Excessive amount of fur in hutch, help

[Bubba&Pumpkin]

As you can tell by the images attached I found an incredible amount of fur in my rabbits hutch, this hutch was only cleaned out the day before so this is from 24 hours. I have found the odd bit of fur here and there before but never clumps and to the extent that it could fill a bag!

Let me know what you all think about this, the reasonings behind it and what I should do!

Background of my rabbits:
- My rabbits are from the same litter born on the 22nd October 2017 (9 months old) and have been kept together from then until now.
- They live in a hutch outside that is 224cm(W) × 82cm(D) × 144cm(H) along with outside the hutch time twice a day in a
235cm(D) × 700cm(W) fenced area, they’re abit spoilt for space for outdoor buns.
- They are not spayed, previously talked to the vet about it and they were reluctant as they are both females.
- both female Mini Lops.

 

[Joyce Guardado]

Some bunnies will slowly shed
When one of my first bunnies went into a full shed I thought he was dying of cancer with large bald patches and clumps of hair everywhere.
Because you have 2 in the hutch check for any marks scratches etc.
Once bunnies reach sexual maturity they can be aggressive.
With females you will get a much longer life if spayed they tend to get uterine cancers when not spayed
Make sure the vet you use for spaying is very familiar with bunnies
Just a few things I have learned along the way

 

[JBun]

Are you absolutely positive they're both females? That's nest building behavior there, so you either have a pregnant female or one of them could be experiencing a false pregnancy. In which case it will pass and the nesting behavior will usually stop until the next false pregnancy.

If there's a chance one of them is a male and you have a pregnant bun, I would make sure there is plenty of hay and a box she can build her nest in. I would also check regularly for the next few days to make sure no babies show up. If she does have babies and you don't want her getting immediately pregnant again, you will need to separate the male right away. Does can get pregnant right after delivering their litter.

 

[Bubba&Pumpkin]

Some bunnies will slowly shed
When one of my first bunnies went into a full shed I thought he was dying of cancer with large bald patches and clumps of hair everywhere.
Because you have 2 in the hutch check for any marks scratches etc.
Once bunnies reach sexual maturity they can be aggressive.
With females you will get a much longer life if spayed they tend to get uterine cancers when not spayed
Make sure the vet you use for spaying is very familiar with bunnies
Just a few things I have learned along the way

Thank you so much for commenting, I’ve given them both a check over and they seem to fine. Getting them into the vet within the next few days for a consultation about spaying them both. Thank you again for the help.

 

[Bubba&Pumpkin]

Are you absolutely positive they're both females? That's nest building behavior there, so you either have a pregnant female or one of them could be experiencing a false pregnancy. In which case it will pass and the nesting behavior will usually stop until the next false pregnancy.

If there's a chance one of them is a male and you have a pregnant bun, I would make sure there is plenty of hay and a box she can build her nest in. I would also check regularly for the next few days to make sure no babies show up. If she does have babies and you don't want her getting immediately pregnant again, you will need to separate the male right away. Does can get pregnant right after delivering their litter.

I’ve honestly always thought one was a male as it was always more dominant and larger than my other bun. I got my vet to double check for me a couple months ago and he said they were both females. Thank you so much for the help and advice, will be on the look out!!

 

[Sophia]

One might be pregnant if ones a boy and how much do they weigh

 

[North]

My neutered male lop looks very similar to your bunny and sheds a ton. More at certain times of the year. One time I put a pile of his fur next to him in the cage and joked I had a 2nd bunny!

 

[Lawren]

As you can tell by the images attached I found an incredible amount of fur in my rabbits hutch, this hutch was only cleaned out the day before so this is from 24 hours. I have found the odd bit of fur here and there before but never clumps and to the extent that it could fill a bag!

Let me know what you all think about this, the reasonings behind it and what I should do!

Background of my rabbits:
- My rabbits are from the same litter born on the 22nd October 2017 (9 months old) and have been kept together from then until now.
- They live in a hutch outside that is 224cm(W) × 82cm(D) × 144cm(H) along with outside the hutch time twice a day in a
235cm(D) × 700cm(W) fenced area, they’re abit spoilt for space for outdoor buns.
- They are not spayed, previously talked to the vet about it and they were reluctant as they are both females.
- both female Mini Lops.

When I got my first rabbit from my friend we all thought it was a she until I realized that it looked more like a male and took it to a vet. Sometimes if the rabbit is taken to the vet at a young age it will be sexed wrong, so I would double check on the sex.
Also I have 2 girls that I thought got along until I saw clumps of fur in the cage and saw bald spots on one of my rabbits.
Since it is summer they start to shed ALOT so that may be another reason.

 

[Preitler]

If they are 9 months, both female, it's just a false pregnancy. Very common.

That happens with intact does, just give them too much petting on their rear half and 2 weeks later they start nesting. More often it also happens without any reason, it's just that rabbits evolved for breeding, and their instincts and hormones can be triggered now and then. That's something you'll have to live with when keeping intact females, and it's nothing to worry about.

I remove and store the fur when she loses interest in the nest (that's pretty fast, lik the next day), I use it to fill up nests when they actually kindle.

It can be painful to watch, but it doesn't hurt them.


That cancer thing imho is to a good part a myth, the numbers are made up with intention and repeated all over the internet, true seems to be that their risk is higher than in humans, my guess about twice as much (we`re catching up quickly). Anyway, spaying them would remove those hormonal mood swings, which can be quite drastic, depending on the individual rabbit.

False pregnancys, and that yearning for being bred imho are stressful, and combined with some behaviour aspects like marking (good bye litterbox habbits) and struggling for dominance (which can be stressful for the less confident doe), the seasonal urge for digging and gnawing, are imho good reasons for spaying pet bunnys.

But as I said, it depends on the individual characters of your does if all that really is a problem.

Spaying has it's risks, depending a lot on the experience of the vet - here most wouldn't spay a female rabbit (I started to ask around, about 3 out of 4 refuse) because of the risk. If you have an experienced vet that risk isn't too bad.

Currently I have two pairs of breeding does , my intact herd buck is my perfect free range house bunny. I'm thinking about getting one of the 14 growouts getting spayed to live with the buck.

Anyway, keep checking their genders - after 6 years of breeding rabbits and always getting a second opinion when separating them the Sex Change Fairy still pays visits to my herd now and then

 

[Sophia]

View attachment 37795 My neutered male lop looks very similar to your bunny and sheds a ton. More at certain times of the year. One time I put a pile of his fur next to him in the cage and joked I had a 2nd bunny!

Mini lop girls have extra fat under their chin

 

[Blue eyes]

Mini lop girls have extra fat under their chin

I think you are referring to their dewlap, Sophia. Most female rabbits will have one (though may be hardly noticeable if they were spayed young). Any lops or large breed rabbits may be more prone to have larger dewlaps. Mostly it is the females, but some males will get one too.

 

[Popsicles]

I agree with @Preitler that the main reasons I spayed my girl was because she was having false pregnancies so often that she had sore bald patches from all the plucking, and because she was so nippy and grumpy with sexual frustration. The reduced risk of disease is of course a bonus, but wasn’t my main aim.

 

[Amber]

Looks like nesting to me also. Congrats if you end up with babies and i hope they all find wonderful homes! Either way, I agree that spaying (/neutering) is probably a good idea.

 

[Sophia]

I think you are referring to their dewlap, Sophia. Most female rabbits will have one (though may be hardly noticeable if they were spayed young). Any lops or large breed rabbits may be more prone to have larger dewlaps. Mostly it is the females, but some males will get one too.

Yeah I forgot what it was called we don't have neutered males but none of them have dewlaps other then the girls

 

[Thumperina]

I have heard that dewlap has a purpose of keeping babies warm when mama rabbit lies down

 

[Preitler]

No, rabbits don't lie with their kits, they don't keep them warm. They are away from the nest as soon they are done kindling and cleaning, and only visit for a few minutes about twice a day for feeding - and then the kits ar far away from the dewlap

I don't think they can pluck any fur from the dewlap since imho they can't reach it with their teeth.

Imho it's just something like big breasts on humans, a pretty much useless result of hormones.

 

[Popsicles]

I agree with preitler that dewlaps are pretty useless, they are a genetic side effect of selective breeding in some breeds, and are often also due to pet rabbits being overweight.