Moulting= grumpy bunny?

[angoragrl]

All three of my crew are moulting pretty bad right now. Henri and Lilly seem to be taking it in stride (it takes a LOT more then moulting to get Henri worked up!) but Acorn is another story all together!! He has been chasing everyone around the house and charging at us. I can handle it and so can Matt but I am worried that he is going to royally p** off one of the kitties and get swiped at for it. I can't think of anything else that has changed. Henri and him are still living together but they are getting along fine and he isn't charging at Henri, it's me and the cats he is charging.

I feel so bad for him too because he looks quite funny. I know that Henri gets wired spots when he moults but I didn't really expect Acorn to. He doesn't have any bald spots or anything but it is really obvious where he has already shed and where he is still shedding. I have been brushing him pretty much everyday and he doesn't mind that at all.

Is this normal behavior for a moulting bunner or is there likely something else here I am missing?

 

[kirst3buns]

I don't have a lot of experience with this but one of mine, my mini-rex Basil, gets quite grumpy when moulting. Maybe it depends on the bunny. My other one just takes it in stride.

 

[Little Bay Poo]

Ok, I have no idea but I will offer a completely random guess!

From a couple of other threads didn't people say that rabbits moult when there are a lot of temperature changes going on? So could it be that he is grumpy with the changing weather/temperature...maybe it's throwing his body out of whack and he is behaving aggressively as a result?

 

[tamsin]

House rabbits tend to moult about randomly because there aren't be seasonal differences.

You can help by brushing several times a day with a fine toothed comb to get as much fur out as possible. If it's coming out in tufts just pull it with your fingers!

I haven't noticed any of mine being grumpy with moulting. Is he neutered? Moults often happen with weather changes which can effect behaviour as they also mean spring is in the air

 

[naturestee]

I know Loki gets depressed when he's molting, and Mocha sometimes gets more angry. Also, Loki gets a bitum... randy in spring even though he's been neutered for years. So it could be both the molting and the season change affecting his mood.

Are you feeding them pumpkin? Loki usually is more happy and active while molting if I feed him some canned pumpkin every day. It just helps get all that fur through his system which must be making him uncomfortable.

I do find it amusing that the angoras are fine but the short furred bun is upset!

 

[angoragrl]

naturestee wrote:

I do find it amusing that the angoras are fine but the short furred bun is upset!

I know!!!! I can't get over that! They are losing hair in tufts all over the place too! Acorns' shedding isn't as bad, not losing it in tufts or anything.

I think part of the reason he has been charging me may be that I have been handfeeding them all their greens lately and they have been getting extra greens because they are molting. He loves his greens (especially the parsley!) and he has always been somewhat food agressive. Maybe he is charging me looking for more yummy food? Although that wouldn't explain him charging at the cats.

I have had the windows open lately and it has definately been a little warmer in the house then it was before, not much, but that was probably enough to trigger them to all shed at the same time. . . the cats are too of course so I am drowning in hair!

He is neutered so hormones shouldn't be the issue but it was also only done 6 weeks ago so he may have some left over hormones making him a little crazy.