Molting

[Mackenzi]

I have a bunny that I may have rescued (I found him one day so he might be wild as no one claimed him) when I first got him he didn’t shed. I though this was perfect since I have allergies. Ever since fall of last year he hasn’t stopped molting though. He has been through moves and climate changes since then, but I kept him indoors to keep him cool. I’ve tried grooming him everyday, but brushes don’t seem to get the under coat so I’ve used my hands. He is fine with it for a bit but then gets mad and won’t let me get parts like on his underside. Everywhere there is puffs of grey and white (he is all black so that confuses me. Also important to note I am a first time bun momma). I thought it might be diet but he is pretty well rounded. He gets veggies in the morning, pellets as a treat and hay through out the day. It just doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. When I took him to the vet she didn’t mention anything about the shed being odd. He is a short haired bun about a year old now if not more and thought to be a New Zealand mix. I was even going to see if my vet would trim him down or something, though I read that people don’t gree with shaving buns. It is getting to be a problem and any help would be great.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I can certainly relate to molting being difficult. Some bunnies tend to shed a little bit year round and then there are buns, like mine, who completely blow their coat several times a year. Diet and temperature don’t affect shedding. It’s the changing of the daylight. I’m not really sure how that works when we have inside buns, however. It can seem like a molt is going to last forever. And it’s my experience that most buns do not like being groomed. My lop will tolerate it but my new boy HATES it. He spends the whole grooming trying to jump into my arms or hitting me. The best thing to get all that hair off, if there are no brushes you find helpful (or this can also be used after grooming with brushes) is the wet hands method. Get a little bowl of water and wet your hands, shake off the excess and smooth your hands over the bunny. Rub hands together to remove the fur and repeat until there is no more fur coming off. This is a great way to get the hair off in hard to brush places like armpit areas and belly. This really keeps the fly away fur balls to a minimum and removes the fur that bunny could lick off and ingest.

[Mackenzi]

I’m going to have to try that! Thank you so much! He loves to be petted so I might be able to get away with some grooming this way.

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