A big ball of fur on the neck?

[Thumperina]

My older female rabbit, Thumperina (10 months old, gave birth 3 months ago, not spayed), looks strange. On her neck, right under her chin, there is a big ball of fur - much more than anywhere else.
My friend who had rabbits said her rabbits used to look the same sometimes.
What could this be?

 

[woahlookitsme]

It is called a dewlap. Most common in females but can appear in males also. Some rabbits are more prone to have them and some can get them because they are overweight. It is really just a fold of skin right under the chin. If it is just fur then it's technically not a dewlap

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat:

 

[Thumperina]

Thank you! So it does not indicate that anything is wrong?
I think it is a fold of skin. She is not overweight. Actually I am worried about her condition. First, we didn't know she was pregnant so she didn't get any special diet when she was pregnant. Then, we discovered she got babies when they were 2-3 weeks old. I was gone for vacation, and my husband just took a very basic care of the parent buns. Only when we discovered the babies, I got her special food for lactating rabbits.
She never eaten hay well. She was eating alfalfa well while she was nursing.
We kept 2 children. They still get alfalfa but as e keep them all together, mom is still eating alfalfa (I know it's bad). I bought her flavored timothy hay (with mint, carrots, hibiscus, etc) but she is not eating it.
I just recently noticed that when I bring the food (normally 2 bowls per 4 rabbits) or tray with veggies, and they all run into it, she just steps aside (probably thinking "Oh lord I am tired of all of you stealing my food"). I try to feed her separately when I can.
She is also a very stubborn picky eater. The Parents still refusing to eat sherwood forest food for adult rabbits.
I would say that her nutrition has been pretty compromised due to all the factors above. She is the worst looking rabbit out of 4. Her fur doesn't look pretty. She also getting smaller in size, but the ball of fur looks bigger.

What could you suggest? Different pellets? I am going to try orchard or some other grass hay, whatever I can buy.

Those of you who have a lot of rabbits --- do you feed them separately?

 

[Imbrium]

it took a month for my bunns to stop shunning the sherwood - they like the sugar in other pellets. not having pellets is fine as long as they're getting lots of veggies... but if she's losing weight and you're really worried, you may need to give up on the sherwood if it's been more than 4-6 weeks. oxbow does have the sugars in it that sherwood lacks, but I'd consider it the second healthiest pellet.

the purpose of the dewlap is to give them something to pull extra hair from when they're making a nest for their babies.

while buying small bags of hay is an expensive way to go in the long run, it can be good for figuring out what kind of hay is a hit. petsmart had numerous types including orchard grass and oat hay the last time I was there.

or if you have a feed store nearby that sells numerous types of grass hay, you might be able to get some samples for free, too - I was at one yesterday to buy alfalfa and asked about getting some samples of their grass hays. the guy gave me a plastic bag and told me to just pull a little bit off some bales free of charge.

 

[Thumperina]

Imbrium wrote:

the purpose of the dewlap is to give them something to pull extra hair from when they're making a nest for their babies

Can it indicate pregnancy?

 

[woahlookitsme]

No it cannot. And actually I have only experienced rabbits pulling fur from their bellies near the teats and their hind end.

Like I said some breeds are prone to get ones (like the Californian and the New Zealand) and some breeds are disqualified from show if they develop one (like Tans and Polish).

I really don't think there is a purpose for a dewlap other than being an identifier that you probably have a doe