly not her mother. They came in the house as soon as they were born and the rest of the rabbits are all outside. There isn't really a way they could catch bugs. She just never grew any real hair. Her head was shiny smooth when everyone else was getting peach fuzz. Now she has a bit of fuzz, but it looks awful.

 

[FelipesMommy]

Looks like it could be ringworm to me.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Well she certainly isn't a peanut, and not too small for a runt, either.

I'm gonna have to go with a bug, too.
Worms & mites can pop up really fast. They can get fur mites, ear mites, and worms in so many ways that you'd never even know it was possible. Trust me, I just had a buck get worms....it was sudden, out of the blue. I've had the same problem with fur mites - about 1 week before fair they were just suddenly there. Wouldn't have even known if my 4-H leader hadn't checked them over. Now I dust all my rabbits 3 weeks before a show.

Due to her age... I'm not really sure what the best treatment would be. We'll have to see what other members say would be safe for her.

Emily

 

[tonyshuman]

I do think under the chin is ringworm for sure. That can be treated with topical ointment but you'd have to let it soak in for a bit before letting her or another bunny groom it all off. An over-the-counter product for athlete's foot or jock itch is good--I prefer ones with the active ingredient miconazole. She could also be getting overgroomed by her mom or the other babies, especially if the top of her head doesn't have the crusty skin that's on the underside of her chin. Just use an amount half the size of a pea for each site--top of head and under chin.

 

[fuzz16]

hmm..when i had ringworm (gross i know) i used a foot fungus cream and triple anti biotic

 

[FelipesMommy]

I think the top of the head is ringworm too because it forms the perfect circle. I'm not sure with rabbits, but for people when ringworm is on the scalp you need to use an oral anti-fungal as the topical does not penetrate as well.

 

[canadagirl]

Alright. The baby never grew hair. She was bald when the others had peach fuzz. It's not like she had fur and then lost it. How on earth could a newborn baby rabbit contract ringworm? I don't believe its possible. And isn't it contagious? Shouldn't her littermates have it too? I am honestly asking because I am not really sure.

When she was born she was badly damaged. All bruised up, two toes missing and was probably stomped by her mother. I am thinking her traumatic first 10 minutes has something to do with it. Not ringworm.

I totally understand that it looks like it could be ringworm, but I can assure you that it isn't. It just can't be.

 

[tonyshuman]

It is contagious, but the immune system of the one baby may be weaker than the others, leading to an active infection only in her. Ringworm itself is pretty much everywhere.

Could it be scar tissue on her head from the mom?

 

[Momto3boys]

Yup my brother had ringworm and BAD, he contracted it from a barn he was working at where NOBODY else or any of the animals had it. He actually had it for months (doctor kept saying it was something else, he was actually swelling, scabbed and bleeding, it was awful) and NONE of us in our house or anyone in our school for it, I even put the cream on his back for him since it was on his face, neck, stomach and back....once he went to a different doctor they prescribed him the right meds and it cleared up pretty quickly.

Just because nobody else has it doesn't mean that's not what it is.

It's simple to put some cream on him a few times a day, it's worth a shot, if it starts to grow in then you know that's what it was, if it doesn't then you move onto something else.