rabbits losing hair!!

Question
hello, im in desperate need of help, i have no idea what is happening to my little babies. I have two rabbits that are kept in an outdoor hutch, which has a wooden bottom, covered with shavings, and is cleaned very frequently. One of them is a neutered male, the other a spayed female. The are a little over a year old, as they were born at the end of july. About a week ago, i noticed what looked like a couple tuffs of hair missing on his back(around the spine). I thought nothing of it because sometimes the two of them will get into a little spiff and the female will nip at him, but every day he has more and more hair missing from his back, and the female is beginning to lose hair also. I can pull little clumps of it out on both rabbits. I realized the that its not from fighting because the male would never nip at the female, shes the boss, haha. The seem to be in good health. The are eating like pigs and are feed purina pellets. The get lots of hay and grass everyday, and occasionaly we give them some greens or carrots. They get the run of the yard about once every two days for about 4 hours. I would really like to know that is happening to my babies , and i am starting to worry. Thank you in advance for your help.

Answer
Dear Fae,

If these rabbits are intact (i.e., not spayed/neutered), then they are probably either overgrooming each other, or having little fur-tufting battles because they don't have enough space to get away from each other during the day. Although rabbits are very social and loving to their bonded partners, they do need a great deal of room to run and move about, and if they don't get it, they will become cranky and argumentive, even with their mates.

Also, it's very probable that the female is pregnant if she's not spayed.  Please read this immediately, to prepare for the inevitable:

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

If the female is pulling fur, she may already be building a nest for her babies.

If you see signs of flakiness or red, irritated skin, or any type of whitish crust on the bunnies' skin, then the fur loss could be due to mange. Fortunately, this is easily and safely treated with Revolution (selamectin) from your vet (DO NOT use Frontline, as it can be deadly to rabbits!).  For more information on diagnosis and treatment of abnormal fur loss in rabbits, please see:

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

Hope that helps.

Dana