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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Lionhead Bunny Eating His Own Fur

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    • Erin
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        My little lionhead guy is having a little issue with the fur on his chest. I’ve caught him a few times eating the fur off his chest. Haven’t been able to find any other posts about this issue. And he isn’t just grooming, he’s actually chewing it, trying to eat it like hay. He isn’t giving himself any bald spots or anything, I’m just concerned about the amount of hair he may actually be ingesting. He’s also going through his first moly at the moment, which doesn’t help in the hair ingestion department. The obvious solution is to keep the hair on his chest short. But he’s still young, only 5 months, and we’re working on sitting for grooming, but his chest is one spot he just doesn’t let me touch yet. Has anybody else seen similar behavior in their rabbit or have any ideas on how to get him to cut it out? Or will he eventually just figure it out on his own that fur is not food? I think he may just be confused because he’ll get a little of the fur caught in his mouth and then think it’s some leftover food or something like that.


      • jerseygirl
        Moderator
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          Hi Erin
          The only thing I have heard in regards to this behaviour is it is self multilation or displacement behaviour. Meaning he is very uncomfortable for some reason and this is his way of dealing with it. I would highly recommend you get him checked out by a rabbit savvy vet. It could be something like dental pain (even if it appears he eats his food normally) or a skin irritation but it could also be something that seems completely unrelated to his mouth or chest.

          What is his diet like? Does he eat hay at all?

          I hope you can get to the bottom of it.

          ETA: How severe is this? Is he chewing the attached fur or pulling tufts out an eating those? 


        • Erin
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            Hi, thanks for the timely response. He’s definitely eating plenty of hay. I definitely wouldn’t say the behavior is severe. He chews on the attached hair. Like I said, no bald spots or anything, he’s not pulling out tufts of hair. But I was grooming him the other day and had left a little tuft of fur on the ground which he tried to eat. He’s molting right now as well, but I never find any fur balls in his cage which makes me concerned that he may just be eating the hair that falls out. Every day, I find one dropping in his litter box that’s connected by fur, but never more than one or two and he seems to be pooping and eating normally and regularly. I’ve just been giving him extra foods that I know will help with his digestion while I watched to see if the behavior continued.


          • jerseygirl
            Moderator
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              Just an added thought. It might be hormone related too, given his age.


            • jerseygirl
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                But I was grooming him the other day and had left a little tuft of fur on the ground which he tried to eat.

                That’s pretty unusual!
                Does that fur have a smell or the fur or skin on his chest have a smell different to the rest of him?


              • LBJ10
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                  I’ve seen bunnies eat fur, but it’s usually fur they pulled off another bunny.

                  The grooming/chewing behavior you are describing reminds me a lot of my Wooly. He will sort of nibble and chew at his fur. Then, since his fur is long, he will pull his head backward trying to get the fur out of his mouth. This is just him grooming himself. He often ends up with cowlicks doing it this way, but it isn’t unusual. As long as your bunny isn’t pulling it out, eating it, and creating bald spots, I wouldn’t be terribly worried. Definitely make sure he’s eating lot’s of hay though to help with any ingested fur.


                • jerseygirl
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                    LBJ, I was thinking it was Wooly that had done something like this before.  Maybe something to do with longer fur breeds?

                    @ Erin, if you do see him actually eating it, I wonder if you could put a soft e-collar on him but put on backwards? Like this.

                    Image result for soft e-collar reverse

                     So he could still hop around and his vision would not obscured and he could still get his cecatrophs.

                     It would need to be one that uses velcro so that it would come off if he got caught on anything. It could mean he’d start chewing on different area of the body though. Also, if there is an irritation of the skin on his chest, covering it may exacerbate the problem…

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                Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Lionhead Bunny Eating His Own Fur