Grooming = Growling

[Nutmeg]

Tips for Grooming ??? 
So one of my two new bunnies,Rupert,  is going through his first big shed….. he has fur going EVERYWHERE and I can pull it out in tuffs .. when he lets me that is, as he wont stay still for anything lol.
I am new to this whole massive molting thing! 
Rupert is a Dwarf / Dutch crosses and has more dwarf than Dutch – if that helps at all. 

What I’ve tried…. 

1. Soft Brush – they don’t mind it when I get them on a run bye, but it doesn’t seem to get much fur off.

2. the wire brush with the tips of each bristle kind of bent inwards, it catches and does a better job of getting the fur out, but they don’t like it as it pulls – which it wouldn’t do if they would stay still LOL

3. ****** Ok so I thought this was Brilliant…. another member on here mentioned that they use a sticky lint roller brush. He wouldn’t let me get at him last night with it –  BUT he LOVES food – so I figured I would try it while he was distracted eating his pellets this morning …. well… he growled at me!! which has never happened before!! 

I hate to say that it was kind of funny – as he obviously wasn’t happy – but he KEPT Eating… I would run the roller along his side and he would Growl, but wouldn’t lift his head up from eating… another roll… GROWLLllllll Grrrrrr….. kept eating lol 
BUT the lint roller worked AMAZING!! I could only roll 3 times though – as I knew I was pushing my luck and that growl would turn into more and I didn’t want to break his trust. 

So do you think I should keep going with the lint roller, even just a couple of rolls twice a day? 
Or do you have something else that works for you to get them to stay still for it, besides food? 

Thanks guys!!! 

[Whiskers]

What I did with Whiskers(his previous owner didn’t brush him regularly) was take it slow. If you see him chilling on floor go pet him, make of him then brush him out for a few. It takes time for them to get use to being brushed. There is so much to see and investigate.

After awhile a couple weeks I was able to brush most of him. Right above the top of the tail is still working on solo. When I do that hubby sits on the floor and just Pat’s him talks to him and I commence to brushing. He is getting much better and a few more times and I will be able to solo brush him out.

Whiskers is going through a major shedding right now. I brush him daily and sometimes twice. He is a year old.

Rupert is a comical little bun? you must have tons of laughs.

[Nutmeg]

Hey Whiskers!!! Rupert’s nick name is Poopert – as his hormones had him pooping everywhere to mark his territory LOL that’s is calming down now that he was neutered though lol.

Its funny because he’s never growled before – ever! But he doesn’t like to be petted for more than a 2 second head scratch lol.
My previous bunny would lay down beside me for hours to be petted, so that was how I groomed her – with my hands. So this is new territory for me lol

And oh man – he is a ham! The day after his neuter he was confined to his cage for recovery – I opened the lid to put food in and he jumped out of the TOP of his cage. So much for “taking it easy” lol.

[Asriel and Bombur]

Nutmeg, Poopert sounds just like a combination of Bombur and Az xD

I always just do it a few times a day while they’re eating treats or munching because they just get up and flick their feet at me.

It’s funny you say he growled for the first time yesterday! I was playing hard to get with his papaya and made him really reach for it, when I hear the biggest honk xD first time he’s ever done that and my hubs and I were so stunned. Funny for sure though!

[Whiskers]

Your bunnies sound like a hoot. Whiskers is a very quiet bunny. He even chews quietly. Maybe that’s why we haven’t noticed anything chewed. We don’t hear him so he must not be doing it. LoL haven’t found no damage yet.

Whiskers loves attention. Eats out of our hands, sits still for brushing, loves on the cat( I truly believe he thinks the cat is a funny looking bunny as they groom each other)

Oh the poops. We had a small issue with that then when we got him neutered no more. Not even 1 poop outside his litter box.

Bunnies are Awesome companions. Whiskers has definitely made us consider another one down the road. Just not right now. Whiskers has spoiled us with his good nature and good manners.

[Nutmeg]

Hey A&B – I’ve missed you around here!!! Glad you are back
OMG LOL I haven’t heard the honk yet – more of a grunting (not growling) when he was trying to get to Penny in her cage before he was neutered though…

I’ve been pre-bonding them now that they are both fixed and was hoping most of the hormone craze was out of his system…. they had an accidental first meeting (thought I had fully latched his cage door… nope … *facepalm*) and she put her head down towards him for grooming and he instantly started humping her FACE (ahhhh – guess not lol) She didn’t react thankfully lol, but I came running down the stairs while the facehumping was in progress and picked him up and plopped him back in his cage haha

And Oh man, Whiskers – he is a LOT better now, but not perfect… he’s been pulling ALL the hay out of the holder and then see’s that as also his litter box and poops while he sits in that new pile while eating LOL

But thankfully there has now been ZERO territory poops – this is just working on litter training stuff now lol.

And my last bunny was like yours… wanted all the attention and pets.. these two could care less lol

[Asriel and Bombur]

It’s good to be back Nutmeg Sometimes you just need a break to clear your mind and heart.

What Whiskers is doing, might be a good idea. Both boys have a litter box that I put pine pellets on the bottom, at first I had a grate but it was too much to keep washing constantly, so now I just leave it open and put hay on one side, but the boys just push it around and it’s all in the box. Cuts down on double the clean up

[Nutmeg]

Ya, I think that is the route I will end up going! – there shared litter box in their common area (I’m using it as part of the pre-bonding to get them used to the other bunnies scent in the litter box they are in) is like that and most of the hay stays in it.

It’s just in their cages – which hopefully wont be needed once they are bonded – as they will have 24/7 access to their play land and the one cage will never be locked – uses the hay rack it comes with.

And I hear you on needing the time away. Glad you are feeling up to being back

[Author]

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