Doe EATING her OWN fur!?!

[GBov]

So, Friday, my moth eaten looking broken red New Zealand doe, is eating her own fur. She looks awful! Right down to bare skin on both sides now. Had a really good look at her teeth and they are beautiful so its not her teeth. Her weight is good and she has a good apatite.

Why on earth is she eating fur?

 

[Miss M]

They've been known to do it out of boredom, or from being low on protein.

Sometimes, though, you give them a ton of toys, and up their protein, and they do it anyway. :shrug:

Mine don't do it much, but I haven't been able to get them to quit when they do, so I just try not to think about wool block when I see them doing it. :roll:

 

[GBov]

They've been known to do it out of boredom, or from being low on protein.

Sometimes, though, you give them a ton of toys, and up their protein, and they do it anyway. :shrug:

Mine don't do it much, but I haven't been able to get them to quit when they do, so I just try not to think about wool block when I see them doing it. :roll:

As she hasn't yet bred and has been fine on the feed I use I shall stuff her cage with things to do and see how she does. Perhaps I will move her to a middle cage so she has does on either side as well. She has a great view in an end cage but perhaps that isn't such a good thing for her.

Her name is Friday because of the old rhyme about the days of the week. "Friday's child is full of woe!' and she always looks like life is one big misery bag. :lol:

 

[Miss M]

Sounds good... being closer to other girls might give her the stimulation she needs.

Like that about her name! :lol:

 

[AnnClaire]

Maybe try adding a mineral block?

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

She is just simply bored.. had it happen here and a simple cat toy ball stopped the fur eating completely.

 

[Sinnfox]

I know of a different reason...I had a few do that a while back...turns out cats managed to give the poor things fleas...once I noticed them I treated them all and the fur eating stopped, friend is convince they chewed their fur off to get at the itches better...if she has chewed her fur that short though odds are you'd have noticed a flea :/

 

[GBov]

I know of a different reason...I had a few do that a while back...turns out cats managed to give the poor things fleas...once I noticed them I treated them all and the fur eating stopped, friend is convince they chewed their fur off to get at the itches better...if she has chewed her fur that short though odds are you'd have noticed a flea :/

I had a good look at her and felt her all over and didn't see any signs of fleas. In an all wire cage fleas are seldom a problem.

 

[MaggieJ]

All these things are possibilities. In addition to some toys, I would give her a nice fresh chunk of a branch (apple, pear, willow, poplar etc.) so she can gnaw off the bark. It will be a distraction and might help if the problem is due to not having enough to chew on. It can happen.

Years ago we had a pet rabbit that we kept in a solid bottomed 2'x4' cage. She got bored and cleared an arena in the shavings and rolled her dried turds around for entertainment. A wire cat ball solved that little problem. Buffy was quite the rabbit. She loved sappy romantic music, especially the Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody. Ever seen a bunny melt?

 

[dragonladyleanne]

Her name is Friday because of the old rhyme about the days of the week. "Friday's child is full of woe!' and she always looks like life is one big misery bag. :lol:

I was going to protest that Friday's child (me) is Loving and Giving, but then saw the wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday's_Child Seems there's many versions. Then I recalled a book on Celtic day signs wherein Friday was the dragon (thus my fascination with them since age 14, when I read that book), and I guess it could go either way, LOL! Friendly wise dragon, or pillage the village dragon. :shock:

Hope she quits the fur chewing, whichever she is!