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Forum DIET & CARE Pulling out chunks of fur…

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    • QueenThumper
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        I’ve had Thumper for about a year now and the last time she had a big shedding was around Easter time.  It was such a dramatic shed that it looked like she had squiggles on her sides from the difference between the old fur that was growing out which was lighter in color, and the newer fur which was darker.

        She is starting to shed again, so I thought I would help her out by bringing out the shedding brush.  After awhile, I realized I could tug out whole chunks of her old hair from her back.  She was tooth purring during this, so I figured she was enjoying it.  However, only the hair from her back was coming out like that… the other hair was coming out with some brushing, but it was not coming out in chunks like the hair on her back.

        Is there something wrong with her, or is this normal?  Also, is tugging out chunks of hair like this OK for her or am I trying to speed up the process too quickly? 

         

         


      • Monkeybun
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          I think I’d stick with the brush, you’d be tugging out the growing in fur as well as the stuff she’s shedding, so it wouldn’t help much. She’d just have to regrow it all over again.


        • Sarita
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            This is normal. I sometimes chunk out the fur like you are doing as well, but most of my rabbits don’t like this. If she tolerates this as long as it easily pulls out that would be okay to continue this.


          • Balefulregards
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              Coco is in a major molt right now too – and I use both the brush – but also the “Pluck” technique – I’ve noticed sometimes when I brush her she has “sensitive” spots, where I can only guess that the new hair is coming in (?)

              After I brush her as much as she will stand, I pluck out the lingering tufts ( only if they come right out) and then use my hand to smooth her down several times. I find that I get quite a bit of loose fur which most likely was disturbed, but not brought up by the brush. She will allow me to go the length of her body doing this and I quick pluck at her bum – where she likes being groomed Least.

              But Oh – The sad sight of a bunny in full molt. Could there be a more pathetic – yet attempting to look dignified animal?


            • QueenThumper
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                I was worried I might be tugging out the new fur as well, but I’m not. I went in and checked all of the spots and the new hair seems to be growing in fine, just much shorter. In every spot where I was able to tug out the old hair, new hair was already there in its place.

                Since she is tooth purring during the light tugging, I figure she may even like it. It pulls out really easily. I only started doing this because after five minutes of brushing the same spot, there was still hair. It’s a pretty intense molt, and her hair is quite long. My guess is that the hair on her back is groomed by her less often than her sides, and this is why there is so much loose hair in that particular area.

                I don’t even attempt to touch her furry Lionhead-skirted bum anymore… hahaha… the grey butt-tufts never comb out, and I’m guessing the wool there is permanent. Thumper will always act like a queen, no matter how hairless her back is. =P At least it’ll keep her a little cooler during the warm weather we’re having!


              • Balefulregards
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                  Coco tooth purrs too – I take it as the “Oh yeah, thats right – keeping doing that, baby”


                • wendyzski
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                    That looks fine to me.  Pepper sheds down to very fine black velvet in patches as her new coat comes in on her back and butt, and gentle plucking helps clear out the dead stuff.  I know someone whose bun sheds down to naked pink patches but he’s fine with that/.


                  • hooty22
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                      Felony molts like that. He looks super pathetic when his mane comes out, but he kind of looks like a baby bunny again when it starts to grow back out.


                    • QueenThumper
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                        Thanks, I feel a lot better now. =) Maybe Lionheads just have a larger molt than other bunnies, or just longer-haired bunnies in general? She doesn’t have much of a mane, but I think her hair is still a lot longer than a normal Dutch would be…


                      • hooty22
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                          She does look like she’s got some longish hair. If she isn’t running from you when you do it, she probably recognizes it as a subserviant rabbit helping her groom.

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                      Forum DIET & CARE Pulling out chunks of fur…