Sheding

[Ralph]

HI there ,

Nice to be bakc , I had some general questions on Rabbits as I have nobody intelligent in my vicinity to ask ^^ 

 

My Rabbit (2.5 years old

And he is currently “shedding” (or is it called different with rabbits) at the moment … I am having fights with my wife about the way to handle this. My opinion is this: during the shedding period my plan is just to brush him at least twice a day , and leave it at that.
But my wife is convinced that this is not acceptable as she sees the rabbit groom himself and apparently digesting some hairs in the process. She takes a more drastic approach and uses scotch tape to remove entire patches of fur. It’s breaking my heart to see my de-patched rabbit like this. Your thoughts please.

Is rabbit fur even in a non-shedding perioded easily torn off, I wonder if it it’s removed so easily during shedding periods only.

Also I say someone give some rabbits bread , is this wise ? thank you

 

Ralph

[Sarita]

Hi Ralph, what a beautiful rabbit.

I’m with you on this one. Brushing twice a day. Also make sure he eats plenty of hay during his shedding. I sometimes pick hay clumps off my rabbits but I know they must find that unpleasant so I’m not a fan of the scotch tape thing either. Rabbits do have very thin and sensitive skin.

No to the bread, that is not good. Stick with the basics – unlimited hay, fresh veggies, and limited pellets. Occasional treat (fresh fruit – small amount – is good or papaya or acidiophilous tablets make nice treats).

[Beka27]

He is adorable! Welcome back!

I agree, more frequent brushing is the best way to handle shedding season. Some members here (myself included) have used a lint roller on our buns. It’s a very easy way to pick up some of the loose furs without doing a complete brushing. That’s another idea too, but it’s important to brush at least once a day during shedding.

[Furface]

no bread & keep wife away from either the tape or the rabbit

[BinkyBunny]

I ditto ditto! No tape. I understand your wife’s obsession of wanting to get those loose tuffs off though. Besides not wanting them to digest too much fur, the fur looks very uneven. Every time I see those little fur tuffs…I just wanna inch over there and pull them out without the bunny noticing (they hate it) . Or I’ll try the “pet and sneak pluck” move.

It’s very hard to resist, but some tuffs are not loose, they are just the longer old fur that hasn’t loosened yet, and that can be painful for a bunny to have that pulled out. So tell your wife we understand her wanting to prevent the bunny from digesting too much – her heart is in the right place, but “Step away from the Tape”. And since she is wanting to get all loose fur off right away, I would also stay in charge of the brushing as you can actually take off too much fur. Molting takes time. Some bunnies do an explosion molt in a week, while other bunnies take a few weeks.   Again, you can actually take off too much fur which can possibly make it take longer as the “good” fur as been taken off and needs to regrow which in turn can make new hair that has already grown in look like the “molting” hair because it is longer and then that can cause a cycle of brushing and pulling – a molt that never ends.

I also ditto “No to bread”. Now that is something that can cause digestive issues.

Brushing once a day is fine, (twice if fine if he’s a major molt). Rabbit skin is very senstive so you don’t want to over brush either.

 Encourage lots of fiber intake with hay and fresh “wet” greens as hydration is also important during this time.

Happy Motling VIbes and no “I told you so’s” allowed to spouses. 

[jerseygirl]

Posted By BinkyBunny on 09/13/2009 02:48 PM

Every time I see those little fur tuffs…I just wanna inch over there and pull them out without the bunny noticing (they hate it) . Or I’ll try the “pet and sneak pluck” move.

Oh me too! It must drive them nuts!!

That’s a beautiful picture of your bunny!  Molting has been crazy this year.  If the scotch tape is banned, maybe you could get one of those sticky lint rollers as a compromise.  Much more gentle.  Apparently the hairbuster comb is really good – well at least , some members here seem a fan of it.  Gentle plucking gets out alot of the loose stuff too.  Good luck!

[MooBunnay]

If your wife really wants to get rid of some of that loose fur, have her dampen her hands slightly and run them over the bunny, that will pick up a lot of loose fur.

The tape doesn’t seem like a good idea to me, and if you are brushing twice a day that seems sufficient. Bread isn’t on the recommended bunny diet, their digestive system isn’t really designed for that, but if you’d like to give them a treat I’d stick with fruits and veggies.

Your bunny is super handsome, that is a really nice photo!

[Ralph]

Thanks for the kind responses you guys , thanks for the compliments about the photo !!!

See you later

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

He’s cute!! I know your pain-all mine are shedding shedding shedding…I am eating more hair then they are wearing right now!

[Monkeybun]

I think bunny fur has become the special ingredient in my cooking, Monkey has been shedding so much! lol

[Author]

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