Grooming, brushes & moulting

How often does everyone groom their buns (both in general and when moulting is occurring) and what's your brush/ comb of choice? I have two different style of brushes which I already had but neither seem to do as good a job as removing any loose hairs as a firm stroking session. But maybe with a better weapon I would be more effective!

And if you have a bun isn't keen on being groomed, is it better to leave them to their own devices unless you can see they're ingesting too much hair or is it advisable to be more creative with finding ways to help them tolerate it so that problems don't develop?

Rarely! Because my pair behave like I'm trying to kill them I just give them a cheeky pluck when they're not looking because I'm scared they ingest it and get a blockage.

However, I did have a zoom groom (until they ate it!) and it is by far the best brush I've ever used. The one stroke I got away with each time would remove loads of fur. You get them from loads of places online, including eBay

I try to do groom them twice a week and it's no problem with Bertie as he loves it and hence has got the nicest fur of all of them.
Bubbles has got quite a long fur but only accepts a session on her turn and so it is a bit hit and miss.
Coffee is getting used to it after initial stroppy behaviour.
I start of the zoom groom or tangle teezer, then a wide zinked comb and asoft bristle brush. Finish with a polish glove I got from cats protection and in severe cases a stroke with moister hands to get excess fur of. Takes between 20-60 minutes per bun.

Oh, I do that too ^ Give them a rub with wet hands. They live indoors so no matter what time of year it is I don't have to worry about them getting a bit wet - it's not like they'll get cold!

Thumper2001 wrote:Oh, I do that too ^ Give them a rub with wet hands. They live indoors so no matter what time of year it is I don't have to worry about them getting a bit wet - it's not like they'll get cold!

That is the best way to groom rabbits that are moulting, just wet the hands and run them over their coat, rabbits keep themselves pretty clean and tidy and do groom themselves a lot I would say about twice a week is ok for grooming maybe more if they are in heavy moult to make sure they don't swallow any fur and end up with a blockage.

I also use wet hands. Bruce hates any sort of brush but he tolerates the wet hands approach.

Hoolly doesn;t shed much fur being a rex and an indoor bunny, but I do occasinally brush her because she loves the attention (not that she doesn't get it 24/7 LOL).

Hugs
JO xx

we use a stcikle kind of brush but not one that is sharp, it is good at getting through the fur and Dougal loves it. I used to do it almost every day as he enjoyed it and it keps his coat lovely. I have been dong it 2 or 3 times a week past few 6 months though. I keep forgetting about wet hands, dougie is good at being brushed and he will often put his back into me to do it or even lie down with his feet stretched out toe the back and sometimes fall asleep whilst I do it too. He also does not mind me lucking fur out too, he likes it and does not bother about it at all. He is moulting atm too.

Our brush came in a good grooming set of about 4 or 5 different ones, I used to use the comb and the soft brush too but no iade where they are now. They seem to have been misplaced, he also liked those.

I am a big fan of the Zoom Groom too - none of the bunnies object to being brushed with this. I only generally brush them when they are moulting, every couple of days or so.

The wet hands certainly worked well, thanks, but I have ordered a zoom groom too as they sound good (plus there were a couple of little things I wanted from Pet Supermarket and buying one of those will take me over the free delivery spend!). I have two new foster buns now, and sadly they are currently rather overweight so can't groom themselves very well. I need to up my grooming game until they start slimming down.

Ooooooo. Picccccccssssss!!!!!!!

A brilliant thing for getting overweight buns to be more active is to give them their pellet ration in a dog treat ball so they have to chase it around to get the food. It works really well with my pair.

Flo and the International Bun of Mystery certainly work at it. Flo seems to dominate things until she has her fill then he gets his. She is really a resourceful bun and such an agouti perfection!

But when it comes to food bowls or hand feeding Bruce is the boss. They have had me in fits of laughter in the last week. Hormones are running high and Flo is currently quite friendly by her standards. I have been hand feeding some treats, or at least trying to. When she comes up on my lap for a treat she will let me give her a nose rub whilst chewing. However Bruce is determined that the treats are his and keeps chasing her off before she can jump up. But he rarely manages to jump up himself. The ball does also get rid of the territorial behaviour around food.

The ball looks like an excellent idea, thanks! And what an adorable pair of buns you have, very cute video. They sound very entertaining indeed!

I was sitting in the run with the buns today when an opportunity presented to give Percy a good groom, just with wet hands. It really would have been better if I hadn't been wearing all black, but I got loads of loose hair off him and his coat looks loads better even if I look a state!

I will get some photos soon, Katie! I'm doing my best to interest them in playing and exploring to get them moving which'll lead to some better shots - at present they are quite inactive and just radiate the vibe of grumpy teenagers who have been made to get up before midday...

Oooh a big thumbs up for the zoom groom, it works brilliantly and Percy loves being groomed by it which is great as he has lots of loose fur to be helped with. Tidier for me than wet hands too! Thanks again for the tips.

What I don't think I told you about wet hands is that when your hands are loaded all you need to do is rub them together and the fur wil go into a tidy ball.