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

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Small Animal | Rabbit | Male | neutered | 6 lbs

my rabbit has dry scaly bloody patches all over his back close to his tail and hes shedding like crazy and the patches of hair look like he has dandruff how can i treat this at home?

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Dayna, DVM, CVA

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on November 7th, 2017

I’m sorry Holly is going through this. Unfortunately diagnosing skin diseases by a picture isn’t really possible as many diseases look very similar. Rabbits commonly have mites, and based on your description that is my most likely guess. Cheyletiella is commonly called “walking dandruff” because of how thick the scale is on the bunnies back. Of course ring worm, bacterial infections, as well as other types of mites are always possible. A veterinarian will want to do a skin scrape to verify and identify the mites. There are several therapies, but I typically use revolution. It sounds like she may also need antibiotics if the lesions are infected as well. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

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