HELP!!! Sores on my rabbits
by Jessica
(Maryland)
I have four rabbits two are male and two female. I know that about a month ago the two males were trying to breed with the one female...they have left a bald spot right above her butt (on the back) and the back of her neck has missing hair and sores also...
A week or so ago i noticed her eye didn't look too well (like one scratched it). It seems better now, but my other female now has sores on her sides and her back also, the other three have seemed to kick her out of the closed part of the hutch and she is sleeping in the open caged part of the hutch by herself...neither of them seem pregnant, I have felt their bellies and done everything you mentioned to see if they were.
So what do I do about the sores and missing hair on my females...should i get rid of the males or move them to a new hutch by themselves? Help!!!!
****Karen Sez****I'm not a vet, Jessica, but sounds like fur mites to me. These are easily treated with kitten flea powder.
But: I could be wrong. The sores and missing fur could simply be the result of too many bunnies in the hutch and a lot of dominance fighting. Or, it could be something worse.
Ideally, each buck should get its own separate cage. We know there's a lot of talk about keeping bunnies together, but really, in nature, a dominant buck will drive all competition away from himself and his mate.
Don't forget that rabbits are rabbits and are not people. You cannot think for them. And when we anthropomorphize them (look it up, heheh), we leave the realm of reality.
If you try flea powder, and the problem does not go away; if you separate the bucks into their own cages, and sores don't heal and the fur grow back, then perhaps a vet visit is in order. (If not sooner.)
Good luck and God bless you,
K