Upkeep of furry bunnies?

[babbs]

Well, we did it again. We went into another petstore and just had to come home with 2 of the buns there. And we are atmaximum for bunnies for awhile now! LOL! We called and cancelled theones the breeder was looking for for us. They are Lops of some sort,which is what we wanted anyway.

On to my question. These lil guys have some pretty thick and longerhair then the other buns we have. They came home with mats around thierlil bums and have poo stuck in the mats. I know we will have to brushthem pretty much daily but what is the best way to get rid of the matsand such in such a tender area? And will daily brushings keep this areaunmatted and clean?


Also these guys look so similar it is hard to tell them apart. Anyoneknow some techniques or things to put on them if any to help tell themapart from each other?

 

[pamnock]

For now, just cut a swatch of fur of one oftheir faces, so you will easily be able to tell them apart at aglance. You should soon be able to tell their personalitiesand appearance apart once you have spent some time with them.Tattooing is the most common method for marking rabbits to tell themapart.

As for the matts, wash their butts with warm, soapy water.Once they are dry, gently take a sharp pointed pair of small embroideryscissors and slip them carefully under the matt, cutting upwards tobisect the matt, which will make it easier to remove. Theskin tears easily, so be careful.

Will we see pictures soon ?

Daily upkeep as well as trimming the longer hair around the bum willhelp keep them clean. If poo is sticking, apply a littlevaseline to the area daily.



Pam

 

[babbs]

Some pics of the boys.

 

[babbs]

Thanks Pam, for your helpful advise. I will dothis as soon as I can. They seem to be more timid and react to thiersurroundings a lot different then the other bunnies. Maybe this is alop personality?

And just as I type this one that has the most matting and poo stuck wastrying to take care of it himself. It was so cute and pitiful at thesame time. He was sitting almost like a cat withhis hind legs up in theair and his grabbing and pulling on the poo. He pulled so hard one timeand lost his balance and called it quits after that. LOL!

I posted some pics in the above post for ya to take a look at. Theseguys are just so adorable. Man, Between all my buns I am going to beone busy bunny mommy going around giving pats and love!

 

[pamnock]

Beautiful fluffy Holland babies! They are stunning!

What color are their eyes?

Pam

 

[babbs]

They have brown eyes, or so it looks. They are very deep in color.

Thanks for the compliments, Pam. Do you think they are pure HollandLops?The pet store had then labeled as mini Rex and I knewthey were far from Rex. And am I right, that thier coloring is SablePoint?

 

[pamnock]

I believe they are pure Holland (or at least look to be).

You're on the right track color-wise, but they appear to be blue or lilac points rather than sable point.

Pam

 

Babbs : they looklike the bunny boy in my avatarand he is a lilac holland ,Snarf i wish i had been able toget mine at that age , they areso fluffy and so cute ,Bailey is a lot bigger thanyour little ones , andis standoffishbecause no one had bothered withhim till I brought him homeand started insisting on smooshinghim alot , he will now come tothe front of hiscage as long asi dont try and openit with him standing there .

 

[pamnock]

gypsy wrote:

Babbs : they look likethe bunny boy in my avatarand he is a lilac holland ,Snarf i wish i had been able toget mine at that age , they areso fluffy and so cute ,Bailey is a lot bigger thanyour little ones , andis standoffishbecause no one had bothered withhim till I brought him homeand started insisting on smooshinghim alot , he will now come tothe front of hiscage as long asi dont try and openit with him standing there.

Can't tell for certain, but the boy in your avatar looks more like a broken sable point.

Pam

 

[samandshawn]

My bun is very fluffy too, I thaught that he isa angora cross but nowI think he might be achashmere[dont know how to spell]cross?? Veryconfusing!! He was in a very bad state when I got him andIfound that whenI tried to spot wash him his fur went likevery tangled cotton wool,:? and was eaiser to sort out when he was dry,dont know if this is anything to bo with his bred. I know that thisdoesnt help at the mo but my bun has got his second coat and its adream to brush compared to the old coat.

 

[pamnock]

Hard to tell from the photo, could be a"teddy"Lionhead (the face looks very much likeaLion)-- butcould bea Jamora .. .

(Cashmere's are Lops)

 

[samandshawn]

pamnock wrote:

Hard to tell from the photo, could be a"teddy"Lionhead (the face looks very much likeaLion)-- butcould bea Jamora .. .

(Cashmere's are Lops)

The photo in my avater is a lionhead . I havent been able to post pics of my cross yet.

Whats the bun in the photo?

 

[pamnock]

A Jamora is in the photo.

Pam

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

babbs, if anyonecan get you through the "fuzzy bunny blues" it's Pam! She held my cyberhand for a year with Sebastian! He is very, very fuzzy-

The first year was an absolute nightmare!:shock:I finally figured out that the shorter I kept his hairthe easier it was for both of us. I don't know how much it had to dowith age or a change in his diet but things are better now. I've alsofound a fabulous brush that makes things%1000 better. Itpulls all the loose hair out but doesn't hurt him or make him mad.Several other members really like it too. It looks a lot like this.Mine is pink, has a gripped handle and is shaped the same way. I got itfrom Wal-Mart in the cat section. It has the same black bristles withthe coated tips.

As far as a diet goes, I switched toPurina and began adding a tsp of oats a day. Sebastian went through aheavy moult and then when his new coat came in it has been much moremanageable with less of the wool/cotton under coat and more of thesilky hair. It's also shinier.

Good Luck! It's a challenge! :dude:

RaspberrySwirl

 

[babbs]

I have a slicker brush. Is this the right kindto use to gently brush the matts out? Also, how in the world am I tobrush the underneath of the bunny? Any special trick to that?

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

Sebastian just lays on his back in my lap...

kind of like this, onlydifferent......I give him a craisin every once in a while. Especiallyafter I work around his tail. He doesn't like his tail messed with toomuch! :shock:

 

[babbs]

:shock:Oh my goodness, Raspberry! Thatis some hairdo Sebastian has! Our Lops have really silky hairthroughout most of the body but once you get to th back hips it startsto get very fuzzy. Acck!

I think I know what brush you are talking about. It has a heart shapecut out on the end of the handle. I had my hands on it ready to pick itup just yesterday morning but put it back thinking it wouldn't get themats out. *smacks forehead* Man, I should have gone withmyFIRSTinstinct. :?

I do wish my boy would let melay him upside down likeSebastian so I can get at that belly fur.I tried putting himon the couch like that and rubbing the space between his eyes to help,while brushing and that did not last long at all! Plus he is so derntiny I am afraid of hurting him, so I guess baby steps with the bellyfur!

The cold front (HA!) that was here the past couple of days is justabout gone so I plan to wash the underside like Pam said tomorrow whenit is nice and warm. Aside from all their poo stuck to their belly theyhave bright orange feet.We gave them some wood blocks thatwere orange in color and when the buns first came home they were peeingall over the place and it got on the wood pieces and wouldn't you knowit, the dye ran onto their fur.

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

babbs wrote:

I think I know what brush you are talking about. It has a heart shapecut out on the end of the handle. I had my hands on it ready to pick itup just yesterday morning but put it back thinking it wouldn't get themats out. *smacks forehead* Man, I should have gone withmyFIRSTinstinct. :?

I do wish my boy would let melay him upside down likeSebastian so I can get at that belly fur.I tried putting himon the couch like that and rubbing the space between his eyes to help,while brushing and that did not last long at all! Plus he is so derntiny I am afraid of hurting him, so I guess baby steps with the bellyfur!

Yep! That's the EXACT brush!!! Has alighter pink ridged handle with a little heart shape cut out of theend! It's been a life saver for me! I have tried the slicker brush, thenatural bristle brushes, combs, everything you can think of and I lovethat pink brush!

When I work on Sebastian's underside andhis toenails, I sit on the floor by the back door where the sunlightcomes in. I sit with my legs out straight in front of me and he lays onhis back on my legs. He rarely wiggles unless we've been working fortoo long. But we've been doing this for a year now. Give your boystime. I'd give them a treat or two during grooming time too and don'tmake them do it for too long at a time.

When Sebastian was really young and hadsuch a matting problem, I don't know what I would have done if hehadn't been such a laid back, relaxed bunny. I groomed him nearly everyday and he still got mats right next to his skin in that wool. It wasawful. If he had been a different kind of personality I would have hadto kept him shaved.

Those little, tiny, sharp embroideryscissors that Pam told you about work great. The ones I like best areprobably 4" long but they have very small blades. I can't stress howcareful you must be when working next to their skin though. It's liketissue paper and when you start pulling at the mats the skin comesright up and you will cut right through it without even feeling it.I've never cut him, Thank God. But I work very slowly. If I get nervousor worried I always put my fingers between his skin and the scissors. Ijust pinch really hard to make sure it's nothing but fur!:shock:

Raspberry