Brushing Moulting Netherlands

[BethanyRose]

Hi, my little white Netherland Dwarf moults like a good'en. He's an outside bun, with his brown coloured sister. I always find the hair in the water bowl and there's hair on the paving slabs etc etc. It's not clumps just loose hairs. But when I brush him nothing comes off on the brush? I'm using a Pets at Home brush. Does he need brushing??

 

[Shimmer]

I use a double sided metal dog comb for routine grooming. Brushes don't really do much, in my experience. You need to get down to the base of the fur. Brushes tend to skim the top layer, and with tiny bunnies like Nethies, brushes tend to be too big to do all the fiddly bits anyway.

I find short haired furries are the most difficult to deal with when they are moulting. Running damp fingers (or wear rubber gloves) through the fur in the wrong direction tends to remove loose hair, especially if there's a bit of wind to help blow it out as well.

I think all furries do need grooming. Rabbits will ingest fur from grooming themselves and their companions. If they ingest a lot, it can cause digestive blockages. Doing a proper groom weekly helps to prevent this, and you get to know the condition of your rabbits better, and spot when things are not quite right. Handling them for grooming also helps when they have to be handled by others eg at the vet.

 

[KCG]

I have a half dutch dwarf rabbit, I groom him at least twice a day. He changed fur last month and he shed a lot. I mostly use a flea comb, it works great on short fur. Then I use gloves comb. Sometimes I collect it lightly with my hand.

 

[BethanyRose]

Thanks very much for your replies. A comb sounds better and yes he's always cleaning him and his sis. Very fur proud. What is a glove comb? I will definitely try pushing his fur the wrong way in the wind. Unfortunately even though his previous owners and the vet pick him up with ease (and we are desperate too), we're still not confident with it. Which I should be I know, as need to check them over. I just can't handle him like the vet does. But trying. So at the moment I brush them while they are eating their morning by nuggets as nothing will distract them from that! But his sister still moves away from the brush and finds a new position at the bowl

 

[KCG]

Flea comb:
https://images.app.goo.gl/7Laz5pxJGb39iraQ8

Comb glove collects fur from rabbits in one go, works great in a few seconds
https://images.app.goo.gl/nyH2wgzu4CGBveYJ8

 

[mikek]

i've only ever had 1 nethie but brushing him was pretty much impossible. i could only do it when he was unwell, otherwise it would be 1 stroke with a brush, glove thing or comb only before he either escaped or started attacking the brush

 

[BethanyRose]

Well I bought the comb and combed them, tried to quite deep and nothing came off! My white rabbit seems to have stopped moulting so much now. So I guess I'll just leave the grooming as nothing seems to come off in a comb or a brush

 

[Shimmer]

I would still give them a quick comb through once a week. It makes it easier to do longer sessions in the future if it's part of their normal routine, and you are also able to pick up on other health issues while you groom the.