how often should i brush during molt?

[Margarita]

So it looks like she started molting for spring. I bought the furminator and it is awesome. Im not sure if its going to be a heavy shed like the winter but every time i brush her hair comes out. Not huge amounts.

Should i brush her more than once a day? (shes not really loving the new brush)

And is a spring shed less than the winter one?

thanks
Laura

 

[missyscove]

The general consensus is that rabbits molt 4 times a year alternating a heavy and light molt. This also depends a lot on the temperature. For example, my rabbits live inside where it never really gets colder than 60 and never gets much hotter than 85. If they lived outdoors they would have significanly different temperature fluxuations.
The only brush I've used that my rabbits actually seem to like is the zoom groom. I usually take them outside about once a week for a thorough brushing if they're molting, but they have short fur and not very heavy molts.

 

[LakeCondo]

You might t try another method at a different time of day, like just removing what you can by hand.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

This time of year, they get brushed one time a day. YUCK!

 

[Margarita]

im hoping its not like her last molt which lasted three weeks and my house looked like a bunny bomb went off. i do with brush and my hands. its not crazy shedding yet im hoping it stays that way. cant wait till this is over

 

[Thumperina]

My (mainly outdoors) bunnies seem to be constantly molting. It looks to me that my white boys molt much more than my brown girls (they are the same breed). Can this be true?
What happens if you don't brush as much as you should? Can it be dangerous?

 

[Imbrium]

I love, love, LOVE the furminator... Nala's ok with it/Gazzles doesn't really like it, but craisin bribes help a lot.

Thumperina, I think some rabbits just shed more in between molts than others - I feel like Gaz has been molting for the last four months, ever since she blew her juvenile coat. my entire life is coated in white fur. no matter how much I dust the bunny room, everything seems to have a thin but very visible coat of Gazzle's fur ><

if you don't brush as much as you should, that means they ingest more hair during routine grooming (both the shedding rabbit and their bonded partner if they have one). like cats, they can get hairballs from ingesting fur while grooming... but unlike cats, they lack the ability to vomit. as a result, a hairball can be dangerous or even life-threatening, as the blockage can lead to GI stasis.

a good warning sign that you're not grooming enough (which, unless there are other symptoms, doesn't - on it's own - indicate an actual hairball) is finding strings of poops strung together with hair. seeing two poops strung together every once in a while is no biggie, but if it happens more frequently, in a large quantity and/or it's many poops in a string then you're definitely not brushing enough and your bunny is at risk of a hairball.

papaya tablets (oxbow supplement) are stuffed full of extra papaya and pineapple enzymes, which supposedly help to break hair down - many people find it helpful to give them regularly, especially during a molt (keep in mind, they DO contain sugar - one a day at the most is plenty and don't give them a full serving of fruits or carrots on any day where you give a papaya tablet).

the best thing you can give a bunny to help prevent hairballs and help hair that gets ingested pass through the digestive system, though, is plain 'ol hay. encouraging them to eat lots of hay and drink lots of water is very important.

oh, and cat hairball remedies/treatments shouldn't be given - all they do is coat the hairball, which might help for cats when you want them to barf it up before it causes a blockage... but for bunnies, their only option for getting rid of a hairball is for it to get broken up - cat stuff actually makes that HARDER for their digestive system to accomplish.

 

[Thumperina]

Imbrium thanks!
I ve never seen any hair in the poop and the poops are just singles. Maybe we don't have such as big problem with molting