Brushing my bunnies belly?

[ILoveLucy]

Lucy is shedding, or maybe molting…and it looks like it is all coming from her belly. It’s the super soft fluffy white fur, not the short little brown hair from her back.  And there is ALOT of it.

Even though I have read a million things all saying it’s normal for buns to shed their hair…I freaked out a little when I came home and there was so much fur in the corner of her cage that it looks like a second smaller bunny had moved in!

I mean we are talking an entire handful of fluffy white fuzz! Are we ok? Do I need to worry? (I’m going to worry anyway…)

I immediately lured her into a standing position with a carrot so I could see her belly. But it doesn’t even look like she lost any fur! No bald or thin spots. And it’s now been almost 48 hours since I made this discovery and I haven’t seen any more fur, and she isn’t acting wierd or hurt or anything

I’ve had her only a little less then three weeks, so we aren’t quite at the point in our relationship where she is going to let me pick her up, stretch her out on her back and pull hair out of her underside….

We’ve progressed pretty well in that I can pet her at length and she actually likes when I brush her back and all her brown fur.  But she’ll only let me pick her up for short trips and she is NOT happy about it. I can’t imagine she is going to let me turn her over and brush her belly!

Any suggestions? I took all the fur out of her cage immediately, and her eating and pooping seems normal, so I don’t think she has a hair ball…but I am worried about it happening again.

 

 

[Sani]

heehee your bunny isnt going to let you brush her belly. most buns wont even go on their backs on their own.
how old is your bunny? could she be possibly pulling out her fur to make a nest? i’ve never owned a female rabbit but i heard that it isnt uncommon for them to have a false pregnancy

[Elrohwen]

Her undercoat is most likely the white fluffy fur you’re finding – it’s probably not from her belly. It’s very unlikely that she’ll let you groom her belly, so just focus on grooming as much of her back and sides as you can. Bunnies can shed out their whole coat and grow a new one in a few months, so it’s not at all unusual to find huge tumbleweeds of hair as they’re shedding. We took a shedding bunny to my parents’ house for Christmas and my mom is still finding bunny fur around!

[skibunny8503]

Yeah I think it’s usually the undercoat that is shedding. But if you did brush their bellies, I would use a brush for a baby with the soft bristles, that way it’s nice a gentle.

[RabbitPam]

I agree.

[KatnipCrzy]

I would watch her for signs of a false pregnancy- that sounds like a lot of hair to have shed out on its own.

Of course she still needs to be combed and groomed anyway- but sounds suspicious of beginning of false pregnancy to me.

Julie

[ILoveLucy]

Yeah it is the wierdest thing, there has been a single strand of hair since then (and it’s now been well over a week.) We are taking her to the doctor next week though. Just a first check up since we adopted her from a shelter, and to talk to the Vet about getting spayed. So we will make sure she’s ok.
I thought about false pregnancy too – but she dosen’t seem to have any other symptoms. She didn’t put the fur in her bed – she hasn’t been acting any differently or protective. She doesn’t dig or make nests.
Maybe she is just decided to get all the grooming/shedding over in one session. She IS a very particular lady.

Thank you everyone for the comments. I don’t know what I would do with out this website. It’s made being a first bunny owner much easier.

[Rippy]

When you bring her fresh vegetables you can force her to stand up by giving her ssmaller bits like you would a treat and try to brush her a few times and repeat. But I would not do this unless you have a brush that won’t be clumsy like that and is soft enough not to hurt her if she decides to drop down.

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