Living in a house of fur

Question
Hello,

I need help. I have four rabbits who are usually very clean and lovely creatures. They are all house trained and I have never had any problems with annual shedding. This past fall (09) to spring (now) has been terrible. All the rabbits seem to be shedding more than usual and my house is a house of fur! Its everywhere! Theres one rabbit in particular who just seems to have been shedding the WHOLE time! There are no bald spots on any of the rabbits so I know that it must be normal processes for shedding but I'm just hoping you have some tips or tricks to maybe cut down on how much of the fur ends up on my clothes, furniture, carpets, etc. It literally seems to be flying around the house right now! I just did a big clean on thursday and today (sunday) it seems like theres just as much fur as before.

I brush them, I pull the tufts out gently, i pat them down with a moist hand.. is there anything else I can do to help them get through this shedding? My partner wants to take the small vacuum hose attachment and vacuum them *(which I wont let him do) but seriously.. we need some advice. How do you and other people deal with the shedding??

Thanks.

Answer
Hi Jemma. I don't know that I can really help you with your problem but I will try. I keep my rabbits is a seperate building in large cages. I don't have them in the house. Have you changed their feed in the last few months? This is my first thought as a change in feed can set a huge molt into effect. If you have short hair rabbits I would suggest that you dampen your hands and get very vigorous with rubbing their hair. Set the rabbit facing you and with damp hands start at the tail and rub the hair back toward you. Use a hand over hand action as you work up the back of the rabbit. Then start at the base of the ears and smooth the coat down to the tail. Repeat the process again and again. Each time you should get lots of hair on your damp hands and you will need to remove it, dampen your hands again and start all over. Hair will fly so a vaccuum cleaner IS a good thing to use to help clean the surrounding area as you work. This will need to be done often untill the shedding is under control. If you have long haired rabbits I suggest that you pluck them. Gently pull the fur with your fingers until you find a spot that is loose and this is where you start. Keep pulling fur(be gentle) working further and further from the starting point. Some areas may come out easier than others. Some areas may not come out at all and other areas may become almost bald. Once the rabbit is finished it may not look real great for a while but the fur will come back in strong and thick and tight. This is the two options I know of and I hope they help.    Pat