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causes of hair loss on my rabbit

22 11:37:35

Question
i have a rabbit that i got from the humane society 2.5 months ago. since that time it has been in a cage with my guinea pig which was a baby when i got the rabbit. i have been feeding them both guinea pig pellets and about a month ago i noticed some hair loss around the rabbits face area. since then its getting much worse now its along the sides of the rabbits body. the rabbit has no loss of appetite ,no scratching,open sores or any apparant irritation from the hair loss. we have heard pine shavings can cause a bad reaction on rabbits .so would my rabbits hair loss be caused by the pine  shavings, the guniea pig pellets or a combination of both? p.s. the rabbit is kept indoors all the time.  

Answer
Dear Teri,

You might want to put the rabbit in a separate cage and feed it rabbit pellets. I do not know that guinea pig pellets would be harmful to the rabbit, but they may not contain the right nutrients that a rabbit needs. Also, it is possible that the rabbit and guinea pig are chewing on each other's fur.
Another possibility is fur mites (you might be able to see small, white bugs crawling around in the rabbit's fur). If this is the case, you might want to try to find some poultry dust (my family's rabbits use is stuff that I think is called ProZap Insectrin dust)and shake a bit on to the rabbit's back, then brush it in to the fur with your hands (wear rubber gloves), being careful not to get it into yours or the rabbit's eyes, nose, or mouth.
The other possibilty I can think of is that the rabbit is simply moulting. About once or twice a year, a rabbit goes through a heavy moult, and at this time, it is not uncommon for a rabbit to loose fur in large clumps, revealing bald spots! It should grow back within a few weeks to a month or so.

I hope this helps.
God Bless!
AEJ