MALE Bunny eating fur

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I'm foster caring for a bunny from the SPCA (Canada's animal welfare group that saves animals).  This bunny is pulling out his hair and eating it.  He's got a large patch on his back that is hairless (the skin is dry and flaking away).  This is a male rabbit so he can not possibly be pregnant.  The SPCA said he has been under a lot of stress (he used to belong to a large pet store where any stranger could come up and pick him up/pet him) and that his behavior is due to his recent stress.  I'm wondering what your opinion is.  Is there anything I can do to stop this hairless spot from growing bigger?  Thank you,
Sacha

ANSWER: UPDATE:

Hi Sacha,

I just wanted to reply to your 'leave alone' comment.  Spend time with him because he does need socialization and it's the only way he will build trust with you and be comfortable with you, you need to do this.  Just don't pick him up unless you have to.  Once he starts trusting you, you can try to give him a short pet.  You have to take things very slowly.  His past world was very traumatic to him, and his new world with you is totally foreign and strange and he doesn't know you well.  Rabbits as a prey animal take a lot longer to develop trust with people.  And with a stressed rabbit it can take even longer than it normally would.  Just spend time with him, sit on the floor in his room with him.  Try not to be interested in him and just be there.  He needs to get used to you just being there.  Not coming after him.  If you sit or lay on the floor and read or watch tv, once he realizes you aren't coming after him, he may start to seek you out.  Offer a small treat once in awhile, you may have to put it on the floor as he may not take it from you.  He needs to start having experiences with humans that make him start to learn that not all interactions with them are going to be bad.

END UPDATE

Hi Sacha,

I'd say they are pretty much right.  Stressed out rabbits often overgroom and leave patches like you are describing.  

If you can take him to the vet to get antibiotics just so the skin won't get infected, that may help.  Otherwise REGULAR neosporin (NO lidocaine) or Bag Balm may help protect it if it is not currently infected.  Do not use anything with aloe in it, just what I mention.

He needs to be in an environment that is stable and non-changing, and not picked up more than absolutely necessary.  If you can dedicate a room to him, plus a cage in the room, in a room that is not a high-traffic area and that he can relax and rest in it will help him to relax.  Don't do a lot of unnecessart handling of him right now.  Sit in the room with him.  Offer treats, don't even try to pet him.  Let him come to you.  It may take awhile.  He needs calm, stability, a static environment, and some little toys, play ramps, a hidey box to hide in when scared, and a diggy pile of cut up old cotton towels/tshirts to play in.

I would seriously read up on stress on the House Rabbit Society web site (www.rabbit.org).  You can also call them (they have a national number) and talk to someone about him.  ANd you can write me as well.

Lee



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Lee,

I appreciate your response.  I should have been more clear :) By "leave alone" I really did just mean "not pick up unnecessarily" as far as spending time with him, I really agree with you - it's important I do that so he learns that he can trust me and gets to know who I am.  He's actually a lot better off (socialization wise) than I expected him to be (I've just had him a couple days now).  Whenever I let him out of his cage to run around, he always hops over to me expecting pats.  So, in that regard, he's doing well.  He enjoys lying by my side as I watch tv and letting my pet him.  That's why I was confused why he was still pulling out his hair - he seems to not be stressed out now that he's in my home and seems to trust me, yet his behavior is continuing.  I put on some neosporin (no lidocaine!) when I got home today and it doesn't look like he's pulled out any more hair since last night, so I'm hoping after a few days he'll settle in and discontinue that behavior.  

It's really good to see that there are people out there like you who give your time to helping the bunnies of the world! Thanks again for your responses,
Sacha

Answer
Hi Sacha,

glad to hear your reply.  It will take him a minimum of at least a month before he feels really comfortable in your house.  But you are seeing great improvement in just the short time he's been with you.  The calm house atmosphere is going t oreally help him relax and feel stable.

I should mention that in the area he is in, don't do any furniture movement or move stuff around.  He is mapping out the room and moving anything differently is not a good thing to do right now.

The simple fact he comes to you for pets, and lays at your side is excellent.  This is good behavior to see, and what it may be an indication of is that he may be lonely.  I would spend as much time with him as you can.  Rabbits are also very intelligent, so you may want to start making sure he's got some toys to play with. Here are a few things that are not expensive that are great:

1.  A diggy pile.  Clean, old cotton towels and cut-up tshirts (cut up tshirts so he can't get caught in arms/necks by accident) and put them in a circular pile.  Many rabbits love digging in them and rolling them up/pushing them out/flopping in them.

2.  Plastic baby keys (teething) - a type of plastic that won't break off.

3.  Wicker tents, tubes, wicker balls from your pet supply store.

4.  Cardboard boxes with an entrance hole and an exit hole in another side.

I think the way he is coming to you and laying down next to you for pets is an excellent sign, and that his hair pulling will stop and he'll start getting comfortable.  Just be warned that he may become your rabbit.  The one foster I had who was sick nad nobody else would take care of, after all the time I spent with him getting him well (thank God for healing him), there was no way I was going to give him to anyone else.  No one else would appreciate how valuable this bunny was the way I would.  Most people who foster have no idea how difficult it is to give up a foster bunny.  Most fosterers eventually adopt one of their fosters too.

thanks for caring for this little guy.

Lee