Grooming Your Rabbit

Rabbits are generally very clean animals, yet they do need grooming. The amount of grooming needed depends mostly upon the fur type of the rabbit.


Grooming Normal and Rex Fur

A normal or rex furred rabbit will need to be brushed occasionally, but especially when the rabbit is molting. A rabbit will usually molt only once or twice a year. During other times, they shed very little fur. A normal or rex furred rabbit should be groomed with a slicker brush. To get out any loose or dead fur, you can dampen your hands with water, then pet the rabbit. The loose fur will then stick to your hands.


Grooming Wool

A wooled breed will need the most grooming. To keep the coat from matting, you will need to thoroughly groom them daily using a rake or comb to help break up any matting. To get a mat out of the fur, work at just a little at a time, from the tip of the fur towards the skin. Get as much as you can out with your fingers, then use the rake or comb.


Photos of the most common grooming utensils are shown below.

Stain Removal

Occasionally a rabbit will get urine stains on its fur. To remove these stains, first get as much as you can off with plain water. On a white patch of fur, you can use hydrogen peroxide on the area, thoroughly soaking it. Just leave the peroxide on the fur to dry. Do not use the peroxide around the eyes. Another method of stain removal is to wet the area and apply cornstarch. Let it dry, and then brush the area.


Bathing

Under normal circumstances, you do not need to bathe your rabbit. However, should your rabbit get very dirty, you may wish to bathe it. The best place to bathe a rabbit is in a kitchen sink with a sprayer. It is also very helpful to have 2 people bathing the rabbit, to avoid injury. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Place a scrap of carpet, towel, or rag in the bottom of the sink to keep the rabbit from slipping.
2. Adjust the temperature of the water to lukewarm.
3. Place the rabbit into the sink. Have one person keep control of the rabbit.
4. Using the sprayer, get the rabbit's body thoroughly wet. When bathing, you will want to avoid getting water in the ears and soap in the eyes, so it is best to only bathe the rabbit from the neck down.
5. Rub a small amount of baby shampoo throughout the fur of the rabbit. You will want to have the other person hold the rabbit over the sink on it's back to wash it's underside.
6. Thoroughly rinse the shampoo from the fur. Make sure you get it all out well so that the rabbit does not ingest the soap when it grooms itself.
7. Remove the rabbit from the sink and dry it as thoroughly as you can with a towel.
8. Using a blow dryer set on low or medium, thoroughly dry the rabbit. If you have it set on heat, make sure you do not let any one area of the rabbit get too hot. If the rabbit does seem to be getting hot, use the cool setting. Do not leave the rabbit wet any longer than you have to, because it can easily catch cold.
9. Only after the rabbit is thoroughly dry, you can return it to it's cage.