Molting or Heatlh Issue?!

[Ashley B]

My Male Rex rabbit of almost 2 years, is shedding! And I mean Realllyyyy Shedding!! I can pet him and a handful of fur comes off!! I looked it up and it says "molting" near fall?? :?

My rabbit looks like this! but only the white spots are actually coming off in tuffs and pieces?!! What is happening!!!!??? :shock:
I am reallyyy concerned! My sister, who doesn't even like my bunny is also concerned and says it does not look normal!!! Please list options on how i can stop this or what else it might be!!!

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

Hey Ashley,

I have the same exact problem with my rabbit She is 17 months old and she's a female Holland lop rabbit. Recently she has been shedding like crazy like clumps of hair come off when I brush her. She also has a bald spot on her back. I looked it up and i'm pretty sure it's just a bad molt. Just brush him a few times a day to avoid him swallowing a lot of hair wich could lead to him getting a hairball. Here's a website you can go to if you want more info: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/furloss.html

Hope this helped and good luck! (If you would like me to post a picture of my rabbit so you can compare my rabbit to yours I would love to)

Kylie

 

[Ashley B]

Thanks That helped a lot! I'll start brushing him right away!!

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

Here is a pic of my rabbit's fur She has a small bald spot on her back and she is growing darker and thinker fur next to the bald spot

 

[Ellie]

That picture doesn't work uLuvMyLilBuns

Buster molted for THREE and a half weeks! He finally finished a few days ago... thank goodness. It freaked me out too because giant chunks would come out. I find it better to just search for "loose hairs" and a lot of the time you can pull it a few times and big chunks come out. (Lightly pull of course )
I'll tell ya though, not looking forward to the next molt! Phew.

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

What do you mean the picture doesn't work?

 

[Ashley B]

Thanks! Ijust feel so bad for my bun cuz he doesnt seem to be happy with his fur on every thjng near him!!! ha! Well lets hope it ends soon!

 

[Imbrium]

pic works fine for me

rabbits molt every 3 months and it alternates between really light and really heavy molts. between this site and poking around the "pets - other" section of ask.com, I can't tell you how many "help, my rabbit's hair is coming out in huge clumps!" posts I've seen in the last couple weeks - it's absolutely nothing to be concerned about

just groom him at least 1-2x daily - brushing, lint rollers and wetting your hands/running them over the bunny are all good ways to collect excess hair in order to minimize how much hair is ingested when your bunny grooms himself. (they can get hairballs and, unlike cats, can't barf them up so it can cause a blockage if you don't help out with grooming)

 

[Ellie]

I'm not sure if this is scientifically correct in any way or not... but when Buster was molting I fed him fewer greens and pellets, to make him focus on eating more hay. This is because I read that it helps with digestion, so I figured if he keeps eating lots of it he'll keep digesting properly. (At least more properly than if he was eating more greens, etc.)

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, the hay is extra important for keeping the GI system going during a molt... but ofc the best prevention is still to minimize the amount of hair that makes it in there

 

[nc_bunnys]

That is a beautiful Mr Rex bunny. He looks identical to my Rudy. It is shedding season. We will brush, brush until we find the bunny under all that fur.