Normal shedding or losing hair?

[natschu]

Max is 7.5 months old now and is going through his autumn-winter shed. Ive been brushing him everyday and manage to get a good amount out, most of it from his scruff and mid-back. He started out moulting with darker patches on his head then back which looked a bit concerning at first. Today, i took out a good tangled bit on his back and when i moved the fur around, I could see his skin quite a lot. It has never been this thin to the point where I could see his skin before, and it's only on this one spot that is like this. Is this normal or is he losing fur from mites or something else?
Pic 1: shedding pattern
Pic 2: concerning skin spot
Pic 3: what it usually looks like

 

[Mariam+Theo]

I think it is normal molting, but I would double-check and make sure there are no mites in his fur and that his skin is not flaky.

 

[natschu]

I think it is normal molting, but I would double-check and make sure there are no mites in his fur and that his skin is not flaky.

Thanks so much! Booked a vet appointment. What causes mites? We're in Canada and he hasn't been in contact with anything outside or with other buns in about 7 months now.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

I don't think this is worth a vet visit since you can check your rabbit's fur at home and avoid your rabbit getting stressed out from the visit. Sometimes hay brings in mites.

 

[natschu]

I don't think this is worth a vet visit since you can check your rabbit's fur at home and avoid your rabbit getting stressed out from the visit. Sometimes hay brings in mites.

Okay that makes sense. I'm worried if it might be an internal issue (mange/burrowing mites or something). I haven't seen any flakes or dandruff looking things on him yet.

 

[JBun]

If the skin is normal and pink with no signs of flaking, scaling, flea dirt, or irritation, it's likely to be normal molting. Some rabbits shed more heavily than others, some will shed more at certain times of the year than at other times.
MediRabbit (molting patterns in rabbits)

Medirabbit (fur loss in rabbits)

 

[natschu]

If the skin is normal and pink with no signs of flaking, scaling, flea dirt, or irritation, it's likely to be normal molting. Some rabbits shed more heavily than others, some will shed more at certain times of the year than at other times.
MediRabbit (molting patterns in rabbits)

Medirabbit (fur loss in rabbits)

Thank you so much!! That helps a lot ))

 

[Catlyn]

I wouldn't worry about his fur becoming patchy if there is visually nothing wrong with the skin. Just keep an eye on the patch every so often and soon you should see new short hairs emerging from the middle of that thing.
This is how one of my rabbits moults too.

 

[Catlyn]

I personally wouldn't worry about it right now since the skin looks perfectly fine so far.
It appears that your bun just moults like that.
Storm also moults like that, so you can just keep an eye on it to see when the new fur will grow in.
The first pic should show the difference between the moulted area and the old fur,
The second one shows a bunch of new fur in a place that had been moulting bald before.
Storm isn't cooperative with photoshoots and my phone cam sucks so sorry for the bad quality!

Edit: sorry for the almost double post! My phone crashed and deleted my initial reply..

 

[natschu]

I personally wouldn't worry about it right now since the skin looks perfectly fine so far.
It appears that your bun just moults like that.
Storm also moults like that, so you can just keep an eye on it to see when the new fur will grow in.
The first pic should show the difference between the moulted area and the old fur,
The second one shows a bunch of new fur in a place that had been moulting bald before.
Storm isn't cooperative with photoshoots and my phone cam sucks so sorry for the bad quality!
View attachment 51831View attachment 51832
Edit: sorry for the almost double post! My phone crashed and deleted my initial reply..

that's so cute and super helpful thanks! what breed is storm??

 

[Catlyn]

Oh he's a pirebreed french lop! You can see more of him in our introductions tab! The date was around 6th of june if you're interested!