is there any reason I shouldn't take a pair of scissors to my lionhead's bum?

[Imbrium]

so my lionhead's developed a bit of a "skirt" around her hindquarters... and it's making a mess of their pen because the critter care bedding (same stuff as carefresh) sticks to the longer fur of her butt. every time I pick her up out of the cage, she brings a little pile of bedding with her and then gives me this indignant look whenever I flip her over and start picking all the little bedding pieces out of her fur.

is there any reason why it might be a bad idea to just carefully trim the hair on her rear so that it picks up less bedding?

 

[agnesthelion]

Be very careful because a rabbits skin is easy to accidentally cut especially if you are trying to take off a good amount of fur. I have a Lionhead too and I couldn't imagine taking off enough fur to stop this problem....? But that's just me......

Have you thought of not using bedding? I use baby blankets in Agnes condo. Her litter is wood stove pellets which is $5 for a 40 bag and doesn't stick to her fur. I just couldn't imagine using bedding. It does seem like it would be a mess!

Good luck!

 

[Imbrium]

I was going to leave it the same length as the non-skirt fur - trim it back a bit without actually getting anywhere near the skin 'cause I know it's super-sensitive.

I've got fleece on my shopping list for their condo, but I plan to leave their store-bought cage in the pen until after they're spayed and keep it set up how it's always been w/manger, litter box, pellet bowl, water bottle, hammock and bedding. their potty habits are tenuous at best right now and I don't want to do anything that might upset their tendency to keep everything in the cage... and they use both the litter-box and part of the cage as a toilet, hence the bedding. they've so far basically ignored their secondary litter-box that isn't in the cage ><

one day, I'll be rid of the stupid bedding entirely... but for now I'd rather have bedding everywhere than pee everywhere, lol

 

[Imbrium]

well, for lack of a reason not to, I took her onto my lap while I was sitting on the floor, tranced her/held her like a baby and chopped off her skirt. honestly, I think she looks a little better this way and she no longer collects bedding, lol.

I basically just grabbed one row/section of hair at a time between the index and middle fingers of my left hand and then snipped off the hair that extended past my fingers with a sharp pair of scissors, so now the fur on her butt/hips is the same length as the rest of her coat.

in retrospect, I should've worn an apron, lol - had to change clothes and shake off what I'd been wearing outside to get rid of the hair clumps.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I have an angora who collects hay in his fur. I couldn't imagine the mess he would make with carefresh!

With having your fingers between the scisors and skin that is safe, so no reason not to. I'm glad it worked and less mess. It's cute how insulted they get when you are just trying to help.

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, she always acts like it's so undignified whenever I flip her on her back, lol, which I do fairly often for one reason or another (occasional grooming/nail clipping and daily paranoid-bunny-mama checks to make sure there's no poopy-butt or flystrike issues). luckily, all I have to do is flip her back over and pet her from nose to tail until her teeth start chattering and all is forgiven.

 

[Imbrium]

here's a couple pics of nala-bunny's new butt-do... I think I did pretty darn well except for the little tuft I missed by her back foot in the second pic. I also threw in a pic of my little gazzles nomming on a carrot top so she wouldn't feel left out! (also, it's soooo cute)

 

[ldoerr]

Nice job and cute pictures