rabbit licking fur off front legs

Question
Hi

My netherland dwarf has started to excessive lick her front paws and legs, which i think has caused fur loss? She suddenly has missing fur in a line on her front legs.
Could she be bored? Or suffering from mites? There does not seem to be hair loss anywhere else on her.

She has recently moved from house rabbit to hutch/run and has seemed ok, the first week she stopped eating, after which i took her to the vet and he said it was just shock and that she seemed fine. Her eating has now gone back to normal and has seemed happy in her new outdoor home...she has toys to play with and a 6ft run...but internet the internet did say she could be bored?
I worried, lease help, should i take her back to the vets?

Many thanks

Answer
Dear Gemma,

I really doubt this is boredom.  Parrots overgroom from boredom, but rabbits do not.  More likely, she has something irritating her that's causing her to lick and pull fur.  My first suspect, due to the location of the problem, is molar spurs causing her to drool.  Please read this:

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

for an overview of the many possible causes of abnormal fur loss in rabbits.

But I would also seek a more experienced rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I really doubt that the bunny was in "shock" from the change in her habitat (unless the vet didn't really mean to use that word, and really meant "stress", which is more likely).  

If your bunny is not spayed, then another possibility is that she is pulling fur because of false pregnancy.  If this is the case, then it's time for her to be spayed, as unspayed, unbred female rabbits have a very high risk of uterine cancer.

I hope this helps.

Dana