Bun grooming!

[hcneybee]

Hi y’all! I got a new bun a couple of weeks ago. I had a Rex many years ago that lived until she was 8, but she was very short haired so all I really had to worry about was shedding. My new bun is a 2 month old lionhead mini lop mix.
I am an experienced pet groomer that has worked with all kinds of animals, but as far as rabbits go, I have only done regular brushing and nail trimming. Clementine seems to mat on her undercarriage/butt easily but HATES brushing. I don’t want her to hate me or get overly stressed every time she needs to be brushed, so I wondered if any of you think it’s a good idea to shave her sanitary areas? I know they have very thin skin so the biggest risk is probably just making sure her skin doesn’t catch the blade, but I have full confidence in my ability to do it safely. If we take that in consideration, are there any other risks/cons to shaving her sanitary? Or tips for training her to tolerate being brushed underneath? The last time I tried to brush her sanitary out and clip her nails, she spazzed out. Was not able to successfully do either before she got super anxious and peed on me. She does let me brush her on top and I used my professional dog grooming chunkers to trim up the wispies around her head/neck and around the outside of her butt so you could actually see her lil tail poof, but those are not her problem areas.
Thanks in advance!

 

[JBun]

Clipping long coated rabbits is something that some owners find is necessary. So certainly a possible solution. Another possible solution is blowing out the coat regularly. It's how angora breeders keep their rabbits coats from matting. Though it's important to take into account rabbits nervous and sometimes fragile nature. So care is needed to make sure it doesn't overly stress your rabbit if you go this route. Gradual desensitization to the process may be necessary.

If you decide to do the clipping, and decide to do it yourself instead of taking your rabbit to the vet, like you mentioned, you do need to be very careful about the skin, as the skin can get nicked very easily. The main risks that I could see with clipping would have to do with if she was outdoors. If she's indoors, I can't see any issues with it.

I found this link but haven't gone through it or looked at the videos, so you'll want to do your own research on it. But it might have some good tips on grooming and clipping for long coated rabbits.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Angora_and_other_long-haired_rabbits
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/