over-grooming

Question
We have sister Netherland dwarfs that are less than a year old. They are spayed and generally get along well. The problem we have is that Velvet occasionally "over-grooms" her sister Rose to the point of pink bald spots. The first one slightly broke the skin (our vet gave us antibiotic cream), but the rest just leave unsightly bald patches that don't seem to hurt her. Should we be concerned? Any suggestions on getting this to stop (short of putting them permanently in separate cages)? Thanks!

Answer
This is called barbering.  Rabbits and guinea pigs both do it when they are bored. You might provide them more toys to play with to see if that helps.  The other option is to separate them when you aren't home.

I have only had one rabbit do this to her partner, and he didn't seem to mind, but he looked very funny with bald spots.

The only info I can really find about this is at http://www.guinealynx.info/hairloss.html#barbering click on the link for Barbering.

Kim