Fur Pulling in Spayed Female.

[Rose_414]

I have a 2 year old spayed netherland dwarf. I have noticed she is pulling her fur out between chin and front legs ( toward the bottom). I can see bare skin- which seems healthy and is not scaly, red or irritated. Why is she doing this?

 

[Popsicles]

Hello,
Firstly this might sound silly, but did you buy her spayed or take her to get spayed yourself? Basically, are you certain she has been spayed or were to just told this? Unlikely, but not unheard of.
But it sounds like nesting behaviour due to a false pregnancy, since it is just the dewlap affected - even if she is spayed, female hormones are still produced elsewhere in the body so there can still be certain behavioural signs. If the skin looks okay then she isn’t plucking to excess, so I wouldn’t worry too much and hopefully it should pass soon

 

[Rose_414]

Thanks for your reply.

I took her to get spayed myself- although her litter box use improved greatly not much else did (I expected her behaviour to mellow out which it certainly didn’t).

 

[Popsicles]

Some of the trouble behaviours like humping and circling can become habit even if they are spayed, because they used to do it before they weee spayed, if that makes sense. When you say mellow out - what is her behaviour like then?

 

[Rose_414]

Some of the trouble behaviours like humping and circling can become habit even if they are spayed, because they used to do it before they weee spayed, if that makes sense. When you say mellow out - what is her behaviour like then?

She can be quite aggressive and territorial. She will often lunge if you walk past her and has on occasion put her teeth on my hand (not enough to really hurt or break skin).

She is also friendly (when she wants to be) and will seek out affection.

She does seem to be grooming more than normal but i assumed this was because she was moulting.

 

[Popsicles]

Does she have a space that is her own? It might help if you teach her what is her area so she can protect that but not be mean all the time.
It is possible that the bald patches are due to overgrooming, which could be a boredom behaviour, but if it is restricted to the dewlap that is less likely than false pregnancy. Is she exhibiting any nesting behaviour?

 

[JBun]

If it's not just normal molting and she's actually pulling it out, this behavior can sometimes be due to a health issue such as fur mites, skin infection, underlying pain issue. Stress can also trigger unusual behavioral changes. Stress from environmental changes/conditions, or strange sounds or smells.

If molting and stress are ruled out, it may be a good idea to take your bun into your rabbit savvy vet for a check up.