can you STOP fur pulling?

Nyctra · Jan 31, 2015

Elvira doesn't seem to understand when enough is enough...I'm afraid I'll have a hairless rabbit when the night is up!
Treats and trying to pet her to distract her doesn't seem to be convincing her it's time to stop, nor is removing the box... :shock: I'm...at a loss. Only thing I can think of now is to bring her inside until she regrows all that fur or keep her in a cage packed with straw, and that's just messy.

Just...dang. What to do, what to do. :?

akane · Jan 31, 2015

Right as the weather was turning cool my netherland dwarf doe decided to pluck herself bald. Completely bald down the chest and front legs and very thin left over the belly. She just kept packing it in there for a week. She handled our early cold temps ok but mine are in solid bottom cages. It took all winter to grow that fur back.

Celice · Jan 31, 2015

that's nothing! my English angora pulled lots of fur too.

katiebear · Jan 31, 2015

aaawww..poor bald babies

I bet their little ones were super warm though....may have to make her a sweater... :lol:

MamaSheepdog · Jan 31, 2015

Hmm... :thinking: obsessive fur pulling seems to be a trait of the wool breeds.

I see your balding bunny, and ante up with my former JW doe, Summit:

It started with this:

And in the interest of symmetry, her other side had to match:

But she didn't stop there! Nope! She pulled and pulled, and pulled some more, resulting in THIS:

Poor little Summit ended up getting a bad case of flaky, reddened skin. I used "Udderly Smooth" lotion on her and within a day or so her skin looked normal again. I don't know if your bun will have skin issues since Summit did that to herself in April so there was more sun- but just in case, know that a good lotion will help your doe to heal.

Miss M · Jan 31, 2015

WOW! :shock: :fainting:

katiebear":2w0aw4mk said:
may have to make her a sweater... :lol:

:rotfl:

Celice · Feb 1, 2015

lol!!! look at that little bald bum!

Fuzzy-Wazzy was a bear

Fuzzy-Wazzy had absolutely no hair...

Nyctra · Feb 1, 2015

Guess I wasn't imagining a tendency for excessive pulling in wooly bunnies after all..
It worries me though when it gets close to freezing!
But I think she has finally stopped...or she's just taking another break.

MamaSheepdog · Feb 1, 2015

Nyctra":115gdp78 said:
Guess I wasn't imagining a tendency for excessive pulling in wooly bunnies after all..

Yeah, that is kind of strange, isn't it? Maybe they are compensating for the newborn nakedness knowing that the kits are supposed to have lots of fur.

Nyctra":115gdp78 said:
It worries me though when it gets close to freezing!

Thankfully she still has quite a bit of fur... but just to be safe, you might want to wrap the top and three sides of the cage with plastic or an old towel or blanket to minimize any windchill and help retain what body heat she puts off.

PSFAngoras · Feb 1, 2015

I've had my favorite angora doe do it too. Luckily, her prime fiber is pushing 7" so it fell over the bald areas to help keep her warm! Silly buns!

I would go with MSD's advise though, and try to wrap the cage in something to help keep the heat in and the breeze down.

JenerationX · Feb 2, 2015

Maybe you should make them all angora sweaters for these situations... with their very own hair of course. lol

can you STOP fur pulling?

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