My rabbit has dry, scaly skin, shedding, and dandruff. What's wrong?

That certainly looks like seborrhea to me. The most common cause of this type of symptom in rabbits is called a fur mite (cheyletiella). To treat or prevent these types of mites, the use of Revolution (a preventative marketed for dogs and cats) should be used. In order to determine if this is the cause definitively, a skin scraping would be needed. Sometimes, diagnosing these can be tricky even when you know exactly what you are looking for, so often it is better to just try and treat to see if there is any improvement.

Binky may be suffering from mites, as may your other rabbit. Patchy fur loss with flaking along the rabbit's back is typical for the mite Cheyletiella parasitovorax, Your veterinarian may examine a sticky tape preparation or skin scraping under the microscope for the presence of mites, however, might sometimes not find any, even though they are present on the rabbit. Mites are usually eradicated easily. Classic treatment is with injectable or oral ivermectin, or a selamectin spot on given in treatments two weeks apart. As mites live in the environment of your rabbit, it is essential to thoroughly clean your rabbit's cage and disinfect areas after each treatment to control reinfestation, since fur and dander in the environment may contain mite eggs. You will need to treat all rabits in your household.

This could be due to Cheyletiella parasitovorax, a rabbit skin mite. It's characterized by by patchy fur loss with flaking on the back of a rabbit. I'd have Rueben seen by a vet to have this diagnosed and treated.

Cheyletiela mites are often difficult to see with the naked eye, they can be treated either with ivermectin spot ons or Revolution spot ons, both are prescription medications that you will need to get from your vet.

Thanks for your question about Wesley, and great job on picking up on these changes on his skin. From the photos, I am seeing some yellow like material near the surface of the skin as well as some white flakes. These could be due to an ectoparasite, such as mites, or it could be environmental. Due to the potential for an external parasite, I would recommend having him evaluated by a veterinarian in your area. This would allow them to take samples from the skin's surface and hairs to look at them under the microscope. Depending on what they find, they may prescribe a medication for parasites, or may provide some husbandry change suggestions. I hope this helps to answer your question, and good luck to you and Wesley!

Hello! I'm sorry your bun has a nose problem! If it doesn't go away on its own within a few days, or if it starts to spread, I would take your bun in to your veterinarian who may want to do a skin scraping or collect hairs from the area to make sure your bun doesn't have a mite or fungal infection. Some kinds of infections can be spread to people too, so especially if it is getting worse I would make sure to get a diagnosis so you can start treatment.

If the skin looks normal where the hair is missing then it is possible that the other bunny is pulling it out OR Snow White could be self mutilating as well. Also mites and ringworm are common in rabbits as well. I would encourage you to have her evaluated by a veterinarian. In the meantime please practice good hygiene after handling her as ring worm is contagious to people as well. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.