My bunny stopped grooming

[HopeFellShort]

She stays with my parents while I'm away at school which has been a month and I've just come home for the first time this weekend, so it's been about a month since I've seen my dear little Trixie.

Well, she's looking a little rough in that it looks like she quit grooming herself. And when I pet her, it's like a whole bunny's worth of fur comes off her. She has tuffs of fur sticking out on her haunches and her face. I pulled some of it off until she got frustrated with me and hopped away.

What could this be a cause of? She got spayed about 2 weeks before I left for school a month ago and she was eating this horrible food stuff my step dad got from Wal-Mart, but has recently been put back on her normal pellets.

Could it be the food?
Could it be the spay?

I'm sorry if the answer is obvious, but this is my first bunny and I've always read that they keep themselves extremely clean and I've had her for almost a year and she's NEVER looked like this.

 

[jupiterannette]

Just my oppinion..

sounds like she missed you.

 

[MsBinky]

Sadly, it will take a while before the effects of the crappy food disappear... WalMart food is especially crappy and their coats suffer badly.

So my opinion is that the food (and probably along with the stress of you being gone and still recovering from the spay) is causing it.

Please tell your father Walmart is no place to get rabbit food.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

There are a couple reasons this could be going on.

1) Time of year: It's around the time that most bunnies (even indoor bunnies) start to moult to get ready for winter. Its a natural occurance that doesn't depend on whether your rabbit is indoor or out.

2) Changing foodcan also cause a rabbit to go into a moult. All 4 of minewent into a moultwhen I changed foods.

3) She may be a little stressed at the change with you not around, and rabbits will moult when stressed.

What needs to be done is a good brushing. She may look unkept, but it doesn't actually mean she stopped grooming. Chances are she hasn't unless she is actually dirty, she is just moulting so bad that you can't tell. The problem with this is if she ingests a tuft of hair, it can cause a blockage, so grooming is extremely important right now.

 

[naturestee]

:yeahthat:

Lots of bunnies are molting right now. Usually they molt with the seasons, but my baby girl Mocha didn't have much of a real molt until she was about a year old or so. They shed tons, and it will often come out in big chunks. You can gently pull those loose chunks of fur out. It's a fast way to get a lot of fur off of her. Then give her a good all-over grooming.

Here's a good thread on grooming rabbits:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28114&forum_id=17

 

[HopeFellShort]

Thank y'all so much for your help! And believe me, my step dad now knows to never get her any food except what she's already on. It was that stuff that has bunch of corn and sunflower seeds (you know, the filler stuff) and barely any pellets. She's not dirty in the least, just lots of tuffs everywhere. I'll be sure to groom her before I leave tomorrow. Thank y'all so much again

 

[MsBinky]

To know whether it's an actual moult or if it caused by the food, I believe a good indicator would be the color. If the coat is much duller than it usually is I would bet on the food. Either way, proper diet and lots of love and care will be the solution to the problem and your bun should be as gorgeous as ever in no time

 

[Flashy]

MsBinky wrote:

To know whether it's an actual moult or if it caused by the food, I believe a good indicator would be the color. If the coat is much duller than it usually is I would bet on the food. Either way, proper diet and lots of love and care will be the solution to the problem and your bun should be as gorgeous as ever in no time

Ours always seem to get a duller coat, but it's not due to food, it seems to be due to the sun bleaching their fur, so whilst this may be an indication, it's not a definite occurance. (if that makes any sort of sense, lol)

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I agree with all of what has been said - it could be a lot of things - probably all of them have contributed.

Brush her gently and see about better food for her.

 

[Pipp]

As per the link provided, a great grooming method for molting bunnies is the 'wet hands rubdown' approach.

Many rabbits don't like brushing, and many brushes don't remove a lot of hair. But sitting with your rabbit, a roll of paper towels and a bowl of water might be the ticket. I just keep wetting my hands and rubbing my rabbits.

Works wonders. (I try some 'plucking' as well, but Pipp especially hates this,she acts like I'm killing her).

"I is not a chicken!!"

sas :biggrin2: