afraid to turn on air conditioner...fur will cover the house if i do:[

[DenisHopper]

heyy people,

so, ever since we got him, denis hopper has been shedding. a lot. every time after we pet him, our hands are always covered with his fur. and his cage is inside across from the air conditioner, so if i turn it on, there will probably be fur blowing everywhere. i try to brush him everyday. we havea brush for him. it's supposed to be for cats, but the people at the store said it could be used for rabbits too. i have to brush him outside for 10-15 minutes, and even after that, he still has fur coming off.

is this normal? are rabbits supposed to shed that much?

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

This is the time of year for molting and the fur can be pretty intense. I use a lint roller on my rabbits to finish grooming them and it take alot of dead fur off. Be careful with the placement of his cage and the air condioner. He should not be in any drafts including the air conditioner.

 

[DenisHopper]

thanks. but this has been happening ever since we got him, which was around mid february. i know he's supposed to be shedding a lot during summer, but it's been happening for a long time now. do your rabbits shed a lot too?
and dont worry we haven't turned on the air conditioner ever since we got him, and we'll probably move his cage if we ever do:]

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

I went through 30 show rabbits last night to decide who to enter in a show on Saturday. I came up with 4 that were in fur. The rest of them are all molting , as well as all the brood rabbits. There is fur everywhere and I have to clean out the fans every day.

He shouldn't be molting for 6 months though. What kind of pellets are you feeding and how high is the protein level in the feed. High protein feeds can cause a rabbit to keep molting.

 

[DenisHopper]

umm, the pellets are called "fortidiet", and for the protein, it said that it was 12% protein.

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Well that is a low protein. How much do you feed him and what else do you feed him?

 

[DenisHopper]

i feed him about 1/4 cup of pellets, half a carrot, two lettuce leaves, and hay.

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Is he on the heavy side?

Half a carrot a day is quite a bit of sugar. What kind of lettuce are you feeding. You may want to consider just a small slice of carrot and dark leafy greens such as romaine, dandelion greens.... I would also make sure that the hay is a grass hay and not alfalfa. Alfalfa hay is very high in protien.

 

[DenisHopper]

he's pretty heavy, yeah. he's 8 pounds, but i think he's a new zealand white, and they're usually about that heavy. im not sure what kind of lettuce we give him. i'll have to check. and for the hay, we give him timothy hay.

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Sounds like it's not a protien issue. He could be just one of those rabbits that molt alot. Groom, Groom and more Grooming. It's my life right now LOL

 

[DenisHopper]

lol its my life right now as well. trust me

 

[sychak]

i have 4 cats (adding a 5th this sat), a puppy..german shepherd who is shedding his puppy fur out in favor of his adult coat... and 8 rabbits inside. (rabbits temporarily inside while bunny barn plans are being made)

So, I certainly know what you mean about fur. I sweep and vacuum probably 3+ times a day. And I have to change my air filter every 2 weeks. Yuck.

Best advice I can give is to clean clean clean..all the time. lol. And take your pets outside to brush them.

 

[jujub793]

geez i was just going to inquire about these very same issues. i have two rabbits and my rex is fine but my lop is shedding like mad! i have hair fluffs everywhere! i tried brushing also but its never ending. also, does anyone else's rabbit pull out their own fur? i have noticed Walter pulling his fur around his tail area. i have found clumps of it. is this normal and just because he's molting or could it be another problem?

 

[DenisHopper]

lol thanks. sigh. cleaning and brushing are definitely two very big jobs when you're looking after pets
and julie, as for the pulling out fur, i don't know. i don't think my rabbit ever does that. he cleans his back and his tail area, but he doesn't ever pull out fur.

 

[MichaelBelle]

there was a period of time when my rabbits shed a lot. They stopped after a week or two.

 

[DenisHopper]

okey dokey

 

[Nancy McClelland]

we usually vacuum out their hutches everyday as well as brush them. Wet your hand and give them a rubbing--the hair will stick to your hands. The only problem we had with air conditioning is that I had to clean the filter twice a week.

 

[DenisHopper]

k, thanks:] we're probably gonna have to start cleaning out the air filter as well