How often do these little boogers molt?

[EdieRabbit]

Hello,

Edie went through a molt in the Fall and I thought I was safe until at least Spring. Well, she is molting again...badly! She doesn't seem to mind though. She licks me as I pull her furr out in tufts. Not even the furminator is a match for her these days. :sigh:

 

[Pipp]

Yeah, this is 'the year of the continuous molt'.

Here's a post I wrote not long ago -- Dec. 12 -- and Pipp is STILL molting!

Pipp wrote:

I think Al Gore should study the effect of Global Warming on rabbits. I haven't had rabbits for years and years, but this year seems quite a bit different.

Everybunny is molting almost continuously. Sometimes it's the traditional mot with all the undercoatcoming out in apattern, sometimes it's just weeks of random tufts and bits.

I tried to bury my face inPipp today and got a huge faceful of hair, and she just finished a molttwo weeks ago. (Mind you, last year my mini-rex, Dill, had his hair come out in big patches, this year it's the constant random tufts, so it's all across the board).

Word of caution -- molting bunnies are often grumpy andprone to gas and stasis.My molters get daily pumpkin,a little diluted juice, fewer pellets,more hay and daily brushings.

sas

 

[BlueGiants]

I have 4 Flemish does right now that have been in constant moult for the last 3 months... They are all on extra hay and pumpkin chunks (cooked), and every-other-day brushings. Looks more like a snow storm! Not sure why, they are usually done by now! We did have a warmer than usual fall season...

 

[gentle giants]

Yeah, I have a Flemish doe that is doing the same thing. I go out there and tell her, "You crazy rabbit! It's cold, keep your hair on!" but she jsut ignores me. *sigh*

 

[tonyshuman]

so my Tony molts in a pattern from nose to tail. he usually only goes through one molt at a time, but he recently started molting on the nose again, even though his whole bum is still molting from before!! it's like there is no end!

 

[BlueGiants]

Today we have snow and wind. The rabbits are out of the wind, but it is a bit colder than it has been. They better keep their coat ON! (Sounds like I'm talking to my kids! "It's cold out there, keep your coat on!" LOL!)

I gave them all extra straw bedding. But they don't seem to care, I make a nice (big) bed for them and they scatter it all over! (Ingrates!)

With all this fur, I think I should take up spinning again! (And such a soft blue-gray color! Should make a nice wool! If their not going to use it, maybe I should!)

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I think rabbits are sensitive to the weather even when they aren't in it. Bo is always inside and he's been molting off and on with each temperature change when it's about a 20° difference...... we had 100° in July and then 70° in a couple of days..... Molt city.

Same this winter. he was getting all of his fur back and he's looking good and POOF, it got cold and he's losing a couple of splotches again.

Tony is slowly losing his baby hair and I have a feeling when he molts in a couple of months he'll be naked!

It's VERY weird this year.

 

[Marietta]

Rabbits are supposed to have 2 heavy and 2 light molts per year, i.e. one every 3 months, more or less. However, as all the other members pointed out, a variable temperature can make the shedding last more, be more often or be heavier than usual.

Gently pulling the fur off with your hands is a very helpful thing to do, you speed up the molt and get more hair away from your little licker's tongue, so, you minimise the risk of a greater amount of ingested hair.

Marietta

 

[EdieRabbit]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your responses. Sorry, I just got home a bit ago to be able to check this. Well, thank heavens I'm not the only one going through Molt Fest 2007 and, er....2008! Poor Edie. Her pen looks like a snowstorm hit it!

We keep her in the garage with a heat lamp (lowest wattage so not to burn her up). The other night, my hubby asked if we should bring her in b/c it was getting really cold outside. I went to check on her and there she was, fur sticking out all over, so I brushed her downonly to end up with just as much of it on me as on her...like the fur ismultiplying and spreading to innocent bystanders. When I went back inside, Hubby asked how she was doing and I said, "well, despite her best efforts, she still has plenty of fur to keep her warm."

My furry little bun bun! Gotta love her.:bunnydance:

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

EdieRabbit wrote:

Hi Everyone,

Well, thank heavens I'm not the only one going through Molt Fest 2007 and, er....2008!

Understatement of the year with the buns!

I should get a video this summer of when I take Snuff out to remove hair, I hope for a gentle breeze as I'm pulling off the hair, so the breeze takes it, otherwise, yep, I'm covered:shock:. By the time it's over, it seems like 50 bunnies came out of him:shock:.

 

[Phinnsmommy]

When mine are in a molt, I give them these:

http://www.oxbowhay.com/Shop/showProduct.sp?PRODUCT_NO=52

The bunnies think they are treats, and giving it to them is the only way I can stop the 'bracelets'!

 

[EdieRabbit]

Phinnsmommy wrote:

When mine are in a molt, I give them these:

http://www.oxbowhay.com/Shop/showProduct.sp?PRODUCT_NO=52

The bunnies think they are treats, and giving it to them is the only way I can stop the 'bracelets'!

That sounds great! Thanks for the link! Edie looks so funny right now. The hair on her rear is all dishevled, like a little kid that has just woken up from sleeping.