Dobby is ready for Halloween - What a shock this morning!

[Ms. Research]

Win the cutest bunny contest and wake up to a shock

At first thought it was my Polish showing attitude again, but putting two and two together, never knew rabbit's face molt.

Dobby, Kreacher and Will had a romp outside in the crisp, fall air yesterday. They had a ball. And were pooped at the end. Well, this morning looks like the air affected Dobby more than just pooping him out. They say molting goes fast for outside rabbits. Didn't realize this fast. Didn't realize the affect cool crisp air could have on an inside bunny.

So here he is, Poor Baby.

 

[bunnylovincowgirl]

That looks like barbering, not molting. I'm sorry to say it, but I'd put money on it being the other rabbit's doing.

 

[Ms. Research]

That looks like barbering, not molting. I'm sorry to say it, but I'd put money on it being the other rabbit's doing.

What's Barbering? So basically Kreacher did this? I think he did, but there is no injury. Skin is smooth. No cuts or bites noted. Inspected thoroughly.

Appreciate the input.

 

[bunnylovincowgirl]

Barbering is where another rabbit chews the fur of another, though in this case it's more like pulling it out. It can happen between the cage wire, or sometimes I'll see it on juniors still living together. Usually I separate them when it happens, because it means one of the bunnies is starting to resent the other in his territory and I don't want them to hurt each other more.

Here's a case of barbering on one of my bunnies. This happened through the cage wire. Sorry for the blurry picture.

 

[Ms. Research]

Found out what barbering is. Sorry couldn't wait for the reply. Looks like it's a dominance issue. Kreacher is trying to state he is the dominant one. It all started with bringing Will into our pack. Now Kreacher is trying to show dominance. Plus I've watched him groom just last evening and he was pulling tuffs of hair out of Dobby's side. Not hurting him.

This explanation seems to hit the nail on the head.

first, are you sure he is not just grooming or face, or does he actually nip? Some bunnies seem to try to groom but kind of bite/nip the fur, they just don't groom the same way others do. I think some never learn certain skills and it hinders their ability to bond properly.

Much of what you are describing is not fighting. It is part of establishing dominance. This is the hair pulling, chasing, grooming and presenting to be groomed back, and the mounting. This needs to occur because they can't become friends until dominance is figured out. Two things will happen, either they figure it out, and then they can the bonding process, or they never figure it out and it eventually happens that it actually progresses into a fight.

This is what happened in our case. Our gal never figured out how to bond, she had been a solo rabbit the first two years of her life, had a couple bad bonding experiences before we adopted her, and she couldn't bond with our male who was very nice. eventually she would get frustrated with him and start biting him, and after a year he wound up biting back, neither backed down and they started fighting.

Now it is not the end of the world if they can't be bonded. Trust me if one doesn't want to bond, they will be much happier and you will have uninjured rabbits keeping them separate. For some rabbits all they need is seeing another rabbit across from them, or being able to interact with another rabbit through a gate (different play places in the house). Not all rabbits need or want another rabbit. If they have spent a lot of their early years by themselves they may prefer human contact to be enough.

The hair pulling and chasing is not fighting. Fighting is ears back, growling, lunging for the face and/or belly with teeth, both rabbits tussling around on the floor with each other. That is fighting and must be broken up immediately to prevent injury or death. In this case you just put your hands in (and don't care if you get bit) and grab one of them and pick them up out of the melee.

If a fight breaks out, you should wait at least a week or two before trying to evne think about putting them together again. If the next time they fight again, I would permanently separate them. One bunny may not actually like the other. Rabbits pick their friends, and one may not like the other, or they may both not like each other. Bonding is useless in these cases, at least with these two particular rabbits.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/2008/6/Male-rabbit-barbering-female.htm



I guess it's wait and see if they work it out. Thanks for the input though.

BTW, now Dobby is grooming Kreacher. They seem to get along. I guess it's just Kreacher's grooming habits. They have a balanced diet. They are both eating and drinking. And there is no fleas or mites. And no parasites. They have been checked out. So I guess it's a day to day observation.

 

[Ms. Research]

Better safe than sorry....they are now in their own separate crates.

Thanks Bunnylovingcowgirl for your heads up on this.

Not taking any chances. All are good bunnies. Don't want to see anything happen due to a hardwired issue.

 

[Legacy]

Just fyi, Bunny faces do molt. Some of them will lose the hair on their face before the new hair grows back. It happens. You may be dealing with a dominance issue here but just know the face molt can happen.

 

[Ms. Research]

Just fyi, Bunny faces do molt. Some of them will lose the hair on their face before the new hair grows back. It happens. You may be dealing with a dominance issue here but just know the face molt can happen.

I've examined Dobby more thoroughly last night. Some of it looks like when his side molted. I think they call that a "blow out" coat. But some of it looked chewed or bit off or they call it barbered.

This morning Dobby is "bright eyed and bushy tailed". Like he actually was able to rest through the night. Kreacher is doing well in his little set up. I spent time with him last night as well and he seems to be more settled.

So I'm going with Dominance issues with both of them. I've read many a story where this happens. Litter mates get along until they grow up. Then issues happen.

Everything is OK. Now we get to see how they romp and play with each other outside.

Thanks Legacy for your FYI.