lionhead grooming...

[Imbrium]

so Nala is definitely starting her first molt... goodie >.> I mean, it's not like this week has been hard enough on the poor bunns, what with spaying and getting separated for rough-housing too much.

I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to groom the bottom of her mane. I've been using a furminator on her... just groomed her with it for 10-15 mins and pulled a couple good-sized handfuls of hair off of her (mostly mane and skirt areas). I only stopped because I got told off - she went around and nipped me on the bootie to tell me she'd had enough!

when I flip her over, she pulls her front legs up and her chin down and makes it pretty much impossible to get the furminator underneath her chin to groom that portion of her mane.

 

[agnesthelion]

Isn't the first molt great??:foreheadsmack:

With Agnes for her bottom mane I kept her right side up. I groom her in the same place every time. It's a high bench so it's like a grooming table. She "knows" it's what we do there. I give her a treat or a toy to chew on but she pretty much stays there because she knows I won't tolerate her leaving

But I just set her up there and for her bottom mane I picked up layers with my hands and used a comb to really get up in there under the tufts. So in essence I was never really reaching the very bottom or all the way through. I had to lift up fur to get all the way through. A couple times I did cut out a couple mats too. She just had so much fur it was needed.

For under the chin, I think this is the hardest! I can't flip her because like you said her paws go up and chin goes down. So as she right side up, i take the comb and wedge it up under her chin and comb, wedge up under and comb. She usually bites thencomb or tries to push it away so I do it as many times as I can before she is frantic give her a treat to end positive, and do more on another session.

If it makes you feel any better, Agnes now has way less mane then she did for her first molt. So I don't have near the issues i did. It's common for double mane lionheads to lose some of their mane. Agnes is not show quality so she did. So it's much easier

 

[Imbrium]

is Nala double maned? I just assumed she was regular, lol.

with the comb, how wide or narrow were the teeth on whatever one you found worked best?

I'll try putting her up higher sometime soon so I can reach under more easily... I was grooming her at floor level where I had a tiny playpen set up around their temp homes so she couldn't get far from me until I said she could. I let her wiggle/wander around every time I paused to clean out the furminator and toss the fur, which seemed to help with her patience for it. I was able to get the bottom inch or so of her mane below her face, but that was it.

 

[agnesthelion]

Well I just looked at a couple pictures and she does maybe look like a single mane. However, single manes will not have any skirt at all?? And also her mane around her head is pretty fluffy and thick to be single.

I also get confused because i have read from some Lionhead breeders that they believe that there is technically no such thing as a single mane. As a single mane simply means no mane. Huh???

Anyway, as far as the comb it's not baby fine and it's not thick and wide like a comb for adult thick hair, it's kinda in between. It also has rounded teeth a bit so it's more gently for her.

 

[Imbrium]

I dunno how much of a skirt she actually has, since I had been trimming it off, but judging by where the hair's starting to grow back out it's a small one - just a little bit of trim on her hips and butt.

her mane was getting quite thick, but it's lost probably 1/3 of its thickness in the last couple days.

I don't plan to trim her skirt again, so I guess when her adult coat grows in we'll get a better idea of how she really looks.

 

[agnesthelion]

Ohhh that's right, I forgot you trimmed her skirt. Well then, if she has any skirt at all she is more than likely a double mane.

She may not get her skirt back. As I said, Agnes's has shrunk quite a bit. But then again, agnes could grow back in too. I saw the pictures of both her mom and dad and they both still had full skirts. I've read it's pretty normal to lose the skirt. and it's one of the characteristics they are trying to better the breed by eliminating that trait.

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, agnes always looks like she's wearing a fur-colored tutu

I kinda miss the skirt... I cut it the first time because it kept picking up bedding, then I got rid of bedding in the cage when they got the NIC cage and got grids for the litter boxes so she wouldn't pick up bedding in there, but it looked silly half grown in so I trimmed it back a second time.

the comb worked pretty well when she wasn't wriggling or chomping it

I'm in love with this furminator, btw! gazzles hates it, but I think a brush will work for her, so it's ok. it's magical for mane/skirt grooming on a lionhead and pulls out TONS of hair without upsetting nala. on multiple occasions, it's removed the tiny start of a mat-in-the-making, saving me from ever having to cut one out of her mane. (I use it once a week or so when she's not molting)

 

[agnesthelion]

I've been considering a furminator. I wonder if anyone on here uses them on Rex fur and if they work???

 

[ldoerr]

Lisa- This is your BEST friend when it comes to Mini Rex grooming. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000BUUWN/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. This is your second best friend. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YIWVA0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. With the use of these 2 tools I can groom ANY rabbit. The grooming block is great for getting out dead hair. It does not hurt them at all. Some rabbits REALLY like it and will melt when you use it on them. The slicker brush is self cleaning (you press a button and the fur comes off). You would be surprised at how much fur I can get off using these two things.

 

[agnesthelion]

Wow thanks!

I have a slicker type brush that looks like that but it doesnt work on Archies fur and I don't like it on Agnes.

Can I use the block on a Lionhead too?

 

[ldoerr]

I think so. I have never tried it on one though. It would my guess work better on the shorter parts of her fur. I actually get them at feed stores.

 

[Imbrium]

man, she's lost a lot of mane... harder to tell in real life than in pics, but it's overall a lot thinner and her cheeks are looking kind of bare in the back. I took some pics just now and dug through my album for comparison shots from before the molt kicked into overdrive...

today's shots are on the left
vs (taken oct 8th)


vs (taken oct 18th)

 

[agnesthelion]

She has lost alot!

Agnes hasn't lost any around her neck and face it's only her skirt.

I guess we will both have to wait and time will tell on what grows back.

 

[Imbrium]

at this point, I can't believe she's still got anything left! (ofc in some spots she really doesn't)

I brush and brush and the hair keeps coming and coming. crazy bunny. dunno how they survive these in the wild with no one to groom all the extra fur away.