One bunny grooming another bunny too much?

[Sweetbuns@home]

I have two bunnies, and the dominant one is grooming the submissive one’s head too much. He is losing fur, and it seems to be growing back, but I don’t know what to do. Help?
So, I’m not exactly the most informed bunny owner, and I need some help. His fur does seem to be growing back, although I do still catch the girl grooming his head a lot, so I’m not sure how long the peach fuz will last. Anyone have any ideas on how to ensure this doesn’t happen again?
And before you ask, yes, I know that the girl is grooming him out of boredom, but I have tried toys, and they don’t seem to be working.
I’m housing them in the garage for winter, and any coming severe cold weather, and that’s when this started, so I’m guessing the lack of movement around them has contributed to their boredom.
Thanks for all your help!

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Sweetbuns@home on 3/12/2017 6:56 PM

I have two bunnies, and the dominant one is grooming the submissive one’s head too much. He is losing fur, and it seems to be growing back, but I don’t know what to do. Help?
So, I’m not exactly the most informed bunny owner, and I need some help. His fur does seem to be growing back, although I do still catch the girl grooming his head a lot, so I’m not sure how long the peach fuz will last. Anyone have any ideas on how to ensure this doesn’t happen again?
And before you ask, yes, I know that the girl is grooming him out of boredom, but I have tried toys, and they don’t seem to be working.
I’m housing them in the garage for winter, and any coming severe cold weather, and that’s when this started, so I’m guessing the lack of movement around them has contributed to their boredom.
Thanks for all your help!

I’m confused, do they not have adequate space to move around at the moment?

[Azerane]

Sarah, I think what Sweetbuns means is that because they’re currently in the garage, that there’s not much interaction from people moving around outside the cage as if they were housed inside.

Usually it’s the dominant one that will regularly demand grooming from the submissive one. You could try giving them a stuffed/plush toy in their cage. Something that won’t lose too many fibres and doesn’t have eyes that pose a choking hazard if chewed off (no beanie plushies either). Sometimes a plush animal toy can become one of the bonded group and your female may take to grooming the plush as well, instead of overgrooming your boy.

I’m not sure what else to suggest other than lots of toys as you have mentioned. Do they get regular time out of their cage in a playpen to run around?

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Azerane on 3/13/2017 6:49 AM

Sarah, I think what Sweetbuns means is that because they’re currently in the garage, that there’s not much interaction from people moving around outside the cage as if they were housed inside.

Usually it’s the dominant one that will regularly demand grooming from the submissive one. You could try giving them a stuffed/plush toy in their cage. Something that won’t lose too many fibres and doesn’t have eyes that pose a choking hazard if chewed off (no beanie plushies either). Sometimes a plush animal toy can become one of the bonded group and your female may take to grooming the plush as well, instead of overgrooming your boy.

I’m not sure what else to suggest other than lots of toys as you have mentioned. Do they get regular time out of their cage in a playpen to run around?

Ah okay, I misunderstood, my apologies 

How big is the run area? You could set up boxes and hidey homes and make a bunny obstacle course? And change it up regularly. 

[flemishwhite]

Our two Flemish girls, they are sisters, frequently can be seen grooming each other.  One girl is slightly dominant, but they seem to share grooming.  They frequently sleep side by side. They are house rabbits.  They do have a pen in the living room, but the door is always open. I really need to be more attentive about combing them to remove hair that’s about to shed.  I don’t want them to get too much hair in their stomach.

[Sweetbuns@home]

Thanks for your advice Azerane! I’ll be sure to try that plush toy idea. And to answer your question, yes, I do try to let them out whenever possible and regularly bring them inside my house to roam around and snuggle with me in the afternoon. I have also been noticing that there has been a bit of hostility between the two of them if the boy scares the girl and she then makes an unnerving noise that sounds much like a growl. Do you know what this is called or why it happens?
Thanks again for all your help!

[Sweetbuns@home]

Flemishwhite, I’m not really sure that your answer was relevant to my inquiry. I was asking for an opinion on what I should do about over grooming, not your bonded pair’s grooming habits. I don’t mean to be rude, but your post was not helpful to my concern.

[Limit]

Doesn’t sound like they’re bonded fully to me. I’m bonding my two at the moment and that exact thing is happening, almost as if they forget they’re there until they move? Odd to see really, but it could be because it’s spring and hormones are about more hence why your buns are acting more hostile toward one another? Should hopefully fade out as the month goes on. x

[Sweetbuns@home]

Update…
Hi everybody! I have an update about a new remedy that I’m trying. I recently discovered that the female who is grooming too much doesn’t like the single plant that has the most noticeable smell to it: Mint! After realizing that she hates eating it and knows its smell, I got an idea. I thought that maybe if I rubbed a mint leaf on his head, then she wouldn’t want to groom it anymore because of its smell and taste if she got past the smell. Luckily, he does like mint so at least he wasn’t smelling something he didn’t like all day. However, so far, this idea seems to not be a good one, as I caught her grooming him practically right after I had re-caged the both of them.  They had been outside before that. Please let me know what you think about this potential remedy, and as always, I’m open to new ones. Please tell me if you know something I don’t about this particular method’s safety for my baby boy, buy if there’s no harm in doing it, I think I’ll keep trying this until I cause my mint patch to become completely extinct or his fur is totally grown back. If the latter happens, I’ll be sure to let you guys know as soon as I can! Thanks again for your help!

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