Turtle is half naked. (Rabbit named Turtle)

ButtonsPalace · Oct 8, 2016

Turtle is a doe of mine, before someone thinks I'm nuts. She's my Blue Silver Fox doe, she's currently got 7 kits with her and from my understanding this is her third litter but first in one she's had since she has been mine. Well as you all may know she pulled A LOT of fur and I mean a lot (Enough I collected half of a gallon freezer bag and left half her hair in the next box) well yesterday we decided to move her into a different cage because she was sitting in her own pee and poo where she was going at in her cage (I literally couldn't keep it clean) well anyway when I picked her up today I noticed the front half of her chest felt bare, I mean I was touching some of the most disgusting wrinkly, nipply skin ever. I don't know how to explain it but it managed to hit all my gag sensors because I almost puked haha. I just wonder is she suffering from a vitamin deficiency since she's not growing the hair back? Or is it normal for them to be bare even 5 and 6 weeks after babies? I'm not so much worried as weirded out because it seems to me normally there is some hair growth. I myself didn't get a good look at her underside because I was trying not to gag but I showed my boyfriend who said she was bare. It's only the front of her chest. Should I make her a little sweater or something?

MaggieJ · Oct 8, 2016

It sounds to me as though she has just pulled too much fur and perhaps is continuing to pull fur before it can really grow back. I don't know why you feel weirded out . . . It's just bare skin and humans have plenty of that. :lol:

It's possible that she has a fur mite issue, but unless she has bare or thin spots at the back of her neck (the usual spot where fur mites attack), I would think it unlikely.

A tiny bit of olive oil or other vegetable oil on your fingertips and rubbed gently into the skin my relieve any dry skin issues she might have.

I'm more concerned with hearing that she has been sitting in poop and pee. Why? Are the kits still with her and making a mess? Was she in a solid-bottomed cage? I'm glad you've taken steps to correct the situation.

Is Turtle eating the fur or just pulling it? In chickens, feather plucking and eating can be a sign of protein deficiency. I don't know if fur eating in rabbits is similar, but both fur and feathers are about 80-90% protein. You might consider if she could use a protein boost. Alfalfa is high in protein, as is willow and BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds.) BOSS can be fattening, so take her overall condition into consideration.

ButtonsPalace · Oct 9, 2016

It's just on her chest that she's hairless and I'm just shocked it ain't grown back. I was grossed out because it was so wrinkly lol and there was SO much skin!! To me it was like baby bum smooth but wrinklier than a Shar Pei

akane · Oct 9, 2016

Sometimes they just keep pulling fur and stuffing it in the nest. I've had some netherland dwarf I had to give several months break between litters only because they made their chest, part of belly, and front legs bald stuffing the nest for several weeks. It can take months to recover all that fur again.

ButtonsPalace · Oct 9, 2016

Well she hasn't been pulling fur and she don't have a nest box she hasn't for a few weeks now. That's why I'm concerned with the lack of hair. Could it be a vit deficiency??

akane · Oct 11, 2016

I'd be looking for external parasites and any potential problem with the cage. If she's on wire that's unlikely to have something causing a contact problem.

ButtonsPalace · Oct 12, 2016

Well for about 3+ weeks she had a box with hay that she sat in, should I give her a nest box or something along those lines? I've moved her into a different cage because she was just going to the bathroom on the back board under her cage all the time, no exceptions, and then she would sit in it, all the time. I'll check her again, I think a few of the smaller babies (The runt, and two Lionheads) are still nursing from time to time so that may be why it's not grown back in that area.