Grooming Advice - Brushing & Nail Clipping

Regular grooming is important to maintain your rabbit's health. A weekly brush with a slicker brush is sufficient to maintain a short coat and remove any loose fur. Bathing is not required, nor recommended. Rabbits are self-grooming, meaning they lick themselves to clear out debris and loose fur. They have clean habits and prefer to stay clean.  You can support this by maintaining a clean environment. The downside to rabbit's self-grooming habits is that they can end up swallowing that loose fur. With adequate fibre in the diet, the fur will pass through the digestive tract without any issues. There is an increased risk of stasis (slowing of the gut function and passage) if the rabbit ingests large amounts of fur. This is especially important when the rabbit has a heavy molt - usually once or twice a year associated with the change of seasons. You can minimise the risk by grooming more regularly during heavy shedding. We recommend a slicker brush for short coats, and using both a comb and a slicker brush for longer coats. Don't forget to remove any accumulation of fur around the back feet, being careful not to strip too much fur and leave the hocks bare. We offer grooming services if you are unsure - see Boarding, Grooming & Services. 

 

Check your rabbit's nails each month, and clip them if needed. Rabbits have small blood vessels and nerves in their nails which appear pink.  I prefer to use a pair of regular human fingernail clippers. When clipping nails, you must not clip the blood vessel or else it will bleed and be painful. If you accidentally clip too short, you can stem the bleeding by dipping in cornflour or running it across a bar of soap.

 

Many rabbits will squirm when you try to clip their nails. You may like to wrap your rabbit in a blanket to prevent them from moving around and kicking. I like to lay the rabbit on its back, keeping its head higher than its body - by doing this from an early age they remain calm which makes nail clipping simple. I will show you how to clip your rabbit's nails when you collect them. If you are not confident in future, I am available to clip nails for a minimal cost.

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