Bruise?

Question
My rabbit has what looks to be a dime sized bruise like spot on his back which has either lost its fur or has been pulled out, the rabbit has been biting his flesh in the area to the point of breaking the skin. the spot does not seem to be tender to the touch. Eating habits, drinking habits, and his general behavior are unchanged. This has been there and happening for about 5 days.

Answer
Hi Amanda

I would consider a couple of possibilities.  First would be some type of bite....maybe a spider, biting fly or even a mouse or rat....and this can happen even if your rabbit is a house rabbit.  Parsites, particularly mites, will also cause this type irritation.  We even had on rabbit that would bite on her back until she bled...and we finally isolated that to intestinal parasites....most unusual.  It is very rare, but rabbits can also contract ringworm.  I have never had ringworm in a rabbit here....but I do know that would be a serious problem which is hard to treat...and is contagious.

This is one that I would fully suggest seeking the advice of a rabbit savvy vet.  Not all vets can properly treat rabbits.  If it's parasites, certain treatments must be avoided in rabbits so it's important to find a vet familiar with the pecularities of treating rabbits.  I would expect a minimal vet visit for this issue.  The primary issue here is to identify the problem.  In this case, most likely the vet will do a skin scraping and look at the scraping under a microscope.  Most of the treatments for parasites are not expensive and most are easily treated.  Ringworm is a bit more of a challenging issue.  If he continues to break the skin, it could very easily become infected or even abscessed.  Things like this are best taken care of earlier rather than later.