Male eating his own fur often

[Sabatha]

I have heard alot of rabbits taking trips to the vet due to “hairballs”

My rabbit grows sort of a lions mane under his chin every month or so. Eventually he doesnt like it so he pulls it out or it falls out? 

I have never seen him pulling it but i have seen BIG hairballs in his cage that he trys to eat. He wouldnt enjoy me brushing him but i guess i could try.

If it gets large and he allows me. Could cutting it be a solution? He allows me to trim his nails. maybe i can get a few snips at it.

He has unlimited hay and hes a healthy active bunny. I just dont wish to have to take him to the vet because he keeps eating his chin hair 

 

[Beka27]

My first thought was that he’s missing fiber from his diet, but you say he gets unlimited hay. Does he eat a lot of hay?

Beyond that… I don’t know. It almost sounds like nesting behavior without the nesting.

Has he been to the vet recently for a general check-up?

Can you tell us more about him: age, neutered status, how long you’ve had him, where he came from, how he’s housed, what his full daily diet consists of…

[Sabatha]

Thanks for the reply Beka

He does eat alot of hay. Roughly 42oz bag in a week

I think it could be nesting behavior because i always find the hair underneath this old red t-shirt

He has not been to the vet lately.

I got him last summer from someone online who had a few babies to get rid of.

When i got him he was about 2 months old. So hes about a year and a few months old now.

He is not neutered but i do plan on it…Hes housed in 2 large cages side by side (enough room for him to hop 3-4 times comfortably) for 10 hours a day roughly and then he is allowed out in my room and my hallway (connected by a large carpet) for 3-6 hours a day.

He gets half a cup of pellets in the afternoon “lunch”. 24/7 hay and usually before i go to bed i give him a few pieces of kale and green leaf lettuce. every now and then i throw some grapes and berries with it.

[Beka27]

That all sounds pretty good. Pellet quantity might be a little high depending on his weight, but other than that, it sounds like a standard diet.

How sure are you that he is a he? Does he have visible testicles? Did the vet confirm his sex for you?

[LBJ10]

That’s what I was going to ask. Are there jewels down there?

[Sabatha]

The jewels are 100% there haha. The vet i visited after purchasing him confirmed the gender and his general health..i didnt want to bring him any bugs that might attach to my cats ..obviously he didnt have them at the time but now you can clearly see them

Would the gender have some sort of influence on this behavior?

 

[Chronicambitions]

If your bun was female, this behavior would be a lot easier to explain as a false pregnancy.

I know when my dog was younger, he used to pull his fur off the top part of his paw. We took him to the vet and he said there was nothing wrong with him. He said my dog had OCD and just told us to discourage us whenever we saw him pulling fur off.

I wonder if a rabbit could have OCD too.
I’ll look into it.

[Chronicambitions]

So I’ve been trying to find out why he would be doing this and found a couple possible reasons.

Do you know the weight and breed of your rabbit?
Also what kind of pellets are you feeding him? How much protein is in it?
One website I read said a rabbit might pull out his fur from getting too much protein in his diet.

Has anything that your bunny might consider stressful happen recently? Any changes to his environment?

Another possible reason I found was that your bunny might be bored or sexually frustrated. It might be a good idea to get him a stuffed bunny friend to help him out since he hasn’t been neutered yet. The binky bunny store has some pretty cool ones but I’m sure any stuffed animal will do as long as its a good size and doesn’t have any beans in it or anything that can be harmful to your bunny.

[hannaroo]

Has he got lots of toys and activities? Sometimes they do it out of boredom? Does this occur all year round or just in the summer?

[jerseygirl]

I’ve heard this can be due to stress or boredom also but it sounds like he has it pretty good. I think a stuffed bunny is a good idea though.

The other thing I have read is it can be to do with nutritional deficiency- namely magnesium – however, it’s uncommon.

Interesting to read that about too much protein ChronicAmb.

Blackbeauty, is your bunny on Junior pellets? What type of hay does he eat?
It’s great he likes his hay as that will help move through any fur he’s ingesting. It’s normal for them to take in a bit through grooming but certainly odd he’s eating balls of fur.

Does the area under his chin get damp? They can be prone to skin infections if the area is moist and that could cause some irritation. In that case I can understand why a rabbit would pull at the fur there but don’t understand their wanting to eat it. Hope you’re able to get to the bottom of it.

[Sabatha]

I do not know the breed. I posted pictures on a bunny website before and noone was able to confirm a breed for me.

He weighs between 3 and 4 pounds.

The pellets he eats are from a company called “Health Diet” and the protein is min 17%

No changes to his cage that he hasn’t endured before. I will look into getting some sort of stuffed bunny friend

Its hard to say if it occurs year round because he has only done it in the last 4 months. He didnt do it the first year i had him (could be because he wasnt fully grown?)

He eats only timothy hay from kaytee and he does like it..he runs around happy when im opening the bag for him and jumps right in after i replenish it

It doesnt specify the pellets for juniors or adults. It just is plain pellets.

Nope under his chin doesnt get damp at all. When he lays down it just looks like he has a growth from all the hair and within the next week it slowly disappears because he pulls it all out. (he doesnt rip alot out where it shows skin) perhaps its uncomfortable for him?

[MoveDiagonally]

The protein seems a bit high to me for a full grown rabbit. If excess protein could be a cause of this than I might switch him to a lower protein food and see if that helps the situation.

Rabbit.org recommends 12-14% protein in pellets for an adult house rabbit. Kaytee Timothy Complete Line is pretty good. It’s close to Oxbow which is also recommended.

[Beka27]

I’ve never heard of that brand of pellets. Have you compared them nutritionally to other more well-known pellet brands?

When Jersey asked if they are Junior pellets, the difference is that junior pellets are made from alfalfa hay, adult pellets are made from timothy hay. If you look in the ingredients, the first ingredient should tell you which they are.

Rabbits under 7 months can be fed alfalfa (junior pellets) OR timothy pellets. Over 7 months, they should be transitioned over to timothy pellets.

[Sabatha]

Oh thats correct. They are made from alfalfa hay.

I will take a look at the pet store next time i go there for a different brand that makes timothy pellets.

[Chronicambitions]

Did you try trimming his beard to see if he would stop pulling it out?

[Sabatha]

I did try but he wouldnt let me get close haha

He has got all of the hair out of his chin for the time being..

I did also buy the oxbow pellets for adults. they are a 14% protein

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