Matted Fur

I have a five month old doe with very long grayish, whitish, a ring of redish fur. Strangely, her fur is extremely long considering her heritage. She looks like a little fuzz ball. Considering we just have one rabbit and a smallish hutch, she doesn't move around much. Therefore, mats formed around her back legs, front legs, and under her throat. I think it is due to her moving and she can't groom her throat area. I brush her quite vigorously and the mats won't go away. During the summer, I was forced to have cut her fur. I cut the mats out and it looks choppy and not professional yet she wasn't cut and seemed to be moving more freely. But, but a couple months later, it all grew back and the mats returned.
I don't want to cut them again due to or being winter and she lives in my not heated barn, I don't know what to do. Should I just keep brushing? Could someone help me?
Thank you!

-Thank from me and Sophie, the fuzz ball

Firstly you say you have a smallish hutch how big is it as she may need more space if she isn't moving around much, maybe she can't.

Is she an Angora rabbit at all ? I have a couple of long haired bunnies and an Angora rabbit and you need to brush them very gently a number of times a week so they don't get matted up and you have to be very careful brushing them don't brush vigorously as rabbit skin can be very fragile and paper thin and easily tears.

You need to get the matt under her throat out as matts under a rabbits throat can strangle or choke them, matts also pull the skin when a rabbit moves so that will tear the skin.

Here is some info for you on grooming long haired rabbbits

http://www.mybunny.org/info/groom_long_haired.htm

Hi there, welcome to HH

I think that the first thing to think about is the space that she has.

Did you know that in the wild a bun covers approx 6 sq miles a day and that the RSPCA guidelines say a bunny should be in a hutch of at least 6 ft x 2ft x 2ft and have a 6x4 ft run permanently attached?

Here is the rabbit welfare association website below, I would deffo advise a read. The info is put together by vets and other experts and really is worth taking their advice.

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/

We all understand that there is very little education about buns out there and it's not that people mean not to give them enough space - it's just that they don't know they should.

Think of it like this ..... Would you put a dog into the same size space relative to its size, and leave it there? Would you then put that dog in a shed on its own with no company, no space to even run, jump or stretch?

We are all here to help you give your bun a better quality of life so please do ask any questions you might have as it sounds like you really want the best for her, and we all started somewhere :-)

Katie x

Maysie has offered good advice, i think she has some of the hairyest bunnies on the forum! i can understand why you don't want to cut her fur at this time of year, but it might be the only option if you struggle to manage her fur. She shouldn't get too cold if you only cut what you have to. Don't worry about it looking professional either as its what makes bunny more comfortable.

As for the hutch, this could be making the problem worse and there are a lot of serious health and behavioural issues relating to small hutches. It sounds like you have your own land or stables from what you have said? Are the stables secure? Are any farm cats able to get in? If they are predator safe, and you have one spare, putting the hutch in one and leaving the hutch door open and the stable door closed with some of your horse bedding on the floor would make a lovely big bunny space.

Welcome love, I hope bun is OK.

Hugs

JO xx

Wow you guys, thank you so much for all the advice! I will try and answer all your questions to the best of my ability.

Well, she is an Angora cross Australian Meat Rabbit. Strangely considering her father had not too long fur and her mother's was short, her fur is so long and wiry.

My hutch is about 3 feet and 9 1/2 inches in length. Then two feet in height and two feet in width. It is a hutch that I made myself with scrap material from my barn but it is sturdy and strong. It is separated into two sides. One side is about a foot and 9 1/2 inches and it is dark. The other side is about two feet and is more airy with a mesh wire door that covers the front but these both features are in the same hutch.

My barn is where we keep her during the summer considering it is cooler because the barn is open. There is just a roof and anything can walk in. My family is kind of poor and we can't afford to put walls. The two stalls are full and the hay stall is always full. So, we would have to put her outside the structure in the open. We have coyotes, eagles, hawks, and other predators that always come to our place but they don't come inside the electric fence. We have the roof on the hutch so the birds that could get her can't.

We do have a small pen that we being her out to so we can brush her and she can eat grass though but it is hard during the winter because it is all mud. I brush her as gentle as possible but the mats are so hard to get out that I have to pry the knots apart with my fingers a lot of the time.

I am a VERY inexperienced rabbit owner considering I got her soon after her birth when I could.

Please tell me what I should improve and modify from my explanation of my items. I won't be able to do costly stuff like buy a new hutch and stuff but small stuff I could mend myself. Thank you so much and I am going to read the links you have to me!

She definitely needs a lot more space. She needs to have a hutch / base at least 6' x 2' x 2' for when the weather is foul - she needs to be able to do at least 3 hops in it, stretch out in all directions (including upwards) and there needs to be space in it to have a litter tray, food and water bowl and some toys. About 2' of this space should be enclosed as a 'bedroom' - the other 4' can be mesh-fronted as long as you also give her some protection from the weather over this part when she needs it.

You really also need to give her permanent access to a secure run, the bigger the better but 6' x 4' x 2' high would do. Rabbits are active at dawn and dusk, and surprisingly active through the night. She needs to be able to move around when she wants to, not when it is convenient for you to put her in a pen.

The good news is that if you have a few tools and are handy with them, it does not have to be expensive to build appropriate accommodation. Our first rabbit houses were build on pallets using scrap timber - we needed to buy very little for them. Scrounge around neighbours, industrial estates, friendly local companies etc and see what they are throwing out that you could use.

One thing I would not compromise on is a good quality weld mesh for the hutch and run. Chicken wire will not do - predators can bite through it and it has even been known for a rabbit to eventually bite its way through chicken wire. We bought a 30m (100 feet or so) x 3' high roll of weld mesh for under £50 so you should be able to get 20' x 2' high for under $20.

What extremes of weather do you get where you live? Hot, cold, rain, snow...?


As far as her matted fur goes, I think you need to get the worst mats out then keep on top of the grooming to stop them forming again.

Hi there, it's really fabulous that you are trying to give her the best life that you can :-) .

We will help where we can hunni.

If you built the hutch do you think you cold build a run or make the hutch bigger using similar techniques that you did before?

There are some members here who are fab at building things from recycled materials so they my be able to point you in the right direction.


We all had to start somewhere, I knew nothing about buns before I got Daisy nod he opened a whole new world to me ..... And I'm still learning really :-)
Katie xx

I agree with all of what has been said by the others re. hutch sizes. The important explanation bit is that not only will your bun enjoy more space in a larger space but if she does not get more space she will experience lots of health problems not just matted fur. She is likely to experience muscle wastage, twisted spine and with matted fur mites and fly strike are likely. Your original post seems to imply that you know that she is unhappy because of her small hutch, and the fact that she is not grooming herself is a sign that she is actually quite depressed. Have you considered moving her into the house? Your hutch may be adequate if you can give her lots of free running time in a bigger room for several hours a day. She is also less likely to be depressed if she is getting lots of attention form you and your family. It does mean rabbit proofing the room - keeping wires out of reach and preventing access to carpet corners but it can be so worth it. A 3ft hutch is a good bolt hole but it is less than half the size recommended by welfare organisations for the hutch, overall the recommendation is for an overall hutch and run set up of 6ft x 11ft. Building a bigger run around you hutch which your bun can have permanent access to would be the most simple way of remedying your lack of offered space.

Well, here are some pictures of my hutch and bunny, Sophie. Sorry for the bit of a messy cage, cleaned it last night. The pictures are of the hutch, then the left side of the hutch, then a for some reason sideways view of the right side of it (open side), then Sophie. The pictures are a bit large so I will just have them under spoilers. Just a notice ahead of time. (The pictures are a bit crappy but my phone takes lame pictures... XP)

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Tell me what I should add to the hutch, etc. Also, the hutch is about a meter off the ground and on saw horses used for construction on roofs (yeah, not so great but they are VERY sturdy).
Also, Sophie's fur I tried to lay it down to appear better but that is how it is naturally...

Welcome to HH!! It's brilliant that you have joined here to find out more about how to care for your bun and how to improve her life

I'm afraid I agree with the others, the hutch is much too small for Sophie to live as a bunny should. Rabbits have such a strong natural instinct to roam that they need lots of space. I'm rubbish with the hutch building side of things so I will leave that to someone else to help you with.

Have you given any thought to making Sophie a house bunny as someone else suggested? Rabbits make excellent house pets and can be litter trained!

My two live in a pen that is 6' x 4' with a 6' x 2' x 2' cage attached to it and they get free range time around the house every day. They are very entertaining and love to race around the house at a million mph

And the benefit of having a house bunny in a pen versus an outdoor bunny in a hutch? No hutch to clean out Just a quick sweep a couple of times a day and a clean litter tray and they're sorted!

Sophie might just love to live in doors too

Well, it is out of the question to have an indoor rabbit. Half my family is allergic to animal dandruff and fur. So, I have been looking at out door hutches. I was either thinking of building or just buying. This is fairly cheap and large in my opinion. Do you think it would allow her to be healthy and happy? It is a chicken coop to but I think the run makes it like it.
Well, I have a link but since I am new, I can't post it so... Yeah... DX

Aww, thats a shame, but outdoor Rabbits can indeed be happy with the right amount of attention and space My Thumper was an outdoor rabbit for a lot of years, I just had to make sure she had as much company and space as possible.

That's a shame you can't post links yet! You will just have to chat to us for a while until you can

I meant to say in my last post, Sophie is very pretty

Can you send private messages yet? I can't remember what the rules are with them! If you can, you can send the link to me and I will post it for you?

Yeah, I will make sure to keep paying attention to her even if she is outside yet I would live if she lived inside... DX

I will try to send PM's but I don't know if I can yet. I will try and then send you the link.

Never mind, I can't send a PM... DX

I've just checked and its 10 post to send PM's, so you only have 1 to go

Maybe if you reply to this you will be able to post the link? If not, you should be able to PM it to me

BellaHolly11 wrote:Well, it is out of the question to have an indoor rabbit. Half my family is allergic to animal dandruff and fur. So, I have been looking at out door hutches. I was either thinking of building or just buying. This is fairly cheap and large in my opinion. Do you think it would allow her to be healthy and happy? It is a chicken coop to but I think the run makes it like it.
Well, I have a link but since I am new, I can't post it so... Yeah... DX

If you want to email me the link I can put it on for you :-) I will PM you my email address. x

I just emailed the link to you, Katie! Thank you all so much for this help! I feel very welcome and cared for on this forum! I should get my cousin to join. He says he knows a lot about rabbits but it seems he is missing essential parts of it, especially with the hutch size and space! Thank you all! ^.^

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem;PdsSession=2e8d4e2b13b0a479e5c4a1f4fff98777?itemId=330833204964&index=17&nav=SEARCH&nid=56593172909

Here is the link.

You are very welome. Its what we are here for!

I think this is much better than what she has right now and will give her room to move about which is great. Ive just had a look on your ebay site for something better and there doesnt seem to be much choice really does there!

Yeah, it seems much better! I hope I could possibly make a hutch that looks like it because my parents didn't want to spend that much but I can build a run. Could I make it from chicken wire or is a special wire used to make it? I could even make the run much bigger than the one on there by doing it myself! ^.^

Chicken coops aren't ideal for buns as they don't really have the indoor space for when the weather is foul. They'e also a real pain to clean out, especially trying to get in to the run to clean it out too. It looks big on the pictures, but it's really not - we got fooled like that with a corner hutch once.

Could you find enough timber to extend your current hutch by a couple of feet at one end? It's a good size for depth and height, just not really long enough.

As it is already in the air, you may be able to make use of the space under it as part of her run.

You do need to use proper weld mesh and not chicken wire which is not bunny or predator proof - see my earlier post.

Sparky wrote:Chicken coops aren't ideal for buns as they don't really have the indoor space for when the weather is foul. They'e also a real pain to clean out, especially trying to get in to the run to clean it out too. It looks big on the pictures, but it's really not - we got fooled like that with a corner hutch once.

Could you find enough timber to extend your current hutch by a couple of feet at one end? It's a good size for depth and height, just not really long enough.

As it is already in the air, you may be able to make use of the space under it as part of her run.

You do need to use proper weld mesh and not chicken wire which is not bunny or predator proof - see my earlier post.

This sounds like a top idea!

maybe something like this?? This would give the bun the recommended space, and could be quite cheap to amend your existing hutch to.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6ft-Rabbit-Hutch-and-Run-MASIVE-Combo-MADE-IN-THE-UK-SYKES-/350565830122?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Small_Animals&hash=item519f5a0dea

Or maybe make the hutch like this.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Extra-large-6ft-x-2ft-rabbit-hutch-/221154777643?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Small_Animals&hash=item337dda1a2b

With a run like this attached during the day...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sheltered-Rabbit-guinea-pig-chicken-run-6ft-x-4ft-NEW-/271106665300?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Small_Animals&hash=item3f1f376b54

Okay then. I guess I could take the wall out of the hutch on the right side then just add another mesh side... Then just make a ladder down and have it go to a bottom story run. That would be pretty ideal.
Thank you all for your ideas and help!
I just brushed Sophie and she still has loads of mats but it is a bit better. Especially on her sides. I brushed her for about thirty minutes to an hour...