Grooming your Angora Bunny

 

As an Angoras breeder, I must admit, grooming Angora's is not the most fun thing to do. It requires a lot of brushing and grooming, but this is a necessity! You don't want to postpone something like grooming. It can affect the health of your rabbit both physically and on the inside. However, grooming is also a nice time to get to bond with your rabbit. If you want to show a rabbit, try to sit them on your lap while you brush. The younger you start handling the bunny, the bigger the bond will grow!

 

Satin Angora's first start their first molt when they are around 8 weeks of age (for some rabbits, it's 9 or 10 weeks). This is the time when you want to really start brushing your rabbit, to get all of the molting fur (it's softer and finer than adult fur). To do this, gently sit the rabbit down in your lap, and calm it down. Angoras, when they are young, will fidget a lot and will not want to be handled. This is normal. The more you handle them, the calmer they'll get.

When the rabbit is calm, gently take you hand and grab and small handful of the rabbits fur (don't pull!), and, with a fine tooth comb, brush out the old coat. --I list the proper equipment you should use for rabbit breeding down below-- You start with the neck, then work your way down to their lower back. When you are finished with this, gently flip them over and groom their bellies and lower neck. To situate the bunny on its back, gently pread your legs apart and place the rabbit in between them, making enough room for the rabbits back to fit but also making sure your rabbit doesn't unexpectedly flip over onto its feet.

 

When your rabbit is about 12 weeks of age (some breeders start as early as 10 weeks but I like to wait a little), you don't need to use the brush as often, however, this doesn't mean you get a break a grooming. Instead of brushing it out, you should start blowing out their fur with a blower (Metro Air Force Dryer or a Hair Dryer with a Cool Button). If you are using a hair dryer, make sure your hair dryer has an option of turning the hot air to cool. HOT AIR CAN BURN YOUR RABBITS SKIN! DON'T USE A HAIR DRYER WITHOUT A COOLING OPTION!!! Make sure to steady your rabbit on a table with one hand while blowing its fur with the dryer in the other. DO NOT AIM THE BLOWER DIRECTLY AT THEIR FACE OR EARS! When your rabbit is comfortable with the blower, you will not be needing to steady it with your hand. If you are not comfortable using a blower, then simply brushing the fur is fine. However, if you are brushing the rabbit simply to make it look nice and don't want to brush the fur out, replace the fine-tooth comb with a regular pet brush.

 

It won't be until your rabbit is 6 months of age when it will fully molt out of their coat for the first time as an adult. There are many ways by this point to remove the wool from the bunny. You can still use a blower of comb it out with a fine-tooth comb, but another way to do it is to cut it out with sewing scissors. If this is your case, be sure to never use the scissors for anything else or the scissors will become blunt! Another way is to simply pluck it out. Only do this when they are shedding out their coat, for if it's not, it will be hard to pull out. Shedding wool will come out with a gentle tug. Take out loose hair as soon as possible to prevent wool block or mats. Once your rabbit is an adult, it will shed/molt out its old coat every 4 months. 

 

EQUIPMENT

• Regular pet brush

• Metal tooth comb (or a dreadlock brush).

• Nail clippers

• Sewing scissors

• OPTIONAL: Metro Air Force Dryer or Hair Dryer with a Cooling Option

• OPTIONAL: Small table with s nonslip surface

• OPTIONAL: Bravura WAHL Electric Clippers'

 

QUESTIONS COMMONLY ASKED

Is it okay to bathe my rabbit?

I would strongly not reccomend it. Rabbits have a high risk of catching the sniffles, which for rabbits, is deadly (since they mostly breathe through their nose). If your rabbit has diry hindquarters or feet, just dampen a washcloth with warm water and scrub it out as best as you can. Even if it doesn't come out, it is now easier to cut out since wet angora wool sticks together and hardens up. 

However, if you personally think your rabbit is the filthiest thing alive, then here's my reccomendation:

Fill your bathtub with warm water, making sure it's not to cold or to hot. Fill it with only a little bit of water, so your rabbits mouth won't be in it. Put your rabbit is slowly. If you don't acclimate your rabbit to the water slowly, it can get osmotic shock. 

Scrub your rabbit down with pet-friendly shampoo and wash him/her off with a wet washcloth, bath pouf, or just cup your hand into the bath water and pour it onto your rabbit's body.

When the bath is finished, be sure to dry off your rabbit THOROUGHLY! Rub your rabbit down with a soft towel for a couple minutes, then blow dry your rabbit with cool air. Don't aim directly in the rabbits face or ears! When your rabbit is dried off, brush him/her thoroughly and let them run around for a bit before returning them back to their cage. If your rabbit's cage is outside and it's chilly out, cover their cage with a blanket for the night so they aren't stuck shivering.

 

How often do I need to groom my Angora?

At the very least, once every other day. I brush my Angora's every day for 10-15 minutes. You usually don't have to do any trimming or using a blower. That's only for coat shedding. Make sure to brush every part of their body that's covered with fur (which is basically all of it). You can just simply use a pet brush if you are just doing daily grooming. Fine-tooth combs are for pulling out the shedding coat when your rabbit molts. 

 

What is wool block? How do you treat it?

Wool block is something your rabbit gets when it has fur lodged in its throat from excessive grooming. Since rabbits cannot simply vommit out hairballs like cats, wool block can become lethal if not treated.

However, do not fear! It is very common in Angora's, and can be treated very easily.

Most rabbit breeders buy supplements called "Papaya Pills". However, you can simply run to your local pet store or to a nearby PetSmart or PetCo and buy a bag of dried Papaya (fresh is great, too but dried Papaya is easier to find in a pet store). 

Simply take a small handful of Papaya and put it in your rabbits bowl with his/her pellets. This should clear wool block. However, if your rabbit is not eating the Papaya, you can also try giving your rabbit pineapple, pineapple juice, wild bird seed, or canned pumpkin. I try to give my rabbits Black Oil Sunflower Seed as part of their daily diet to prevent wool block.