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How To Shave A Matted Rabbit? In 5 Easy Steps!

If your rabbit has any matted fur, you may wonder how to shave a matted rabbit. Brushing your bunny every few days to remove excess hair and taking care of your rabbit’s fur requires focus observation.

Also, it takes time for you to check if there is something to it like parasites or skin irritation. Indeed, it’s a struggle to brush and trim your pet!

how to shave a matted rabbit

Take note of this:

All rabbits need to be well-groomed for them to be healthy and happy. Grooming such as brushing, trimming and shaving mats and getting rid of loose fur of a rabbit.

In this article, we will talk about how to shave your matted rabbit and what things we need to consider for keeping them fresh and healthy.

 

Tips On How To Shave Your Matted Rabbit

These are the several tips on how to shave a matted rabbit:

 

Tip #1. Make your rabbit feel comfortable

First, you should keep your rabbit calm. This is very necessary to have its body correctly and also not to harm both of you.

how to shave a matted rabbit

Lay a clean towel on your lap and gently support your rabbit to remain calm.

Remember that you do not have to lay your rabbit on its back because it may cause stress to them and could harm itself when grooming.

 

Tip #2. Brush the mat of your rabbit

Brush the mat gently and slowly.

If your rabbit has a hard mat, you can clip the hair’s tip to reduce the tension before brushing and without hurting them.

You should brush according to the direction of the fur gently.

You can also use your fingers to untangle the mat but be careful because sometimes the mat can hurt your rabbit.

For my rabbit, Thumper, I use a pin brush and a wide-toothed comb, which are the best for a long-haired rabbit.

Also, this can get the excess shed hair of my lovely bunny.

Brushing your rabbit at least once or twice a week can reduce the possibility of having tough mats, especially long-haired rabbits like Angoras, and if you have short-haired rabbits, brush them at least once a week. Please read here why is my rabbit shedding

 

Tip #3. Remove the last bit of excess hair

You can use a wire-slicker brush to remove excess hair, especially when your bunny is in its shedding season. This can remove the tangles and mats of your pet.

Do not brush the fur intensely against its grain, for it could cause damage to your pet.

 

How To Remove Severe Mats On Rabbits

If you ever have a severely matted bunny, you should go to the vet and get your rabbit to groom them for you. It is much better if you get professional help for your bunny.

help for your bunny

These are the following you need to do if you want to remove the mats out of your rabbit at home:

 

Step #1. Body

Start to untangle the matted fur on your bunny’s body using your fingers. please read here why do rabbit fur their fur out

As an owner, you know that rabbits are susceptible, so be careful not to shock them because even the slightest pull could cause pain on their skin.

Remove the matted part by combing it little by little to loosen it and to remove any excess hair.

 

Step #2. Feet

Your rabbit needs its hair for protection, but the fur on its feet could be matted too.

Furthermore, your lovely bunny’s fur could get matted quickly, especially when you do not have enough time to groom it.

And in most cases, matted hair on the rabbit’s feet could be pulled out easily. lern more here how to clean rabbit feet

 

Step #3. Neck down to the chest

Most of the rabbits don’t like to touch under its chin.

If you want to try to remove the mats of your adorable pet under its neck and chest, I suggest sweeping the fur going to the side of its face and remove the mats by brushing it out.

 

Step #4. Finally, cut the matted fur

You can’t comb the mat because it is too rigid, and your bunny might be in shock if you pursue it; the best option for this is cutting it off.

Carefully cut the rabbit’s fur with scissors, but you need to make sure that you will keep it against your bunny’s body, so you do not accidentally cut off the skin.

Some matted fur is very thick, like a combination of the matted hair and the rabbit’s skin.

 

Step #5. Avoid injury

You could prevent any injury by using a mat rake. This is a tool that could separate the mat and the skin for more comfortable trimming and shaving.

You could also cut the tip of the matted fur and comb it gently, this may not work for severe mats, but this could also help.

 

What Grooming Tools Needed To Shave My Rabbit?

These are some of the grooming tools you’ll need to shave your lovely pet:

 

#1. Brush

Before shaving off your rabbit, you will need to gently brush its tangled and matted fur for gentle and more comfortable shaving.

ore comfortable shaving

There are many types of brushes for rabbits; this includes; the soft brush, comb, rubber brushes, and mitts, which are all very useful and very gentle for your cute bunny that could remove loose fur easily.

 

#2. Soft brush

These are very great for grooming, and many bunnies enjoy the sessions using soft brushes.

In addition to this, if your bunny is in the molting season, this is not that recommended.

Thumper likes to be brushed with soft brushes, which he enjoys. This is what I use to him when I groom or shave his fur.

 

#3. Comb

You can also use a comb if you ever have a long-haired bunny, also very useful, especially when they are molting.

Take note you have to keep it gently and calmly when you comb the bunny.

 

#4. Scissors and clippers

The shaving and trimming process couldn’t be completed without clippers and scissors for cutting matted fur.

You could use scissors, but it is much slower than clippers, but the sound of the running clippers might scare your lovely rabbit. leran more here how to mute rabbit chat sound

 

#5. Grooming blower

You can also use an electronic grooming blower to dry up your rabbit before you shave it.

You will find it difficult if you are not familiar enough with how to use this.

how to use this

I suggest not to put it closer to your bunny because this might hurt them, or if you are nervous about operating it, you can use a clean, dry towel to dry the fur.

 

Conclusion

Grooming our rabbits regularly would help them avoid a matted fur, especially in their molting season.

Rabbits can groom themselves and could swallow a lot of hair, and this is very dangerous and could cause them to slow down their eating habits.

So as much as possible to remove the excess fur and don’t wait for it to become mat.

Furthermore, proper grooming equipment is necessary on how to shave a matted rabbit.

Rabbits are very delicate and timid animals that should be handled with care for them to be more comfortable with you as their parent.

I hope this article helped you; thank you for reading, and happy grooming!

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