Black crust all over fur

[kolina]

Mr Bunny Love is a 10 year old dwarf bunny who has full access to my yard. About 4 months ago I noticed that he had crust around his mount from grapes and then i noticed that his top teeth were growing inside his bottom teeth and a rabbit groomer friend showed me how to trim his teeth. Problem solved - his teeth seem to be wearing down normally again. Then about 2 months ago I noticed that his fur was crusty - almost like he had flower nectar or somethingall over himself and i thought he wasn't grooming himself well because of his age. When i brushed and furminated him the towel he was on was covered (really covered) in black grit - like fine sand. His skin did not have scabs and it wasn't red. i wasn't able to get it all off but made a big effort. He is covered again and this grit is all the way down to his skin not just on the top but he is not scratching and he doesn't have scabs. Any ideas?

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Sounds like he is not grooming himself. I took care of an older rabbit for awhile who also did not groom. Vet said he had arthritis and put him on tramadol. He groomed after that

 

[pamnock]

Black sandy grit on the skin can be a sign of fleas (dried blood). Check for live fleas.

 

[kolina]

Thanks for your response but that's what's so weird - no fleas.

I thought mites but he doesn't have crusty eyes or ears - just this dried stickiness that seems to have penetrated to his skin. When i groom him it falls off him like dirt but there is so much of it that i have to really comb him to get it from down to his skin.
He's pretty patient - let's me comb him for 20 minutes or so but then he's done. So i can't get it all. So puzzled :?

 

[funnybunnymummy]

My first thought was flea dirt too. Maybe try treating him for fleas/mites and see if that helps? Sometimes you can't always see thefleas, but you'd think if he was that covered, you'd see them.

Either way, I'd probably get him seen by a rabbit savvy vet.

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[kolina]

Thanks to all for your feedback - i will have to take him to a vet and will let you all know what the problem is.

 

[tonyshuman]

If you take a bit of the dust and put a drop of water on it, it will dissolve if it is flea dirt. It will turn the water red if it is flea dirt. Otherwise it could just be plain old dirt, or maybe some other mite.

 

[kolina]

Thanks for your input and I am going to treat him for fleas just to rule that out because I did put some of the dirt into water and it definately turned red and all the "dirt" dissolved - but how could he be so covered in flea dirt without any fleas? And also, aren't the fleas that a rabbit gets the same type of flea that infests cats? And dogs? Because i have a 70 pound rough coat collie - no fleas and 5 cats - no fleas. I will let you all know if the advantage helps.

 

[tonyshuman]

The fleas could just jump away before you can see them. They are the same type of fleas. No idea why just the one has them.

 

[kolina]

thanks again, another thing that is weird about the dirt other than the volume is that he doesn't have any scabs. I have a concern - I live in southern california and he has always lived outdoors with an open hutch and free access to my yard. He is losing fur while i comb him and winter is coming.Has anyone had experience with wet bathing the entire bunny - i am really concerned. it is still very warm here - 80+ during the day but what about the shock to his system and all that?

And as i hope it is fleas, cause i can treat that, i am afraid it is something else. When I combed him yesterday i had him ona white towel and you know how you can see fleas if they fall onto white and then they sort of hop around - i didn't see any - not one and the amount of stickiness is huge so that the infestation wouldn't be one or two but hundreds.I have had several large flea infestations with my cats and i know they hop off the animals and bite.i think i might keep him in his hutch after grooming him and see if it is environmental or what

 

[pamnock]

Adult fleas don't always reside on the animal - they may be in the bedding,carpet, etc. They are especially difficult to find if the rabbit is dark.



Rabbits can get the same type of flea that infests cats/dogs (which are the fleas preference). It's far less common for rabbits to get fleas - but I've seen it a couple of times.

 

[tonyshuman]

It's usually not recommended to bathe the whole bunny, especially with the heat differential. I wouldn't try it. I'd just give him the anti-flea med you choose and let him clean himself. Since you have other animals, you could get Revolution or Advantage for the cats and give the bunny the kitten dosage of it. I would treat all the animals, even if you don't see stuff on them, and replace or clean all bedding or hay piles like Pam mentioned. I've found it's much more common to find flea dirt than live fleas (on cats). Usually the fleas stay very well hidden or get off the animal so quickly you don't notice they have left.

 

[kolina]

Thanks again to everyone for your input.
Update - voila Mr Bunny Love has fleas - i found them on him and in his nesting box. Soooooo, advantage for eveyone, clean litter, and diatmaceous earth in the corners and on the ground below his hutch. Now, i have found dead fleas galore (Yuck!) and am getting a handle on it. I will be reapplying the advantage all around in about 10 days and i hope that this will solve the problem

New question that i might post elsewhere as well, but when i used the furminator on Mr Bunny Love, i ended up pulling out fur and now he has some thin spots - i worry that he will be cold this winter - i will probably provide him indoor sleeping at night but are there bunny tee shirts or sweaters? and do they try to eat them?