Help! Barbering bunnies!

Ruth H · Feb 1, 2015

Hi all,

I'm hoping that someone might be able to help me. I have three house rabbits - two were a previously bonded pair & have just rescued another one & have (in the last week) successfully bonded her with the other two. The original pair are Oliver (male) & Parsnip (female), both aged around 2.5 years. They are neutered & have been a firmly bonded pair for a little under two years. Last year Oliver inexplicably started developing sores around his forehead & ears. After a little while we caught Parsnip nibbling his fur. We went to & from the vets, got referred to specialists (great western exotics in Swindon) had every possible test done and, many thousands of pounds later, ruled out all health issues. The vet concluded that Parsnip was barbering Oliver but could find no reason for it and, because his sores were so bad, we had to separate them. This had a disasterous effect on their rabbity wellbeing & both seemed to become depressed. We put them back together after a while, hoping that she might have forgotten all about it, but the problem started again (although in a slightly different place). We tried putting Ollie in protective jackets, gave him little hats to protect his head but of course it was only safe for him to wear those when we were around.

The two of them have lived separately now for a couple of months & they have supervised playtimes together. Our living circumstances have unexpectedly changed in the last few months though and we can no longer house them separately (unless we cage them which I believe is terribly cruel and I don't want to do that). We reintroduced them in the hope that, this time, in a new place & with many months spent mostly apart, the problem would have stopped. Sadly it hasn't & Ollie has some sores on his back now. Rudi (the rescue rabbit) has been introduced & happily bonded with both of them this week. We hoped that she might alter the dynamics sufficiently that the problem would stop, but this has made no difference either. Parsnip is the dominant female & poor little Ollie is right at the bottom of the pile as Rudi has slotted in above him. Parsnip's teeth have been checked & they're fine. The vet has given her a good bill of health.

Neither Ollie nor Parsnip are particularly good at eating hay, we've tried every sort & have had most success with Readigrass in the hay trough & camomile hay in the litter tray (they both like to poo & chew!).

I've tried bitter apple spray on Ollie (suggested by vet) but it's had no deterrent effect. The vet has run out of ideas now & so have I.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions for me please?

Thank you so much,
Ruth

Stator · Feb 1, 2015

That sounds like a very hard situation, sorry I can't help

As a last resort you could try aversion therapy. Every time she does it spray her with a tiny amount of clean water, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who would think this is cruel

Tamsin · Feb 1, 2015

It does sound like a tricky problem, I don't think there is going to be an easy fix i.e. do this and it will go away. It might be you can change the pattern and at least reduce the behaviour might it might also be you change things around and it doesn't work.

So, some ideas....

I'd start by keeping a diary, note down when you see her barbering, where they are and what else they are doing. If you go out to work or they are in a different room it might even help to tape it so you can get a good idea of what the routine is when you aren't there supervising (it might be very different!).

I think you are thinking on the right lines, with breaking the pattern, and that should help give you a really good idea of what the pattern is. It might be simple thing like lowering the ceiling on their favourite spot to nap to reduce access or creating a disruption at a particular time of day she favours.

They hay eating is something I'd work on, not just because it's good diet but eating/chewing should take up a lot of time and if you give her less free time she has less for barbering. The Hay Experts do a sample pack with six different hay which is a good way to try them out without buying lots of bags. Have you tried her on fresh grass? Not the best time of year for it but that goes down much better than hay for a lot of rabbits.

What's the rest of her diet like? I would try and cut right back on pellets, and up green/forage to replace them. Again not a great time of year for it but things like weeds, apple branches etc. again it's good chewing but it means spending a lot more time eating food (and not barbering) to get the same number of calories.

What dry food you do feed, I would make hard work to get so hide it in/under things, put it in a treatball etc. no food bowls - just hard work and exercise.

MightyMax · Feb 1, 2015

Ruth H said:
Hi all,

I'm hoping that someone might be able to help me. I have three house rabbits - two were a previously bonded pair & have just rescued another one & have (in the last week) successfully bonded her with the other two. The original pair are Oliver (male) & Parsnip (female), both aged around 2.5 years. They are neutered & have been a firmly bonded pair for a little under two years. Last year Oliver inexplicably started developing sores around his forehead & ears. After a little while we caught Parsnip nibbling his fur. We went to & from the vets, got referred to specialists (great western exotics in Swindon) had every possible test done and, many thousands of pounds later, ruled out all health issues. The vet concluded that Parsnip was barbering Oliver but could find no reason for it and, because his sores were so bad, we had to separate them. This had a disasterous effect on their rabbity wellbeing & both seemed to become depressed. We put them back together after a while, hoping that she might have forgotten all about it, but the problem started again (although in a slightly different place). We tried putting Ollie in protective jackets, gave him little hats to protect his head but of course it was only safe for him to wear those when we were around.

The two of them have lived separately now for a couple of months & they have supervised playtimes together. Our living circumstances have unexpectedly changed in the last few months though and we can no longer house them separately (unless we cage them which I believe is terribly cruel and I don't want to do that). We reintroduced them in the hope that, this time, in a new place & with many months spent mostly apart, the problem would have stopped. Sadly it hasn't & Ollie has some sores on his back now. Rudi (the rescue rabbit) has been introduced & happily bonded with both of them this week. We hoped that she might alter the dynamics sufficiently that the problem would stop, but this has made no difference either. Parsnip is the dominant female & poor little Ollie is right at the bottom of the pile as Rudi has slotted in above him. Parsnip's teeth have been checked & they're fine. The vet has given her a good bill of health.

Neither Ollie nor Parsnip are particularly good at eating hay, we've tried every sort & have had most success with Readigrass in the hay trough & camomile hay in the litter tray (they both like to poo & chew!).

I've tried bitter apple spray on Ollie (suggested by vet) but it's had no deterrent effect. The vet has run out of ideas now & so have I.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions for me please?

Thank you so much,
Ruth

You've probably had all the usual suggestions from your vet ... boredom, dominance (which you've mentioned) and high fibre diet. Is there any way you can increase the amount of fibre that they enjoy around the place? (the readigrass and the camomile hay). Also perhaps adding in something that takes a bit of work such as apple or pear branches.

You have also tried putting something on Ollie's fur. I had a rabbit who was self barbering, and after months of expensive testing (even taking a biopsy to see if he had a skin condition) I finally found the answer by putting an ayuvedic ointment on him which finally defeated him in his purpose. Your vet may be able to make some suggestions along this line? I realise it's extensive in Ollie's case, but thought I'd suggest it anyway, even though you've already tried bitter apple.

Another reason for barbering is lack of space ... I can only suggest that as it's early days for Rudi to have joined the threesome, perhaps his entry might eventually alter dynamics. It will be interesting to see whether Parsnip tries to barber him?

Last resort - Parsnip and Rudi live together and you keep Ollie separate, or even try and find him a new home? (I don't mean to be upsetting, and understand if this proposition is just not something you could consider)

Ruth H · Feb 2, 2015

Hi all,

Well - I wasn't expecting such a swift response, or from so many people. Thank you all very much for taking the time to answer & share your ideas. I agree, it's an extraordinarily difficult problem.

I've come back from work today to find that Ollie's back is so sore that I have no option but to separate them for at least as long as it takes to heal without Parsnip exacerbating the damage. It breaks my heart to do it, but until I have a better solution Parsnip is going to have to be in a cage when I'm not around to supervise them.

Does anyone have examples of things they've used to safely deter chewing? I looked at chew stoppa, but that can't be used whilst Ollie has sore bits on his back. I know it's really extreme, but I did wonder about something to deliver a short sharp tastebud shock and very memorable revulsion, like marmite (I love it, but I'm sure that even Parsnip would turn her nose up at that)??

MightyMax, you mentioned having success with an ayuvedic ointment. Can you tell me more please? What is it & where can I get it?

I didn't know that the Hay Experts did taster sets of hay - I'll definitely give that a go, I haven't ever tried them with either the Green Oat Hay or the Hay & Wild Rose. Taster set is ordered! Fresh grass holds as little interest for either of them as do most hay types, sadly, but they don't mind readigrass too much. They have very few pellets really (they all have Science Selective), loads of camomile hay, dried dandelion leaves (they all love those) kale & readigrass.

Something else that was suggested to me today was the possibility that Parsnip still has some of her 'bits' left inside (from spaying), causing her to have more hormones than she should. Does anyone know anything about that at all?

Thank you
Ruth x

Wererabbit · Feb 2, 2015

Something else that was suggested to me today was the possibility that Parsnip still has some of her 'bits' left inside (from spaying), causing her to have more hormones than she should. Does anyone know anything about that at all?

The surgery involves tying off above each ovary individually so it it quite hard to leave one or part of one behind without knowing and as rabbit spays are a bit more specialised they are not normally performed by newly qualified vets! Did the vet mention if her uterus was friable as this could leave broken off fragments but this is very rare! If this is her only vice then it doesn't sound hormonal, more behavioural/OCD!

We had a quad of large rabbits left on the doorstep at work and 3 of them had barbering (moderate), v long nails and were overweight so all indications was their original cage was too small - we have rehomed them as 2 pairs so they get the space they deserve. Hopefully their new owners will be joining Rabbits United

Good Luck with your trio and hope Parsnip stops her 'helpfulness' soon.

Tamsin · Feb 2, 2015

I'm not sure rabbit taste buds are quite the same as ours so finding something icky tasty but rabbit safe might be tricky.

I hope they like the hays, Scamp liked the oaty ones and orchard grass, as well as readi grass. He does love normal grass though - have you tried picking it by hand? Some bunnies don't seem to understand grazing so don't recognise growing grass as edible :lol:

If they won't eat much hay then any leafy plant matter is next best thing, forage is good as it's rougher and higher fibre than human veggies - dandelion etc. is all good. There will be lots about to pick in a couple of months.

The vet might be able to do a blood test for hormone levels.

Help! Barbering bunnies!

Ruth H

New Kit

Stator

Warren Veteran

Tamsin

Administrator

MightyMax

Banned

Ruth H

New Kit

Wererabbit

Young Bun

Tamsin

Administrator

Similar threads