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Best way to clean mini lionhead?

CucumbersKitchen

CucumbersKitchen

Young Bun
Hi everyone, Cucumber is a mini lionhead and she's not really thinned out her fur since she was a baby so she's really really fluffy. I have to brush her all the time because she sheds so much but I find it very difficult to bathe her. She really doesn't like getting wet but she loves hopping through the soil and has a lot of fur round her bum. She's bright white so the brown dirt really stands out on her!
I was wondering what people could suggest about the best way to clean her? She gets bits of hay and soil and all sorts caught in her fur round her bum and she doesn't like me brushing round there (understandably!). I have bunny wipes that I use about once or twice a week to try and keep her fresh, then every month or so I try to give her a proper wash but she's really not great at sitting still for it and then it's very difficult to get her fully dry afterwards. Any suggestions? Thank you :D
 
Hello

Rabbits should not really be bathed as they can easily chill and become poorly. I would suggest trimming/clipping the fur around her rear end. This then makes it much easier to keep the fur clean. You do need to be extremely careful if you do the clipping yourself as Rabbits have very delicate skin that easily tears. You could always ask if a Vet Nurse at your Vets surgery could do it for you on the first occasion.
 
Hi there

I've got two lionlops who are very similar in fluffyness to how your Cucumber looks in that photo (cutey btw).

They're indoors so we don't have the soil issues but went through some digestive problems last year so they needed cleaning. I found trimming more effective than washing in the end and less stressful for them. You have to go really carefully of course and you would only want to cut the bits of fur that are dragging on the ground so she keeps her winter coat for outdoors.

Other than that and longer term could you look into the surface she's on so she has less access to mud in the winter time? I've heard of people using stable matting but again as mine are indoors I'm not an expert there.

They do take a bit of upkeep don't they bless them? Such adorable funny things though. Good luck with her.
 
Hi there :wave:

Long-haired rabbits can be a bit of a problem at times! As she's an outdoor bun you have to be extra careful this time of year. If you are to wash her at all I would suggest standing her in no more than an inch of lukewarm water, many towels standing by and be extra vigilant for her jumping out of the sink/bath. Make sure she is thoroughly dried before putting her back outside.

Long term it might be an idea to get the vet nurse to help you clip her fur, on a regular basis, so this problem becomes easier for her to tackle herself xx
 
Thanks for replying :) Yeah I only bathed her in the typical sense once but I could see how much she didn't like it and I just couldn't bring myself to put her through that again :( Yes I think I might do that, I get so worried about trimming her because it's very hard to tell which bit is excess fur and which is necessary.
 
Hehe thanks, yes she does take a lot of upkeep but as soon as I saw her she was just so cute that I had to have her!
Yes I think trimming might need to be the way forward. Just get very nervous about trimming her because she has the habit of suddenly jumping or rushing off to smell something!
She loves running in and out of the flowerbeds which is where the soil is. I can't really fence it off because she can jump so high and I can't cover it up because then all the flowers would die! Very tricky. I'd love to have a huge meadow that she could run round in no problem :)
 
When I wash her she won't sit in the sink or bath so I have to sit her on my lap and keep wetting my hand and use a sponge. Needless to say it's a messy business! I think I'll have to cut down her fur a little, she doesn't ever get cold really unless it's snowing so I think it would be ok to trim her a little bit.
 
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