Zeus has really coarse fur - not soft like it used to be

[TinysMom]

JimD wrote:

Hi Peg,

How's Zeus doing today?

Honestly Jim? He's a pain in the *ss....and I say that nicely.

I made the mistake of letting him think he's the big kahuna bunny and now I can't control him. Its so frustrating because I can't really groom him without help or without a fight. It makes me want to cry...it really does. Its like...in trying to make him happy - I lost his respect (he used to let me pick him up).

Oh...you meant about his fur - right? :biggrin2:

Black sunflower seeds keep all my buns coats shinier and softer.
They all get a few with supper....not too many or they get soft poops sometimes.

Ok..."few" is....five? ten? a teaspoon?

Which Purina are you using?
I was always happy with the Complete Blend (green bag)
Buck used the Advanced Nutrition Show Formula (blue bag) and was always satisfied with it.

You remember how much I hated Purina and swore off it - right? 'cause I lost rabbits and others did from some bad batches...all at the same time?

Well - yeah - I'm back on it. I now use a 50/50 mixture of the complete (green) and the Show (blue). We mix 50 pounds (25 of each) and then 1 large container of the long-cooking oatmeal. Sometimes I add in some fruit loops or cheerios too - but usually that is my mixture.

I switched to Purina for two reasons - when we got Zeus - he was on Purina and his fur was SOOOOO soft. Also - when I checked the calcium content of my food against Purina's....Purina had about 1/2 of the calcium...and since Tiny had bladder sludge issues...well...now I'm kicking myself.

Oh - and I came to the conclusion after talking to many people - that any brand can have issues at any time. I don't want to sound scary - but I look at it this way...the bag gets bagged at the mill - then shipped in a truck - then stored in a store -and anywhere along the way it is possible - although not probable - for a bag to get contaminated. We just have to be vigilant. I know people who have used other brands (even Oxbow) who had feed issues (and had the feed tested too).

So I decided to get over my fear/hatred of Purina and use it....and just monitor the rabbits closely. I'm glad that I did - because they're mostly in tip-top shape for fur....

....except for Zeus. I think that's why I'm so concerned about him.

 

[TinysMom]

BlueGiants wrote:

LOL! I thought he'd really like them!

He almost took a chunk out of me - he loved them so much. When I was done - he stood up and was digging at my pants trying to get me to give him more.

I'm glad I didn't use my cranberry shower gel today - I would've never gotten out of the garage with the mood he was in...

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Tell Zeus I'm glad he likes the seeds! Bo and Clover LOVE them but they only get a couple here and there cause I don't want them to gain a bunch of weight.

Tony can be a booger about being brushed, Clover can too but Bo loves to be combed, brushed, plucked, whatever..... They all get brushed tho - it's the rules.

He'll come around and let you do it more once you start showing him it's a good thing. Give him a couple of seeds afterwards..... he'll associate brush time with goodies.

 

[JimD]

How's Zues today?

Tootsie is really starting to look scraggly, and has major porcupine butt.
Tomorrow I'm going to try to brush out the terrible trio (Toots, Benji, and Moosh)....clip their nails too, if I survive the brushing.





TinysMom wrote:

Sometimes I add in some fruit loops

Froot Loops have created two little bunny-monsters at my place!! Very demanding ones at that!!

I started to give Chippy a half of a Loop at bedtime. I thought a whole one might be too much sugar for her GI tract.
I didn't want to waste the other half so I would give it to Tootsie.
Now both of them will rattle and shake their cage doors every time I walk in, in an effort to pry more Loops outta me! Sometimes it works, but mostly results in a nose rub for the bun and a disapproving look for me.
***the other disapproving looks I get are from my kids when I tell them not to eat the bunny's Froot Loops***

 

[TinysMom]

Zeus is looking sorta bad to me...let me show you some pics...

I'm going to post more pictures of him in my blog later today....

The one redeeming thing that keeps me from freaking out - is that while his fur is still coarse- it is not as bad as it was before - its like the tips are coarse or something - AND - there is a nice big triangle behind his head where his fur is really really soft.

I brushed him and not much came out (not like I thought would come out if he was molting).

Right now he's pretty darn ticked at both Robin and I....he threw the oats around too and refused them (after he refused sunflower seeds).

He also got to see his former love Miss Bea and totally gave her the butt....so she gave him the butt too.

Oh well - I think he's trying to figure out what's gotten into me to make me suspect I am the boss...don't I know TIBBA is the real boss?

:shock:

 

[slavetoabunny]

To me...it really looks like a molt. I don't think he looks all that bad. You should see my mini-rex during a bad molt!

 

[BlueGiants]

I'm afraid I agree. It looks like a good heavy duty moult... I'll try to get photo's of Anastasia tomorrow morning. She looks awful!

 

[Maureen Las]

I also agree that it looks like a moult..mine can really looke scruffy, rough and mangy when they moult :grumpy:

 

[TinysMom]

Thanks everyone - I knew I was probably being paranoid -but Tiny looked like shortly before he died -and so I sorta freaked....especially since all of my lionheads have really really soft fur now that they're switched to Purina.

 

[JadeIcing]

His fur looks like Elvis when he is in a heavy molt.

 

[Leaf]

TinysMom wrote:

The one redeeming thing that keeps me from freaking out - is that while his fur is still coarse- it is not as bad as it was before - its like the tips are coarse or something - AND - there is a nice big triangle behind his head where his fur is really really soft.

Peg, this really struck a cord with me because Aiden is doing the same thing. (for those who dont kknow, he's a flemish as well) His coat has been a *little* rough lately but he is developing some very soft, beautiful patches.

From this thread, I'm going to assume he's going througha moult also.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Tony is having a heavy molt and looks like that. Both sides of his neck were almost like bristles so I combed him...... OMG he has 2 big patches of new hair under there! LOL!

My whole house knows he's molting out! and I thought Bo was bad! :shock: