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My rabbit is losing the hair around her nose, and the skin there is also looking crusty. I took my rabbit to a vet but they don't know what's wrong with her. The outline of her mouth is also very dirty.

She is not sneezing. She is almost 2 months old and staying with me in my room although she has her cage. There are no other pets inside the house but we have chickens and dogs outside, she never goes outside though.

I just recently got her from the pet store she has been with me for a week already and I started to notice she is losing hair on her nose on the fourth day. I saw one rabbit losing hair also in its nose area, but my rabbits looked completely fine when i got her. Her nose is getting tiny multiple scabs now.

I gave her a warm bath and felt her nose is hard to touch. and also the side of her mouth is quiet dirty i tried to wipe it off with a wet tissue but it's as if stuck on her skin.

She eats water spinach (kangkong) as I have yet to get hay and proper pellets because it is not that accessible here in the philippines but I will be getting her hay soon after reading Kangkong (morning glories) as rabbit diet

What could be causing this and how do I cure it?

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Here is the photo of her bald spot, sorryy for the low quality picture but when I looked closely it has some white small dandruff like flakes on the skin:

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Nothing in your home care as you have described it, sounds likely to have caused what you are seeing. You have been to the vet who did not find a cause, and there was another rabbit at the pet store with similar symptoms.

The most likely cause is a virus like Herpes simplex people get these outbreaks often called a cold sore. Rabbits can get these Herpes viruses as well.

In the pictures the red areas, and your description of small scabs are consistent with what you would expect in a rabbit with Herpes on the nose, you are unlikely to see the small blisters as they are itchy and your rabbit will wash her face much like a cat and probably break the blisters before you see them. Herpes is fairly contagious and rabbits groom each other, so it would be expected that all the kits in the same family would likely get them. There is a 5 to 10 day incubation period so you would expect to see outbreaks occurring with different kits at different times.

You may want to consider putting a cone on her, IF your vet agrees. There are some light weight cones in this related question What can I do when the cone of shame is too heavy? If it is a Herpes virus, your bunny can spread it to other areas of her body, if she gets it in her eyes she could be blinded. BE AWARE bunnies are dependent on cecotropes and a cone could negatively impact their diet and digestive health.

There are reports of the Herpes simplex (human version) being transmitted between rabbits and people it is difficult to guess which type your bunny has (there are several) so you should use care not to infect yourself when handling her.

Of course I am guessing, it may not be Herpes or a similar virus. But pending a diagnosis by your vet, I would be cautious. If this is the Herpes virus I would expect the area to clear up on it's own in 1 to 3 weeks, it may reoccur occasionally. Be alert for fresh outbreaks in the same or other areas.

There is nothing particularly unusual or unhealthy I can see in the bald spot in the last photo. The skin appears healthy, she just does not have any fur there. If she is molting it could be from that, or it could be from interactions with her litter mates. You may want to consider flea treatement. We use Revolution which requires a prescription in the US and is relatively expensive, but is the safest product I know of.

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  • Thank you so much for the info, I appreciate it very much. I forgot to mention that when I got her she has red fleas when I was brushing her fur, I removed all of it and I haven't seen one on her ever since. i just recently noticed that she has a bald spot on her back I will post additional photos. I also did some research and Revolution with proper dosage seemed to be okay for rabbits even if they don't have mites it acts as prevention. Feb 12, 2015 at 2:57
  • I will ask the vet about coning her and the possibility of her having herpes virus. I will update you as soon. Again thank you so much @james jenkins! Feb 12, 2015 at 2:58

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