Do rabbits prime?

[chinmom]

I know in chinchillas, they have a priming line; they gradually lose their baby fur and get in adult fur is the easiest way to explain it.

Georgie has been in a molt for about three months now; it's a pretty significant molt, too...the worst I've seen in him yet. There seems to be a line in his fur where the fur is falling out and new fur seems to be growing in. This molt is so bad that I've taken him into the bathtub to groom him; the amount of fur coming off of him actually fills a spaghetti sauce jar and fills it pretty tightly.

I just want to know if this molt is going to ever end; I can tell he's tired of being groomed every other day. He doesn't even come out of his cage to see me anymore. When he's out for run time, if I approach him he runs away. I haven't seen any of the other rabbits shed this much before, and he never has before. Usually his molting lasts around a few weeks and then he's done. I don't know if it's because the temperature in my apartment never seems to stay constant or if he's priming.

If anyone can answer some of these things for me, I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks!
Annie

PS- I didn't know where to post this...it didn't seem to fit in the nutrition and behavior section, so I figured this was the best place.

 

[missyscove]

I'd never heard of priming, and I've never had a baby bun, so I can't help you much there, but I have noticed, mostly with Timmy (I think it's easier to see in his coloring) that there is a definite line in his fur whenever he molts.

 

[tort]

I haven't heard of it either; Zamboni is molting really bad at the moment but I think it is from the heat. Portland is getting some hot weather lately. I've taken him out on the deck and brushed him only to have myself and the trees directly across from the deck covered in his fur. He is like yours and hates to be brushed. I usually just run the vacuum with the couch attachment on it over him but it's bad enough that he needs the extra brushing.

It really makes him mad so when I'm done he will usually thump the floor for about a half hour or so. He really is a silly bunny!!

 

[waterlilly0212]

I am going through somthing similar...
Ever since we moved down to FL, Bailey has basically been in one constant molt. He is 1 yr 1/2. I know you would say probably the extreme heat change (from RI to FL) but he is in pretty intense air conditioning. The college keeps the dorms really cold, so we don't really feel the heat at all. (in fact mostof the time I am too cold...)

Why is this happening and will it stop soon? (Bailey also doesn't like being brushed...)

 

[Bassetluv]

I'd never heard of a priming line either; but then, I've never had chinchillas. I do know that both Yofi and Anna (and my dog) have all experienced heavy molts this year. Both Yofi and Anna's began earlier in the spring, and in both of them it started at the top of their bodies and progressed to their hind ends. Then Anna's changed, and she's now going through a second molt, only it's erratic...all over her body rather than running in a pattern. I've found that each molt with them can be different, sometimes like the one I described, where it seems to run in a pattern progressing down their bodies, sometimes just certain patches will molt, and sometimes it's in chunks all over the place. Yofi's molt is almost done now (I think); but when he's shedding it's awful...his fur is so soft and fine that when I'd touch him it would get all over me and stick to my skin, and it would get on my face and in my eyes. Anna's fur is fine too, but not quite so much as Yofi's. And when in full molt I could probably collect enough fur from those two to knit a whole 'nuther bunny.