Sudden baldness over right eye

[Henxy]

This morning, I went out to feed my bunnies. I put them back in their hutch at about 10:30 last night, and they were all fine.

This morning, Chester has a bald strip (but eyelashes still present) just over his right eye. There is no redness, no apparent infection, and he doesn't flinch when I touch it. The other buns seem fine, and it doesn't look like they have been fighting.

Can anyone help as to what may have caused this, please?

 

[pamnock]

Hard to guess as to what might have happened. Could have injured himself in the cage somehow, or the fur could have been chewed off by another rabbit. Check the entire cage and feed dishes for hair where the rabbit could have scraped the fur off.

Pam

 

[Haley]

I would just keep an eye on him and the other bunnies. A lot of bunnies will overgroom one another, especially around the face it seems.

My Lucy lost a lot of hair around her eyes when her bf, Mr. Tumnus, was overgrooming her.

 

[Henxy]

Thanks for your replies.

It seems he is being over-groomed at/near his eye by Poppy.

How can I stop her doing this? Should I separate them whilst his hair grows back, or should I leave them together?

I don't want him to suffer, by being left with an excessively-licky friend, nor to suffer by being isolated from her.

PLEASE HELP!

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

If another rabbit is "over grooming" a certain spot, it is usually a sign of infection. We have seen several rabbits become "nurses" especially with eye infections and will lick the area like crazy. Just a thought and something we have seen from time to time. Maybe something to look closely at. Animals have a way of knowing things before we see the signs. Maybe a scratced cornea or something like that. May be totally out of bounds here (and it's been a long day but I'm not crazy yet)....but we have seen that type of activity many times.

Randy

 

[rabb1tmad]

Randy, I think you're onto something there. I have seen myrabbits nurse each other like this.

If the bald patch has appeared suddenly it is unlikely to have been caused byovergrooming but I suppose it is still possible.Keep an eye on Chester though, just in case but I wouldn't separate them.

 

[Henxy]

Hi everyone.

I've taken a couple of pics to show you what has happened to Chester's skin above his eye.

It looks swollen in the pics, but is not.

 

[Haley]

When I look at the first pic, I see a few bumps over the eye. Im wondering if maybe this is some sort of infection or maybe even mites?

Hows he doing now? It might be good to take him to the vets if its still like that.