is my bunny hurt?

[kamdist]

ok i am new to this board so i will give you a quick intro. My name is Megan, I live in NY with my 3 children and my husband we have 1 dog(rottweiler),Toby. a hamster(dont know if its a boy or girl) kids named it Pixie. and finally 2 rabbits- One black one, Midnight. and one white one, Sonny. ok i responded to an ad on craigslist back in July 2 a lady who had a bunch of baby bunnies and i went and took a look and picked out(or i guess i should say my kids picked out) the 2 we now have. I had a rabbit once when i was a kid my mom(or at the time 'the easter bunny') got me one for easter, she was a dwarf rabbit who ran free in our house and used a litter box. other than that i have no experience with rabbit....which is why im here to gain some knowledge of whats going on with my rabbit anyways we brought the 2 rabbits home and she told me the white one was a female and we got side tracked, and i didnt think to ask what the black one was. anyways didnt really matter to me. my rabbits are very close, and honestly i think they would be lost without each other. i dont know if they are both females or what, but im thinking if they were one of each id have baby bunnies by now? ok so they were in our house i got them a really nice cage and all but my husband said they gotta go outside(this was heartbreaking to me, being that i live in upstate NY= cold winters) so anyways i told him he would have to build a cage outside for them, and make it good and big for them to wonder. anyways needless to say he made me a better cage than i could have ever imagined, its huge and he made it so its all caged but can put sides up during the winter to keep them warm. i also set up a heat lamp out there and its nice and cozy.(we had some sub-zero temps where i brouht them inside.anyways when i brought them inside for 2 days i noticed they the black one (which is slightly bigger than the white) was trying to mount the white one and i broke it up because my white bunny would make a squealing noise like she was being hurt. i dont know if it was just playing? ut it was to the point where my white bunny wasnt happy. anyways we put them back outside and a few days later i went out to feed and tidy up the cage and i noticed a spot on the white rabbits head looked bare. they i brushed it off because it looked like water had just dripped on her head and matted the hair down, so i didnt think anything more of it. well i went out again today and noticed it was like that again but it was water on her head. he hair is actually all gone between her eyes and it looks raw...WHAT WRONG? could the other rabbit have pulled her hair out? should i take her to the vet? she doesnt seem bothered by it when i try to touch around it but it just looks weird and not normal. and i dont know what to do. i dotn know what it would be bare accept for thinking that my black rabbit ripped the hair out? but why? i dont know much about rabbit behaviors so maybe this is normal. but i just need answers and im hoping someone here can help me!



thanks for any information that anyone can give, i appreciate it alot!



Megan

 

[Bunny parents]

Can you observe them while they're together? If the black one bites off another one's hair? One thing that I can think of is over grooming. Bunnies groom each other and also themselves. Once my girl, a single bunny girl, over groomed herself. She pulled out almost all of her hair on her tummy. It scared me. I took her to the vet and everything was fine. The vet said it's her heavy moulting season. Does the white one eat normally?

 

[kamdist]

they are fine together i did notice the one time i had them in the house during cold weather that when the black one was trying to get on top of the white one it would bite her neck to make her hold still long enough to get on top of her. and i would break it up. but all this baldness is right between her eyes. other that that i do watch them together and never noticed the black one bite her or tug at her hair or anything. but i was assuming it was the black one because of the location. maybe she can over groom herself? i dont know its just a weird location. i just feel so helpless. not that shes in pain but i feel there is a reason shes bald and i want to figure it out...

 

[Bunny parents]

If it's only hair loss , then I think it might be caused by the black one. You said the black one tried to get on top of the white one, which means tried to mating ? How old are they? Are they neutered or spayed? It also can be hormonal behavior. If her skin doesn't look red and infected or if there's no wound. I think she's fine. I'd separate them until they both are neutered, if you don't plan on having more bunnies.

 

[LakeCondo]

Even if they are both females, spaying them reduces their chances of getting cancer.

Also, rabbits can hide the fact that they're hurt. In the wild, hurt rabbits get eaten by bigger animals, so rabbits pretend they aren't hurt & it's hard for people to tell if they're hurt. But I would keep them apart except when you're there.

 

[Kizza]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I agree that it looks like the black one is doing this to the white one somehow, whether it is over grooming or something else.

Maybe take the bunny to the vet to rule out mites or something and then separate them until they are both neutered. The last thing you want is baby bunnies or for the two you have to fight. If she has lost the fur because of the other one's hormonal behaviour it will probably get worse.

Bunnies can get quite aggressive with each other so I honestly would have them both neutered/spayed

 

[ZRabbits]

Also search out "Barbering". I learned that the hard way. Dobby and Kreacher were housed together and getting along very well. Then one morning, actually it was Halloween, Dobby turns up with a bald racing stripe on his forehead. Kreacher was eating his fur. It's grooming, but grooming to an extent. Rabbits do "barber" each other.

So be careful. One could become aggressive because the other is grooming too much. I had to split my boys, but it was good thing for them.

Just observe to make sure one or the other does not injure the other. Not trying to scare you, but you need to be informed and prepared.

K