What kind of brush is best for bunny grooming?

[katherine at sacred stories]

My little dwarf mix bunny, Harvey, is molting, I think. His fur looks scruffy and molty but no hair comes out when I brush him. I have a small brush with rubber tips on the end of bristles to protect skin. It was sold as a brush for rabbits. It worked fine for my first rabbit.

I'm wondering if Harvey has some Chinchilla rabbit in him. His fur has a silkier, softer, even finer,feel than my other bunny and he looks like Chinchilla rabbit photos I have seen. Does their fur have a sort of "molty", longer, fluffylook? I read that Chinchilla rabbits don't need to be brushed.

Or maybe I'm not using the best brush for him.

:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?

Any thoughts would be welcome. Still working on getting a new digital camera so don't have photos to show. Thanks!

 

[kjm84]

I've been using a little brush meant for a cat. It's the type with the wire bristles that look kind of painful (sort of like pins almost), but my bunny loves being brushed and it collects tons of fur. I was hesitant to get this type cause of the way it looks, but it works so well and he loves it, so whatever works. HTH

 

[nc_bunnys]

I use a furminator for a cat. It works great for my lops. I need to get a smaller one for the Rex bunnies. Brush day is Sunday evening. I can make a new bunny with all the hair they are shedding this month.

 

[PetoftheDay]

I never ended up using a brush on my bunny, she hate the wire one with soft-ish bent tines, and it didn't do much good, so when she was shedding heavily, I take her outside and pet her out there, and gently pluck the tufts that were stick out off with just my fingers. I'd just let the bunny fur float away on the wind, and so I am sure all the bird nests on our street were lined with very softest fur!

Miss Hoppy was a mixed breed, probably Netherland Dwarf/Rex mix, as she was about 4 pounds at her slightly overweight heaviest, but during shedding seasons, one could sit next to her on the rug and pat her for a long time, and when she hopped away, there would be the outline of the back end of the rabbit in gold an white shed fur!

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

Thanks, everyone. You've given me some good ideas to try!
PetoftheDay--I'm so glad you posted. I started to just use my hand to pet and "comb" and gently pull the hair out yesterday. It worked better than anything else I had tried but I was wondering if it was the "wrong" thing to do He seems to love it as opposed to being a little resistant to the brush. Why not?

 

[Ape337]

I use a furminator too. But I also noticed if you pet your bunnies with slightly wet hands you will remove an absolute ton of loose fur! Then roll your hands together and it comes off. :biggrin2:

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

April--Nifty I'll try it...also will try the furminator (I have one around somewhere that I got for my cat. My cat doesn't like it, she prefers the rabbit brush. Sigh.

:brownbunny:heartbeat::brownbunny
Harvey and Halo send Freckles their love!!!

 

[Ape337]

And a hearty hello and love back from Freckles to Halo and Harvey!:biggrin:
I was thinking of starting an update/how's everybody doing thread for the bunderground bunnies

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

April--great idea! I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for all those bunnies that travelled together that day

 

[slavetoabunny]

I swear by the Furminator for Small Animals.

 

[BeccaBun]

Lol, I had the same problem. I bought a brush that was specifically for rabbits and small animals, that was completely useless. I think I ended up throwing it away. I used furminator products on my dog, I had no idea they made them for small animals. Does anyone know about how much they cost?

 

[Imbrium]

glad to hear the furminator works well on bunnies! petco's having this huge sale online and I was ordering some stuff, so I picked up the version for small cats to try out on my bunnies - should be here any day now

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

I'm using the furminator now and Harvey loves it. Halo doesn't LOVE it but it works much better.

Jennifer--thanks for the reminder about the petco online sale. I'm going to go shopping for bunny toys today

 

[Imbrium]

np, I'm loving it! I've placed like three orders since I first found out about it (been going on a while), including one for two more playpens just so I could be lazy, lol.

I figured in the long run it was well worth the $80 or w/e to not have to break down their indoor run, haul the playpens outside, set them up there, then break them down an hour later and rebuild the indoor run once every day or two for the next ten years - now I just have a second set by the front door that I can set up in the yard quickly!

I also got a bunch of toys and their hammocks, stocked up on hay and carefresh (not too much hay, ofc, just 3-4 mos worth), etc. and am going to be trying the furminator and this $10 nail tool as soon as my last order arrives

ok, now I'm kinda pissed, they had 20% off, then 15-40% and now it's back to 20% off... so some stuff I just bought with a 15% discount is back to being cheaper ><

anyway, I was back there just now to grab the link for my babies' tunnel - if you're ordering toys and don't have one of these, it and the 17'' ferret hammock are the best things I've ever bought my bunnies

http://www.petco.com/product/116627/WARE-Fun-Tunnel-for-Small-Animals.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

Jennifer--well, I went on a shopping spree! I ordered two tunnels, two huts, numberous chew toys, two snuggly beds:0 And then I went to another site and bought my timothy hay, papaya, bananna chips, oxbow pellets, etc. So, no treats for ME this month What fun and I did save a lot on Petco!!!

I'm curious--how do your rabbits use the ferret hammock? Will they get in it?

 

[Imbrium]

they play in it sometimes but mostly nap/relax in it. it's not their normal sleeping spot, but I'll find either Gaz or both bunnies just chillaxing or dozing in it at least a few times a day.

 

[caramel17]

I know that a long hair cat and dog COMB works good on my lops, if you use it right, my Hollands love it when I get a chance to brush them. I know that this isn't the right way to comb a bunny, but if you go against the way the fur lays, thats the best way to brush it with the comb!

 

[Imbrium]

katherine at sacred stories wrote:

I'm curious--how do your rabbits use the ferret hammock? Will they get in it?

I finally got a picture of Gaz playing dead - I've been trying but until now, either Nala or I would accidentally wake her up before I got the pic. actually, it was accidental with me... Nala did it on purpose, like she was checking up on her

here's my little gazzles playing dead in her hammock:

she looks so relaxed, it kinda makes me want a people-sized version for myself!

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

Jennifer--I can't believe I missed this...it's been a busy weekanic: Thank you for posting this adorable picture. That's one relaxed, happy, LUCKY, bunny I definitely would like one myself. I'm still waiting for the tunnels to arrive from Petsmart but I may try this next.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I use a little wire slicker brush that's meant for cats. It works great. The furminator is OK, but I would much rather brush with a slicker brush.

Emily