To cut or not to cut?

[angoralvr]

I have been debating whether I want to cut Henri’s hair or not. Here are the reasons I have been thinking about it.

1. He is not that fond of grooming time. With me being new to the rabbit world and him being an angora, this has led to many frustrating nights. I think that if I trimmed his hair he would be a lot easier to groom. Obviously he would still need brushed but it wouldn’t take near as long and I think it would give me a better chance to get him used to me grooming him.

2. I think the break from our nightly forced grooming sessions would give Henri a chance to bond more with me.

3. He tracks stuff around quite a bit with the long hair.

4. I think it would be interesting to see what he looks like trimmed. Plus, I know I have read that angoras tend to molt about every seven months. Henri is seven months old, does that mean he still has his baby coat?

But there are some down sides too.

1. I know Matt will help me but the task of trimming Henri will be pretty daunting.  I think that my local house rabbit society will help me out with it though.

2. I have read that if you trim an angora they need extra food to help keep them warm. I am not sure how true this would be with him inside a house that is kept at about 75 degrees but I guess it should be a concern.

What do you guys think? Is it a bad idea to trim him?

[Sarita]

I have a Fuzzy Lop that I just bonded with one of my Californians to go to a new home and one of my friends and I trimmed him down because he was so matted. His fur is very silky and long.

One thing I would recommend it to see if your vet can do a sanitary trim around his private parts to help keep that neat and trim – they usually have the right type of electric shavers and you don’t have to worry about that very sensitive area to trim. They probably can trim his whole underside too since I imagine that is quite a challenge to comb out and keep mat free.

As far as he is kept inside I would not worry about the temperature since you can control that.

I do think trimming his fur (on topside) will help with alot of your issues and definitely seek advice from your local HRS chapter since they probably have experience with angoras. I’m not sure about the baby fur question or not though.

[Floppy]

hmmm I didn’t know a vet would groom? I’ve heard of services
being provided but thats interesting.

[skunklionshow]

The vet’s office trims my cats private area, b/c she’s too chunky to get back there.  Some groomers do Angora Bunnies.  My cat groomer does angoras, but she asks the owner to be patient and be present during the shave.  Groomers and vets use professional clippers, which cost a couple of hundred bucks—no kidding!  We bought a pair for my ex the tech and they were almost $200, plus you need to get the blades professionally sharpened.  I would discuss the concerns w/ your vet.  Often a tech does the clipping.

[MooBunnay]

I have not had experience before with bunnies being trimmed – but it does seem to me that a house kept at around 75 degrees shouldn’t be too much of a concern for the bunny getting too cool. If it ever got down into the 60’s you could give your bunny a cat bed or some fleecy blankets to sleep on if he wants to get nice and cozy

[Author]

Messages