Meet Marvin, a 5 y/o lop mix rescue who just came home today.
He's not my first rabbit, but he is my first encounter with a skin fold on his butt. I'm not finding a lot of discussion/info about this online, so maybe it just isn't a big deal. I'm just curious if there's any additional cafe needed beyond the usual basic grooming, since I imagine it gets matted/dirty pretty easily. I'm assuming frequent checks, trim mats that show up, and use scentless baby wipes if there's any pee/poop in there?
I'll be scheduling an appointment with my vet to get him established and will absolutely ask about this then, but I'm curious about others' experiences in the meantime.
Otherwise, he's settling in very well and is already eating, pooping, exploring, and loving pets just 4 hours in. I may be able to start bonding him to my Mocha sooner than I expected, depending on how his acclimation continues over the next few days.
by Superb-Perspective86
4 Comments
I’ve seen this before on rabbits that were overweight and lost weight. It’s just extra skin. Not sure if the owners had to do anything special for care.
It’s mostly mats forming, especially during molts, and they tend to be extra fluffy on their bums, so sanitary shaves may be a good idea if you find it wet or poop stuck down there.
It seems to be mainly a lop thing in my experience, even if they were never overweight.
Usually it’s not an issue.
Check it when doing your routine health checks/grooming
I had a doe that grew a second dewlap roll and other skin folds. She injured her second dewlap roll so I got her skin removal surgery. It did grow back crooked but didn’t get as big.
Excess skin can be due to weight loss, continued skin growth can be a hormone imbalance.
Update: Thanks for all the responses so far! It’s reassuring to hear how y’all have handled it with your buns.
He’s been acclimating shockingly well to his new environment, so I decided to push him a bit and did a little butt inspection to see what was going on under there. He was very matted, but it wasn’t horrific or severe. I was able to trim the worst of it, but didn’t want to push him too far on his first full day in a new environment. I’ll keep trimming away in short spurts until it’s cleared out/I get him to the vet. Otherwise, he’s eating great, his poops are gorgeous, he’s very sweet and snuggly, and he’s very curious/focused on exploring his environment. I think he’ll settle in very nicely ❤️