my rabbit looks blue

Question
hi i have an 8 month old dwarf lop eared male rabbit i went to his cage yesterday and noticed that his jaw fur looks like it is dyed blue or has a blue ting it, he has nothing in his cage that could of coursed it and there has been no change to his diet. is this normally or should i be worried?

Answer
Dear Nicole,

Have you tried to wash the blue off the fur?  If he ate something with blue pigment and then drooled a bit, that might explain this.

That said, several of us rabbit folks have seen, on very rare occasion, a growth of a very *blue* (kind of turquoise) microorganism in wet rabbit fur.  Sometimes it's around the mouth, and sometimes around the genitals.  None of us have ever had it cultured, and now I'm regretting that, because it is rare, but does show up on occasion.  It has never proven harmful, but it is WEIRD.  

If you are not sure, you might bring bun to a rabbit-savvy vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and have a swabbing of the fur (or a sample of the fur) cultured:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/culture.html

to see what this might be, if it is a suspected microorganism.  

If the fur around his chin/mouth is wet, this could be a sign that your little lop has a problem very common to lops:  molar spurs.  These can make him drool, and can cause many other health problems.  So if the fur is damp, and likely from drooling, it's best to get him to a good rabbit vet, anyway, to have his teeth checked and filed as necessary.

Maybe the blue beasties (if that's what the blue is) are a good indicator that your bunny needs his teeth checked.  :)

Hope this helps.

Dana