Bathing Rabbits for Shedding Control

[Sarah]

I am a first time rabbit owner and have had my bun for almost a year. He has been molting for a few weeks now and it is a crazy CRAZY amount of fur! I honestly feel like I can’t pet him properly anymore without leaving at least a fist size of fuzz! I have been two shedding combs; One meant for small animals and one meant for dogs. Though the combs do help, they don’t get enough of the fur off and I still have the same issue. I am brushing him daily but to no avail.

A friend of mine recommended giving him a bath to help get some of the fur off. I know I am not supposed to do this, but the fur is getting to be unmanageable and I hate not being able to pet my bun/cuddle with him. I managed to wet some paper towels and pet him with them to see how he would react to his fur being wet, and he seemed to not mind.

I am wondering if I should try to give him a bath? If so, how should I approach it? If I should not give him a bath, are there any other techniques or advice I can get on how to manage the fur better? 

[DesertBunny]

I have always read that bathing bunnies is not a good idea. Their fur will contract and the danger of catching cold is very real. It takes a LONG time for a rabbit to dry out.

When my rabbit sheds a lot I actually used a small vacuum on him. There are hand held low suction ones or even a small wet dry vac with a BRUSH attachment works well. There is no danger of over suction damaging the skin if you use ONLY the brush attachment. Obviously the smaller the vacuum the better. I think my bunny actually enjoyed it when I vacuumed him. He would sit there motionless and not protest or fight at all. And my vac would have lots of hair in it!

[Mikey]

Dont do this. It is incredibly stressful for the rabbit and is very harmful for their skin and fur. Their skin is very thin and can dry out easily. Their skin also makes a special film for their fur to keep their skin protected. Baths when unnecessary can also cause hypothermia

How often are you brushing your bunny every day? For my nethie who can shed an entire second rabbit with his loose fur, I have to brush him 4+ hours a day during shed session if I want all of it to be out by the end of the week. He hates to sit longer than an hour though, so I do atleast two 1 hour long sessions per day with him

[Bam]

As DesertBunny nad Mikey says, bathing a bunny isn’t a good idea. It should only be done in in extreme situations such as when a bun has been soaked in something poisonous.

I use a self-cleaning slicker and a moulting comb, and when I’m done, I lint roll my bunny. I use a generic type lint roller + lots of gluey paper (generic brands have less stiff glue than name brands so they are more gentle on the bunny). My bunny seems to prefer the lint roller to the brush + it collects the hair so I don’t have to deal with all that fluff flying around. I brush him every day during molt season but not more than 20 minutes at a time because he gets angry.

[Luna]

I agree – baths are emergency only. We feel your pain; it seems like the fur will never stop flying! But during a molt this is normal. It’s good that you are brushing him daily during his molt, and if he doesn’t get stressed out with brushing then multiple brush sessions per day will definitely help too. I use 2 different brushes too so I would continue the use of two combs because it does make the job easier. Like Bam, I too end a brushing session with a lint roller, but you do have to take extra care with the stickiness so as to not incidentally pull the fur out – it’s more of a ‘collect the loose hair on the surface’ tool. Also, after brushing is done some BB members have found it useful to lightly rinse some warm water over their hands and pet the loose fur off.

[Jessica]

As everyone else has said bathing is not a good idea. I’d recommend that you get a zoom groom, it is a rubber brush made for both dogs and cats. They work absolute wonders, every animal I’ve used one on loves it! They look a little funny and seem like it wouldn’t work but after 15vyears of professional pet grooming I’ve learned that this is the best tool for any short to medium coated animal that sheds

Here is an Amazon link

https://www.amazon.com/KONG-ZoomGroom-Grooming-Brush-Boysenberry/dp/B0002AR19Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1488468700&sr=1-1&keywords=zoom+groom

[Author]

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