How much shedding is normal?!

My rabbits shedding seems out of control this year. It started last week and is at epic proportions. We have air conditioning so I don't understand why it's so bad. Went to a rabbit show today and none of the rabbits there seemed to be shedding. My boyfriend says our rabbit must have a diet deficiency. Anyone have info/ suggestions/ experience/ ideas? Would really appreciate it.

Looks like a proper moult. From my experience, they're not always that bad but rabbits can go through bad ones some seasons. Hang in there and keep brushing. And don't be surprised if bunny acts like a bit of a grumpy jerk too.

The shedding has been epic at my house too - the dog and the rabbits have lost so much hair I can't believe they still look like they have a full coat on them. I don't remember them losing that much before. It's just been really really hot, I think.

Even in the AC, an excess of light (sun is out more) causes molting. The rabbits at shows are brushed a TON right before the show so it doesn't look like they are shedding (it looks better than a scruffy little bun). I swear my dwarf mix, when she molts, loses 4 lbs of fur (she weighs 3.4 lbs).

our rabbit molted for the past 2 weeks, tons of fur. all her soft fuffy fur is now gone, she has a thinner coarser coat now.

It's interesting because we had a rabbit who lived inside and he was fairly constantly shedding. The rabbits we had outside only had seasonal shedding twice a year. It may be that the change of temperatures with each season are more dramatic outside and trigger the seasonal shedding. Being in AC or a fairly constant temperature seems to throw off that trigger sometimes.

Harvey has been dumping fur like the photo you saw, for over 2 weeks now. This is the third week! It's driving my bf mental. Thanks for all your input guys. I sure hope it stops soon, but it looks like there is so much more to go.

It varies from bunny to bunny. Some seem to shed constantly while others get it done in less than a couple of weeks. Peter starts at the belly and goes up, so at the last he has a "Mohawk" look to him.

My chinchilla giant, Griffin, is going though a horrendous molt. I cannot keep up with it. Two nights ago he quit eating, I'm sure it was because he had too much fur in his stomach and it overwhelmed his system. Two hours after metacam and simethicone, he was fine, but he scared the living hell out of me. This rabbit has *never* has declined food, even during a terrible ear infection. He even eats on car rides.

A note on show-bunnies: Many owners will force a molt before a show with either calf-manna or black oil sunflower seeds. The extra protein makes them "blow their coat" over a few days instead of several weeks. I'm going to try this on Griffin. I emailed my vet about this after his hunger strike, and she said it's worth a try for a rabbit that is perpetually stuck in molt. I ordered black oil sunflower seeds (the kind that you feed wild birds), to which I'm going to start slowly and increase to a teaspoon a day. I'm hoping this will help!

Thanks again for all your input guys. I understand that rabbits vary, but Harvey has never had a shed like this. She always, in past molts, started in the middle of her back and that spot spread outward. Now she's a great big patchy mess. Every part is shedding at the same time. I'll see if I can get some black sunflower seeds to speed it along since it's still going strong. I almost want to film it since it's unbelievable how much hair comes out.

Nancy-- any chance of getting a picture of Peter with his Mohawk? I'd love to see that!

Did I ever mention that picture of the hair, with the brush laying next to it for scale, that's the amount Harvey sheds in one day.

I have 2 females and a male, they all are related. One female is the mother, and 2 other buns are her daughter and her son (thus, siblings)
Both females are fawn in color, while the male is broken white+fawn.
The females don't have any problems with excessive shedding, while the male is shedding like crazy all year long. He is neutered, and all three live mostly outdoors (indoors at night) Oh, he is overweight
I recently took all three to the vet at the same time, and asked why he sheds so much more than his female relatives. The doc thought that maybe his hormones are messed up due to being overweight. Is this plausible?

Interesting -- the hormone idea. My shedder -- a chinchilla giant -- is actually a little underweight. My other chinchilla barely sheds at all, she just gets a little ballerina tutu and that's it.