Cannot figure out my bunnies mood swings and type...

Question

Meko   QUESTION: Okay, I bought my rabbit from a very small and sometimes (out of fish buying and my breeding of them only to find defects) unreliable pet store source. He is a great bunny, pretty well mannered. Beautiful color and fur.

My first question is this: I am extremely rapid cycling bipolar disorder, which is usually controlled very well with my medications, but lately being put under much more stress than the average human can handle, I've been moody, crying, and snappy. Could my rabbit possible be nipping at me and cringing down when I open the cage to give him hay and the sorts because he is picking up on MY emotions? Or should I be seeing something I am not understanding about my bunny...

The second question is, of course, like many pet stores that I have experienced, the employees are only there to SELL the animals, not to get to understand or research anything about the pets... Therefore, I have absolutely no clue whatsoever what type of rabbit he might be...

Details about my bunny:
His body is kind of a white-ish to off white color,
He is what I believe is "sable point" with grey ears, feet, nose, and tail,
He is in size, sort of medium, of course bigger than my dwarfs I once owned, and MUCH smaller than the huge bunnies that are about the size of wild hares, except for the fact that their coloring is pet like and their nose is more rounded as a pet rabbits are. The one most apparent trait that is confusing me, is that he has a poof on the top of his head that reaches full in between and behind his ears, but not a full mane like a lion head rabbit. I am aware that he may be a mix of some sort, but have posted on a few different websites to no avail.

I hope that you are able to answer these two questions, and I am sorry if I rambled or told too many personal details... I all too often do without realizing.

ANSWER: Dear Shanah,

Rabbits are very sensitive and atuned to human moods.  But I think that unless you have abused him or shouted at him while you were upset, he is not likely to be shy because of that.  Just be sure that if you have mood swings that you don't take it out on the innocent rabbit.  Not only are they very emotionally sensitive, but they don't easily forgive.  Cuddle and love on him as much as you can, and make him a source of comfort for you, rather than stress, if you possibly can.

Also, if he's reaching sexual maturity, it might be time for neutering, since this will calm him and prevent undesirable behaviors:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/spay.html

As to his type, Meko appears to be one of the boutique-bunnies-du-jour:  the Lionhead hybrid.  He's a dilute sable color.

For all the best information on the care and feeding of your pal:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps.

Dana



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: My beautiful moody bunny has started being very sweet now that I gave him his little teddy bear girlfriend back. The only problem I am having is that I don't know if there is a special brish for his type of fur because the combs and the brush I have aren't working for his very fine but oh so horribly shedding coat. I have a very fine flea comb I decided to try since the teeth on it were way closer together than anything I have, and that worked a little but he is still shedding so badly that I can't even pick him up without fur flying. People that I know that have previously thought they were allergy free, have reacted to the fur that is just pouring off of him. The little poof of fur that you saw in the photo, oh boy, it is getting a lot longer and fanning out a little more. It is as long as his ears now and fan out a little by the sides of his head. Possibly could he just be getting older, I thought he might be a baby when we got him. I just don't know if I am supposed to be getting some special brush for bunnies. The brush I was using is just one of the regular wooden handle black bristle brushes you find in the store. I've skimmed through the pet stores while heading to the bunny food and hay section, but didn't really pick up on anything special or out of the way...

Answer
Dear Shanah,

Sometimes the best way to remove shedding fur like this is to just gently pull it out by hand, and forget the brushes and combs (they sometimes don't work on the fur of certain individual bunnies).  Another effective method is to have a bowl of water nearby when you have bun on a grooming surface (up on a table or counter and feet on a nice cotton mat with traction backing).  Wet your hands, and rub them back and forth on his coat.  The moisture on your hands makes the fur stick, and you'll have wooly palms after a few strokes.  Roll your palms together to remove the wool, and repeat the wet-hands stroking over and over until the shed fur is gone.  You will be AMAZED at how much fur you can remove this way, and bunny won't mind.

Between the wet-hand roll and the plucking, you should have bun nice and sleek in no time.  You might have to do this for a few days, or every other day for a week or so, but it will work.

Hope this helps.

Dana