Grooming your Rabbit

 Jersey Woolys are very easy care rabbits. Their fur is different from the high maintenance angora fur. It does not tangle easily and requires very little grooming.

The only time a Wooly needs a little extra care is during molt. This is when matting can occur particularly around the tail. You will need a slicker brush, comb, nail clippers, mat splitter or scissors.

Put the Wooly on a non-slip surface like a piece of carpeting. It should be fairly high off the floor so you don't strain your back while grooming.

Clip the nails. This should be the first thing you do to avoid getting scratched during grooming. I use dog nail cutting clippers.

Run your hands through the fur feeling for mats. Get a good idea where the problem areas are before you begin. 

If you rabbit is molting, wet your hands and run them through the fur, this removes any dead hair. Rub your hands together and the fur will ball up so you can throw it away. Helping a rabbit through molt by brushing excess hair out will help speed up the process, cause less  hair on the floor of the cage and most importantly, it will keep the rabbit from ingesting all that excess fur when it grooms itself helping to prevent Wool block.  Wool block is when a ball of hair gets stuck in the rabbits digestive system. The rabbit can not pass the blockage. If left untreated, wool block can lead to death.

There are a few ways to deal with mats. If your not showing your rabbit the easiest and least stressful on the rabbit is to simply cut the mat off with scissors. Be careful you don't cut the skin. Curved manicure scissors work well because the tip turns away from the skin. If you want to save the fur, begin pulling the mat apart with your fingers. A mat splitter can help with this too. Try to be as gentle as possible. When you have the mat pulled apart enough you can run a comb or slicker brush through it to bring the fur back to normal.

Flip your rabbit over and get any mats on the underside using extreme caution around the genital area.

If the bunny has any stains you can spray the stain with a mixture of vinegar and water, then rub cornstarch in to the wool. Let it sit a few minutes then brush it out.

This is a good time to give your bunny a thorough examination. Check the teeth for malocclusion (teeth that are growing abnormally). Check eyes and nose for discharge. Check the ears for mites or dirt. Make sure the backside is not caked with dried feces.

Show Rabbits should not be over groomed. Jersey Wooly fur should be as dense as possible. Excessive brushing can pull out a beautiful coat. We groom our Woolys four or five days before a show and don't touch them again.

You wouldn't want to do all this grooming then put them back in to a dirty cage. Make sure the cage is scraped, scrubbed and loose hair removed to keep your rabbit looking its best. For more information on cleaning cages see our "housing" page.

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