• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

One rabbit pulling bonded cagemate's fur out

L

Lozboz

New Kit
Hi everybody, pleased to meet you all, but under pretty horrible circumstances.

I have two lovely rabbits, both neutered bucks, one is a black otter mini rex named Percy, who is ex-stud and show rabbit, the other is a huge white Himalayan cross with some lop in him, named Cosmo.

They are both such sweet boys and were so easy to bond. We have spent 10 months living happily together.

They live in a playpen, in the corner of my living room, and come out to play on an evening after work is over.


Percy is the brains of the outfit, and Cosmo is the giant softy.

Cosmo will eat anything, and uses the litter box like a dream.

Percy is a fussy eater, and will use a certain letterbox to pee, but just will not poop in it. If that litterbox moves, he'll happily pee on the carpet without a second thought, no matter how much we try to train him otherwise.


Just lately Percy has taken to pulling loops in the carpet, just tugging at it over and over, so basically my carpet is wrecked. I have no idea why he has started doing this.

BUT NOW THE DISTRESSING PART: he has also started to pull out big clumps of Cosmo's fur during grooming, and eating it. Whenever I see him do it, I squirt him with a plant mister, but it seems to be no deterrent. I came downstairs this morning and Cosmo has two 2"x2" bald patches on either side of his back.

It's not due to fighting as they are both docile and sweet and love each other to bits. I have witnessed Percy just stroll over to Cosmo and just start munching away on his fur to no protest at all from big Mo.

I have no idea why this is happening, or how to discourage this, as Cosmo doesn't seem to do anything to stop him, and I can't be here all the time. I don't really want to have to separate them as they love each other so much.


I need to know why, how to stop it, and what might be a suitable deterrent to make Percy realise he is doing wrong.


Please help me. I love my boys so much, and it's so upsetting to see this behaviour.
 
The sounds like cuties (fur eating aside) :) Hopefully we can help you with it.

As it's started out of the blue I would be tempted to pop him to the vets for a full checkup. A change in behaviour can sometimes be the only clue to a bunny not feeling right. In particular make sure the vet checked his teeth.

The next thing is what diet are they eating? Sometimes rabbits that aren't getting enough fibre can start on things they shouldn't. Do they eat lots of hay (or grass)? Rabbit's diet should be about 80% grass. It makes eating something that takes up their time too, which leaves less for eating other things.

It is the sort of behaviour that can become a habit, so sometimes you can fix the original issue and then need to work on breaking the habit. But hopefully as it's a recent thing if you can work out the cause it should go away.

As long as he's not breaking the skin and Cosmo isn't annoyed with him, try not to panic too much yet, the fur will grow back :)
 
They have a really varied diet. My workplace is next to a pet shop, so I am always in there buying toys and treats and different foods as they have a fantastic selection there.

They eat lots of hay, have a dog bowl of pellets, and some fresh herbs and veg to keep it interesting.

I've had a look at his teeth and they look to be in top condition, nothing weird in his mouth. I was worried it might be a fibre thing too, but he poos like a champ.


I'm going to the shop tomorrow to see if I can get some corn cobs, as my previous bun, Butters, used to love pulling corn off the cob and throwing it everywhere. I'm hoping to get some activities that involve this pulling and tugging habit, and try to transfer it into a more positive action.

Hopefully Cosmo will still have his fur by then :(


I really hope you guys can shed some light on this, as my partner and I have scoured the web for help and come up with nothing. I love my boys so much, they're fantastic together, I don't want this to come between them (or Cosmo to be bald)
 
You haven't said how big their enclosure is - maybe they need more space. It sounds a bit like a boredom/stress thing to me. Rabbits are quite sensitive animals, maybe he is picking up on stress you have and this is the only way he can deal with it. Hope you can get it sorted. There's lots of advice on diet etc on the Forum, if you feel this may be part of the problem.
 
Lozboz said:
Hi everybody, pleased to meet you all, but under pretty horrible circumstances.

I have two lovely rabbits, both neutered bucks, one is a black otter mini rex named Percy, who is ex-stud and show rabbit, the other is a huge white Himalayan cross with some lop in him, named Cosmo.

They are both such sweet boys and were so easy to bond. We have spent 10 months living happily together.

They live in a playpen, in the corner of my living room, and come out to play on an evening after work is over.


Percy is the brains of the outfit, and Cosmo is the giant softy.

Cosmo will eat anything, and uses the litter box like a dream.

Percy is a fussy eater, and will use a certain letterbox to pee, but just will not poop in it. If that litterbox moves, he'll happily pee on the carpet without a second thought, no matter how much we try to train him otherwise.


Just lately Percy has taken to pulling loops in the carpet, just tugging at it over and over, so basically my carpet is wrecked. I have no idea why he has started doing this.

BUT NOW THE DISTRESSING PART: he has also started to pull out big clumps of Cosmo's fur during grooming, and eating it. Whenever I see him do it, I squirt him with a plant mister, but it seems to be no deterrent. I came downstairs this morning and Cosmo has two 2"x2" bald patches on either side of his back.

It's not due to fighting as they are both docile and sweet and love each other to bits. I have witnessed Percy just stroll over to Cosmo and just start munching away on his fur to no protest at all from big Mo.

I have no idea why this is happening, or how to discourage this, as Cosmo doesn't seem to do anything to stop him, and I can't be here all the time. I don't really want to have to separate them as they love each other so much.


I need to know why, how to stop it, and what might be a suitable deterrent to make Percy realise he is doing wrong.


Please help me. I love my boys so much, and it's so upsetting to see this behaviour.
Click to expand...

My rabbits do something similar :( It started suddenly when Luna began tearing out Lana's fur with huge chunks of skin attached!! I separated them for a while and it's no way near as bad now but Luna will still occasionally pull out little bits of Lana's fur. I don't have much to suggest as this is a bit of an on going problem for me, but just trying my best to keep them occupied helps a bit. I think Luna gets bored which is why she does it, I've seen it happening and it doesn't look very aggressive. Playing with them a little more, introducing new toys, even rearranging their space works well for me :) Good luck.
 
I'd get a vet check anyway, it's not possible to see the back teeth without an otoscope :) It could also be something else causing pain eg a urine infection.

A varied diet is good, I'd make eating take up as much time as possible, so reduce dry dry, put what you do give in a treatball. Hide food in things eg boxes, hang it up, really make them work for it.

If it happens at a particular time of day, try introduing new toys for then, things like a digging box would be good.
 
My partner and I spent ages last night making mad pulling games for Percy by attaching wooden rings to the enclosure bars, and stuffing them tightly with hay and treats.

We also went to the pet shop this morning, first thing, and bought a tonne of toys and treats, and last night before bed, I bought lots of puzzling food games for him to try out, and cobs of corn to pull apart.

He seemed wildly stimulated by a toilet roll tube with secret treats inside, and this morning Cosmo doesn't appear to have gained any new patches of pink.

I bought a big tunnel too, which if not for chewing, would make a suitable place for Cosmo to get away from Percy and his hairdressing. He just fits like a big arctic roll.

I will keep trying this approach and let you know what happens. I guess any findings are useful in case this happens to anybody else.


Thankyou all, please keep advice or suggestions coming. It's very helpful to have the support.
 
'A big arctic roll' :lol::lol:

I hope that all the extra toys/treats/change arounds help to keep Percy active and busy and away from Cosmo's fur.
 
It's gotten MUCH worse

Had two nights of great success, and there looked to be salvation in the toys and games, but this morning I have come downstairs to find the majority of Cosmo's back pink, plucked down to the skin.

He's pretty much bald on top.

Percy must have worked on it all night, and eaten all the long white fur, as the cage floor is clear.

They are surrounded with toys and games and treat puzzles. He seems to wait until we've gone from the room to do it, which suggests to me that he knows we do not condone it.

I'm at the end of my tether, it is so upsetting to see. I'm writing this whilst crying about it.

I really am at a loss, so I suppose I am going to have to separate them, and see the vet tomorrow about it. I'm completely distraught.
 
Oh no :(

Do you have a picture of their enclosure? Wondering if there's anything we can suggest.

This is really horrible for you I'm so sorry! Hoping the vet can shed some light. Get them to check his gut too as eating all that fur can cause blockages.
 
I've been to the Yorkshire show today and spoken to the rabbit show breeders.

I was hoping for some miracle advice, but they all said they had never heard of anything like it before and these were seasoned rabbit veterans.

I called my vet and I told them, and they referred me to an exotics specialist who had a keen eye for rabbits and their quirks and woes, so all of us are going there tomorrow to see what can be done.



In separating them both, I noticed Percy is pooing a bit less, but when he does the poos are full of hair, which is a relief that it's actually going through, but I want to make sure so I'm going for the full works, teeth, bum, guts, everything.

Lucky my gran always taught me to save for a rainy day, because I foresee a rain loud on the horizon.

I will post a pic of their enclosure later. Maybe it can give you guys some clues.
 
Rather than complete seperation, I'd let them hang out whilst supervised. You could also try fitting Cosmo with a baby grow vest - the type without legs than popper up at the bottom. Cut the front flap off across the waist (that will let Cosmo reach his bottom easily). But the back flap will hang over his back/hips creating a nice barrier against fur plucking. As I said, a lot can be a habit issue, so sometimes physically stopping it with a barrier will help. You can get vests specifically designed for post-op rabbits but a baby grow works out a bit cheaper.
 
Oh, yeah, I meant separated them while I was out today. When I got back they had their play time together as normal, and again, there was nothing, so it's obvious to me that Percy knows he shouldn't do it while we're around.

Little tinker.
 
We've been to the rabbit specialist vet today.

He is consulting a specialist in Italy about it all. Meanwhile I have been instructed to remove all pellets and go full fibre diet, and to stop letting Cosmo laze around because he is too fat :(

He seems to think Percy is above average intelligence, and is acting out of frustration, so I'm going to have to make a lot more toys and activities, on a daily basis, and use a rotational toy schedule, to keep toys entertaining for him.

He seems to be extremely well versed in rabbit health and behaviour, and said he would be sending me some e-mails regarding Percy, and would be in contact as soon as he had consulted with some experts from his college.

He checked both of them over. Happy to find there is nothing wrong with either of their mouths or their teeth, so that's a relief.
 
Glad to hear they got the all-clear health wise!

To encourage them to move, make lots of dig boxes and hide healthy treats such as dried plantain or blackberry leaves (available in lovely big bags from The Hay Experts) in the bottom.

Have also seen a cool trick I haven't tried yet using string, wooden clothes pegs and fresh herbs - pegging the herbs up over the top of the bunny's heads. That has to be supervised of course.

Definitely keep rotating toys! They like children's solid plastic toys such as balls with bells in or plastic keys to throw around. Try a slinky too! That needs to be supervised too though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Orenoko
Bunny won't use litter tray since operation
2
Replies
34
Views
639
bunny momma
bunny momma
P
Bonded pair - please help
Replies
3
Views
272
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
P
Moving bonded bunnies into their permanent home - advice needed
Replies
4
Views
157
Plushy
P
Back
Top