bald front paw

Question
I recently bought a young rabbit from the local pet store. Very nice and happy bunny but when I was trimming his nails today I noticed that his left forward paw had dried skin matted in the fur. I carefully brushed through the fur until the dried skin was mostly gone ( some areas seemed to cause discomfort so I left spots alone thinking they might still be sores) when I finished the entire thumb and a little bit of the wrist were bald. What I thought was fur was actually dried skin and stuck on hair. What I want to know is : is this something that might have been a previous illness? The baldness doesnt seem to bother Yazzie at all. I just want to make sure he doesnt have any health issues.

Answer
Dear Victoria,

It could be that you removed the scab from an old injury to reveal the healthy new skin underneath, and that fur will grow in soon.  

It's also possible that Yazzie has a bit of mange (caused by parasitic mites) which usually first shows up on the toes, ears, and eyelids, and this needs treatment by a good rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

who can prescribe Revolution (selamectin) to solve the problem.  (DO NOT use Frontline on a rabbit!)

You can read more here:

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

The pictures show extreme cases, but they all started out small.

Hope this helps!

Dana