is it shedding time?

[sha10ly88]

Its been quite long that this is happening.When I pet my rabbits, I can see lots of their fur floating in the air. However, I dont see that their fur get thinner. Could it be the food? I have change their food early this month.But if its their shedding time, how long will this be? What can I do to reduce the condition. I'm living in an apartment and having fur everywhere really annoys my folks.

By the way, my rabbits are both dwarf breeds and are feeding on Vitakraftfood brand.Apart from that, theyeat greens as their treatsonce in a while.

 

[Flashy]

Do your rabbits have hay as well?

Can you maybe post a picture of the food that you use and also put down the nutritional information from the bag?

It could easily be moulting time (I know it is in my house), but if it coincides with a food change then it is worth looking at that as a possible cause too.

Has anything else changed in their world?

You can brush them to get rid of excess fur, or, if it's REALLY falling out, you can gently 'pluck' where the fur is falling out.

Having said all that there are other reasons besides diet and moulting time that could account for rabbits losing fur, such as fur mites.

Is there any dandruff on the skin? Are they itching more? Can you see new fur regrowth?

 

[sha10ly88]

My rabbits doesnt eat hay so I have stopped giving them very long time ago. I spoilt my phone camera so cant get to take pictures of the food and my rabbits. Meanwhile heres a link of the food i got for my bunnies.

http://chovatel.com/eshop/image/VKLifepowerfoodrabbits600g.jpg

 

[Flashy]

Rabbits should always have hay available. This may be their problem. what makes you think they don't eat any of it?

 

[hartleybun]

Flashy wrote:

It could easily be moulting time (I know it is in my house),

roxy is moulting again. i had her checked out last week when she was having her mixi booster. no change in diet and no mites etc. a clean bill of health. vet thinks it could be weather related:rollseyes my choc labs are also moulting more than usual - am not getting the main spring moult anymore.

im using a lint roller on roxy as rex fur is very floaty (?!! sorry for poor use of language).

 

[sha10ly88]

Relax there.

I used to give them hay and I have stopped so many many months ago which made me think that that shouldnt be the cause. Reason is because a packet of timothy hay cost me a lot here and I am a student. If you are going to say "then dont keep a rabbit", well the rabbit belongs to my stubborn little sister and I am helping her taking care of the bunnies. I hope that explains.

Maybe I am wrong to say that my buns dont eat hays even when I see the hay in the cage the same as weeks before and even when I tried put one infront of their mouth they just look away.

Well ... I am not a good bunny caretaker and I am trying to do my best.

 

[Flashy]

hartleybun wrote:

Flashy wrote:

It could easily be moulting time (I know it is in my house),

roxy is moulting again. i had her checked out last week when she was having her mixi booster. no change in diet and no mites etc. a clean bill of health. vet thinks it could be weather related:rollseyes my choc labs are also moulting more than usual - am not getting the main spring moult anymore.

im using a lint roller on roxy as rex fur is very floaty (?!! sorry for poor use of language).

Yes, I think the weather has made mine crazy too. The amount I can pluck out of them (and see the new furgrowth underneath) is ridiculous. I'm not sure that would apply over in Malaysia though or it would have been my first suggestion.

The weather has a lot to answer for!

 

[sha10ly88]

Flashy wrote:

hartleybun wrote:

Flashy wrote:

It could easily be moulting time (I know it is in my house),

roxy is moulting again. i had her checked out last week when she was having her mixi booster. no change in diet and no mites etc. a clean bill of health. vet thinks it could be weather related:rollseyes my choc labs are also moulting more than usual - am not getting the main spring moult anymore.

im using a lint roller on roxy as rex fur is very floaty (?!! sorry for poor use of language).

Yes, I think the weather has made mine crazy too. The amount I can pluck out of them (and see the new furgrowth underneath) is ridiculous. I'm not sure that would apply over in Malaysia though or it would have been my first suggestion.

The weather has a lot to answer for!

Ohh ... theres someone from Malaysia here??

 

[kirbyultra]

Not judging either way but my two cents on the hay not being eaten:

It could be the quality of the hay? Buns sometimes are very particular about what they eat and they'll eat only minimally if they don't like what is offered. Mine did that until I changed brand of hay which was less dry and softer. Then he ate it up like a monster.
It could be the size of the pieces of hay...my big bun won't eat perfectly good quality hay just because the strands of hay were too small. He likes his hay long and eats them like noodles one by one.
Hay is important ...I understand we all have personal constraints ...

 

[sha10ly88]

Alrite .... so its the hay?
Is there anything that can replace the hay?
Anyway ... I'm still looking for the nutritional information. THe one written on the packet is not in english.

 

[Flashy]

I'm not necessarily saying it's the hay. I'm actually more inclined to think it's that food however really anything that is said here is purely speculation based on what you're saying.

Why is it they don't eat the hay?

Can you explain your feeding schedule (how much and when and when)?

The muesli mixes are generally not that healthy for rabbits because they don't have all the right nutrition for them. This makes me wonder if your rabbits are nutritionally deficient.

Are you free feeding them this mix? If you do then that can be a reason why they don't eat hay. Muesli mixes are like giving sweets, so if you feed it in unlimited amounts that is like unlimited sweets and like with children, they will always choose the sweets as opposed to what they actually need.

Ideally rabbits need a diet of 80-90% grass hays (but there are a wide variety of hays out there that you can try). some rabbits can't eat hay for medical reasons (such as dental problems, etc), some rabbits choose not to but most can be coaxed round with some effort and time.

 

[sha10ly88]

Flashy wrote:

I'm not necessarily saying it's the hay. I'm actually more inclined to think it's that food however really anything that is said here is purely speculation based on what you're saying.

Why is it they don't eat the hay?

Can you explain your feeding schedule (how much and when and when)?

The muesli mixes are generally not that healthy for rabbits because they don't have all the right nutrition for them. This makes me wonder if your rabbits are nutritionally deficient.

Are you free feeding them this mix? If you do then that can be a reason why they don't eat hay. Muesli mixes are like giving sweets, so if you feed it in unlimited amounts that is like unlimited sweets and like with children, they will always choose the sweets as opposed to what they actually need.

Ideally rabbits need a diet of 80-90% grass hays (but there are a wide variety of hays out there that you can try). some rabbits can't eat hay for medical reasons (such as dental problems, etc), some rabbits choose not to but most can be coaxed round with some effort and time.

What is muesli mixes?

Mmm ... Sorry if i sound emotional. I just realised that.

Well... my bunsgets 2mealsa day. For mommy rabbit, she gets 2 table spoon of Vitakraft Power every meal while her son gets a table spoon every meal. Thats makes two table spoon for son a day and 4 table spoons for mom a day.

Other times when I play with them, give them green veg as their treats. Not alot but maybe just a stem for each. Sorry ... I dont really know how to explain this right.

 

[Flashy]

Sorry for not explaining. Muesli mixes are the mixes with the mutlicoloured bits in, with different things like seeds, little biscuits, sunflower seeds, etc.

Rabbits need to have access to food 24/7, which is partly where the hay is so important. If you are only giving them two small feeds a day then I am thinking they may be undernourished which is causing this.

What happens if you give them hay?

 

[sha10ly88]

Flashy wrote:

Sorry for not explaining. Muesli mixes are the mixes with the mutlicoloured bits in, with different things like seeds, little biscuits, sunflower seeds, etc.

Rabbits need to have access to food 24/7, which is partly where the hay is so important. If you are only giving them two small feeds a day then I am thinking they may be undernourished which is causing this.

What happens if you give them hay?

Aha .... I just saw above replies that says that hays that are too dry sometimes are not eaten. The hays I give my buns are dry. I have seen the hays that are not too dry and thought that those cant be 'real' hays. How stupid.

When I give them hays, at first they just ignore then next they start messing it around and play digging.

 

[Flashy]

I wonder if it might be worth trying different hays with them. the fact they are messing about with them is good.

Dry, dusty hay is not going to be very nice to eat, especially when they are not used to it.

It might be worth looking at these sites to see some hay variety. You're ideally looking for grass hay. alfalfa hay can be given but is not advisable for those over 6 months.

http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/pr...5001078E2FA2B080194FFF0980.vipa-07b?node=1517

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hay...6+Herbs.36/?osCsid=prff100m822q1gs3skgrrna010

I also want to add that before I knew better I fed one of mine in a similar way to how you are feeding yours, (no hay, and a muesli mix) and she ended up going into stasis and dying (this was prompted by some very wrong vet treatment but I have always thought that had she been stronger and been on a good diet then she would have survived). I would hate for that, or something similar, to happen to any of yours.

 

[sha10ly88]

I'll work on that.
Gonna get hays that are less dry...

 

[kirbyultra]

My "dry" timothy hay was very pale yellow and it was very stiff with lots of stems. So hard, dry and stiff that just dealing with it cut my hand sometimes from the pointy ends. I didn't know that that was anything the matter with them because it was my first time feeding hay and first time having a rabbit. But now that I've seen more hay variety, fresh soft timothy hay (generally 2nd cut) is a fresh almost bright green. Dusty hay looks duller in color if it's been covered by dust, but if it's really bad you can actually see all the powdery hay dust flying all over when you handle it. Older hay sometimes looks brownish, and you'll often see some brown bits mixed in any bag of hay. My buns automatically pick those out and don't eat the brown at all, so I don't have to bother picking it out for them.

Softer hay is preferred by some bunnies because it's so much easier to chew.

Whether lack of hay is the cause of the shedding -- well, that I have no idea.

 

[sha10ly88]

I've just got oxbow timothy hay. I think thats the name. I wanted to make the hays available to my buns all the time but then I notice weird behaviours.

I put the hays in a bowl. Coco( he is 7 months old) finish up the hays each time i fill the bowl. i filled the bowl twice. Whereas, his mom (about a year plus old) seems normal with hays. She does eat them but doesnt finish them up like Coco does.

Before i left them to sleep, I filled the hays in Mommy's bowl. Just hers. I felt that Coco doesnt seem to stop eating. Is that normal? Anyway... a while later, I check on them again. Coco looks fine whereas Mommy kinda hyper. She messed the whole cage. She was sniffing on the door of her cage with hays in her mouth. Is she on heat or something? Shes going to get sterilized late August. Thats the earliest I cld get. I really dont understand Mommy's behaviour. Oh ya ... i felt her tummy and it felt ...soft or i should say half firm. Should i be worried?

 

[Flashy]

Rabbits are grazers so they eat all the time, and so the more hay he eats the better really that's really great he is stuffing so much in. that probably gives you an indication that he was very hungry in between meals.

Rabbits don't get 'on heat' per se in the same way that other animals do. however it may be the excitement may have done this, or it may coincide with a false pregnancy, or she may just want to hoard the hay because its something new and exciting.

I would just keep giving them unlimited hay and see how they go.

Is there any chance she could actually be pregnant?

 

[sha10ly88]

Flashy wrote:

Rabbits are grazers so they eat all the time, and so the more hay he eats the better really that's really great he is stuffing so much in. that probably gives you an indication that he was very hungry in between meals.

Rabbits don't get 'on heat' per se in the same way that other animals do. however it may be the excitement may have done this, or it may coincide with a false pregnancy, or she may just want to hoard the hay because its something new and exciting.

I would just keep giving them unlimited hay and see how they go.

Is there any chance she could actually be pregnant?

That was what I ask myself... "could she be pregnant?"

She can't be. Shes never let outplaying with Coco. Shes never near any male rabbit. She had a false pregnancy bout 2 months or a month ago. Becos of that, i became even more cautious about her and Coco becos they are both not sterilized yet.

I should read up more on hays. The more hays the better ... mmm

Would yousuggest that i should stop on the muesli mixes that you said yesterday?