Hi everyone, my boyfriend and I rescued a bunny this year about a month after Easter. This community has been wonderful with answering so many of our questions! We definitely want to thank this community. So here we are again, bunnies first molting session with us.
When we rescued Thor, he was missing patches of fur so we were obviously concerned about his prior care (he was abandoned). Fast forward to today, we now know he was most likely molting when we first found him. He had A LOT of mats in his fur that we tried to brush out but still lingered in more sensitive parts of his body. Note: we had never heard of the concept of molting at the time of his rescue.
At the current moment, he’s molting again but we’re actually concerned that his first coat didn’t really molt off properly because he was abandoned and had no brushing or help to shed it.
My point is – he still has some massive mats. Little 2.5 lb body with mats that take up half his side body.
Thus far, he’s shed his upper half but not the sides and back body. Should we be cutting these massive mats out? They are really past the point of being brushable and might still be there from his last molting session.
Any tips for new owners with molting bunnies please. What are owners supposed to do during this time? And how long does this process take to complete?
Picture: you can see his new fur coming in. I feel like some of his mats are preventing the remaining fur from shedding off his lower half of the body. Yes, he has a little bit of missing fur from his side body. He is literally shedding in clumps. Which we had a roomba…
by TheDon858
7 Comments
Mounting = molting 🤪
I am currently combing through rabbits that were never groomed for 4 years. I get a full grocery bag full of hair weekly for the past few months. I think that they have access hair from not being groomed for sure.
I had to cut a couple matted spots from one of them. The matted fur was far away from the skin so it was easy to cut off with scissors. If your bun has matted fur close to the skin I would let a pro deal with it.
My other bun is blowing his coat in huge sections. He had massive bald spots but the fur that has grown back in is extremely soft and pure white. He looks like a new man lol
Don’t be afraid to cut the parts you can’t comb through, and don’t be concerned with big bald sections. I highly recommended the fur buster for a comb, and have a fan blowing behind you lol
Wish I could help 🙁 did you post in /rabbits? Never had a long haired bb sorry 🙁
So I know it is perfectly safe (and in this case probably healthy) to use clippers or scissors on long haired bunnies. It’s of course personal preference if you let his hair grow out again afterwards, but it would be a good idea to trim things down so you can make sure he doesn’t have any more mats. Good luck!
I have an English angora. Please don’t try to brush through the mats, because that can be painful. Just get a pair of scissors and cut them off. I have to sheer my angora once every 6-8 weeks. It’s okay for you to remove fur. It will grow back. Your bun looks like they are having a heavy molt. Bunnies can ingest fur during molting when they are doing more grooming. This causes them to have wooly poops (Not the best thing).
Please know that you are doing nothing wrong. Whatever you can do to help bunny get through the molt faster is very helpful. Brushing or sheering. Whatever that may be. It will grow back.
Also, if your bun is an angora or has wool instead of fur, definitely get a buzzer. My angora’s “wool” never stops growing, so I regularly buzz to make him for comfortable. Your bun just might be a little bit more higher maintenance than the short haired buns and that’s okay. Here’s my high maintenance Chippies.
https://preview.redd.it/07m21vtcqugb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18523767d8459ae5c6bba771e8a2e27e8b8b0c37
Scissors and trimmer
Thank you everyone! We got a bunny brush that was recommended and yesterday used our golden retriever’s ferminator while the brush is still shipping. Huge huge difference. We also cut out all the mats and he’s looking like a new bun!