Grooming Your Pet Rabbit

     Rabbits are extremely clean animals by nature.  They spend a great deal of time grooming themselves, but that doesn’t mean that your pet rabbit doesn’t need some tender loving care from you as well.  Grooming your pet rabbit is a great way for you to spend time with your pet.  You’ll establish trust with your pet rabbit by handling him gently and kindly.  In addition, regular grooming keeps your pet rabbit healthy and looking his best.

     The manner in which you groom your pet rabbit will vary depending on whether your rabbit has short hair or long hair.  Always keep in mind that your rabbits’ skin is fragile and sensitive; so be sure to use the correct brush for his fur.  A comb is always a good choice, but a brush with soft bristles is ideal as well for daily or weekly grooming.

     A rabbit with short hair should be brushed about once a week, unless he is shedding.  Rabbits shed unnecessary hair about every three months.  During this time, plan to brush your rabbits’ hair every day until it seems as though the hair is back to normal.  For a final finishing touch, use a damp cloth to go over your rabbit to remove any stray hairs following brushing. 

     Are you the owner of a longhaired rabbit?  In order to avoid unsightly and uncomfortable mats in your pet rabbits’ fur, you must brush his hair every day.  It’s unnecessary to allow your rabbit’s fur to grow past one inch in length unless of course you are showing him for a 4-H project.  If your rabbit does develop mats, it’s vital that you don’t use any sharp objects to remove the mats.  Instead, use a comb and short strokes to gently work out the mats.  

     Your rabbit will look beautiful after brushing his hair, but that’s not the only reason to brush his hair.  Grooming your pet rabbit serves the purpose of removing dead hair from his body so that he doesn’t swallow the extra hair and develop hairballs.  Hairballs can get trapped inside the rabbits’ digestive tract and effectively block it, causing serious health problems for your pet.  Surgery can be performed to remove the hairballs, but of course, by simply grooming your rabbit on a regular basis, this can be avoided.

     As much as you might like to dunk your rabbit into the bathtub, please don’t!  Baths are not required to keep your pet rabbit clean and healthy.  In fact, bathing a rabbit causes him extreme stress, which could cause undue harm to him.  Only in unusual cases will a veterinarian recommend bathing a rabbit.  In that case, it’s best to leave bathing a pet rabbit to the professionals.

     You’ve probably noticed that your pet rabbit’s nails are pretty sharp.  You’ll need to check your rabbits’ nails at least once a week and trim them if they get too long.  If you’re unsure about how to trim a rabbit’s nails, take your pet to a professional groomer the first time and observe how it is done.  Then, you’ll be able to do it at home.

Make grooming your pet rabbit a part of your daily chores, along with feeding and watering him.  Enjoy this special time with your pet!