1. You’ll be surprised at how much fur one bunny has! Some bunnies moult really bad and even get bald patches from it, but generally I think most buns have a seemingly unending amount of fur even after a loooong brushing session.

Personally I brush Kurotta until the brush (or lint roller) doesn’t seem to be getting much fur anymore. I suppose if it’s fur you can easily get off with pure brushing, chances are it’s already loose and would’ve come off anyway – you’re just lending a helping hand They look so much neater after some thorough brushing! Case in point: https://www.instagram.com/p/BlX6NjZAOgs/?taken-by=kurottabun

2. 3mm can be a lot or very little depending on how big of a bun he is – e.g. if I clipped 3mm off Kurotta’s nails it’s probably like half of the whole nail itself, since he’s a wee Netherland Dwarf. The quick can be easily spotted if the bunny’s nails are light coloured. If it’s dark coloured, you can shine a torch on it to get a better view so you won’t accidentally clip it. The “press, press, clip” technique is pretty good – basically you press the clipper on the nail two times before actually clipping it – if the bunny retracts the paw when you press the clipper then it could be too near the quick, so try moving it further down until it’s at a more comfortable distance.

I don’t really have a recommendation of “how much” to clip, but if you can hear the bunny’s nails when they run on a tiled or wood surface then it’s too long.

You ask very important questions! Unfortunately, it is a case that every rabbit is different, but I think there are some general guidelines or “markers” you can examine to find out what works best for you and your rabbit:

[Grooming]
1. Your grooming rate should match the rate the fur is releasing. Rabbit fur is not like human hair where it constantly grows. Rabbit fur sort of decides that it wants to release in small/large chunks and then grow in when it feels like it as well. A classic interpretation is I pet Wick’s head one evening, then that morning, I can suddenly pluck out a quarter-sized patch out of his head because the fur decided to release overnight. If you go to groom and find a big place of release, you should tackle it as best you can and the following days so your rabbit doesn’t ingest much of it. If you’re checking out the fur-scenario and there’s not much release anywhere, there’s not as much pressure to go crazy with grooming because the fur is not ready yet.

2. For a rabbit that’s shedding heavily, that actually does not seem like too much fur on the brush after 3 minutes. Another thing to assess is whether the method your using is a) effective at getting a good amount of fur and b) is something your rabbit is comfortable with. I have a furminator brush for Wick that he hates, so typically my go-to is to handpluck his released tufts out while he lounges. Try different methods and see what works. Many people use a lint roller. For Wick, I find that didn’t get much or if I wanted it to, I’d have to go through a ton of sticky sheets to let it do that. Plus he’d try and attack the lint roller after one swipe.

[Nail Clipping]
1. There’s no pressure to do every claw in one session. Lots of owners break it up for their sake and their rabbits. It’s helpful to have a handy drawing that you can “check off” which ones you’ve done and when, that way you can keep track.

2. The amount you cut is based on your comfort level and how long you go between trimming the nails. If you trim frequently, you’re not going to clip off much, while if you wait until the nails are visibly past the fur line and are definitely clacking against all flooring, it will be more. A better gauge is seeing how much room you see between the end of the claw to the quick (red blood line). This is harder/sometimes impossible to see in black clawed rabbits, but if your rabbit has at least one white nail, you will see the quick. Generally, you want it as close to the quick as possible without actually cutting it. If you feel you’re too close, just move more outside. Your rabbit may also flinch away if you’re too close because there’s an uncomfortable pressure felt when clippers begin pressing on the quick line.

I trim Wick pretty frequently. Probably once a month, and he’s a small netherland dwarf so his nails are tiny as it is. This is usually how long the clippings are: http://www.instagram.com/p/Bb5EZsiFbhK/?taken-by=wick_theboogeyman

Obviously the longer you wait, perhaps the easier it is. The benefit of more frequent trimmings is the quick may recede down, but you want to balance your comfort as well.

I’ve had Kurotta since March and so far we’ve only been able to actually pull out “chunks” of fur once. The rest were all lighter moults.

For belly fur it’s a bit trickier since many buns don’t like to be touched there and it’s not really good to flip them on their back either.

Kurotta had a pretty heavy moult one time and his belly fur was quite tangled from all the self-grooming (his saliva made the fur clump together and it matted). Since he goes crazy for pellets, we put some pellets on somewhere elevated (this could be a small box or anything that has a flat, elevated surface) and made him stand with his hind legs on the floor while his front paws rested on the elevated surface. This posture allowed for his belly to be somewhat exposed and we just sneakily ran a comb through his belly a few times to get rid of the matted fur, plucking all other loose fur while at it. He was happily chomping down the pellets and it was a great distraction!