How often should I groom my angora rabbit?
The simple answer: As often as s/he needs you to, and not one bit more!
A more in-depth response: It depends... what breed of angora rabbit do you own? There are four Angora Rabbit Breeds (French, English, Satin and Giant) recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association. There is one additional breed of angora found in the U.S., and it has its very own organization managing registration: the German angora rabbit. Maybe you are lucky enough to own a German hybrid angora (my FAVORITE variety), in which case its grooming needs would depend on the percentage of German and the angora breed with which it was hybridized.
*A rule of thumb in most angora rabbit circles is to groom your bunny at least once a week.
*"Pluck" or otherwise remove the wool from your rabbit when it naturally molts, or releases its wool if you own an English, French or Satin angora.
*Shear or clip your bunny about every 90 days if you own a non-molting breed like the German and Giant angoras, or a high percentage German hybrid.
How often I groom my rabbits: I rarely have to do much grooming between harvests. That's the way I like it! I breed with a purpose: soft, dense, and colorful low-maintenance coats. I also have mostly purebred German and German hybrid angoras in my micro-herd.
While genetics plays a large role in producing easy-care angora coats, hay storage and housing also factor into things. An angora in a solid bottomed cage will quickly become a soiled, matted mess. Hay fines can also contribute to matting and webbing of the coat. The very worse thing to ever happened to angora wool? Pine shavings!!!
A more in-depth response: It depends... what breed of angora rabbit do you own? There are four Angora Rabbit Breeds (French, English, Satin and Giant) recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association. There is one additional breed of angora found in the U.S., and it has its very own organization managing registration: the German angora rabbit. Maybe you are lucky enough to own a German hybrid angora (my FAVORITE variety), in which case its grooming needs would depend on the percentage of German and the angora breed with which it was hybridized.
*A rule of thumb in most angora rabbit circles is to groom your bunny at least once a week.
*"Pluck" or otherwise remove the wool from your rabbit when it naturally molts, or releases its wool if you own an English, French or Satin angora.
*Shear or clip your bunny about every 90 days if you own a non-molting breed like the German and Giant angoras, or a high percentage German hybrid.
How often I groom my rabbits: I rarely have to do much grooming between harvests. That's the way I like it! I breed with a purpose: soft, dense, and colorful low-maintenance coats. I also have mostly purebred German and German hybrid angoras in my micro-herd.
While genetics plays a large role in producing easy-care angora coats, hay storage and housing also factor into things. An angora in a solid bottomed cage will quickly become a soiled, matted mess. Hay fines can also contribute to matting and webbing of the coat. The very worse thing to ever happened to angora wool? Pine shavings!!!
How do I groom my Angora rabbit?
The simple answer: With a metal toothed comb like this one--Two-sided stainless steel comb, or a well constructed stainless steel pin brush . Or, if you have a lot of angora rabbits to groom (or just some extra cash lying around), a 4 HP professional pet blower like this B-Air one.
Don't forget to trim your rabbit's nails at least once a month!
How I groom my angora rabbits: I normally use my pet blower to "blow out" my angora's coats. I use the blower because it allows me to de-tangle their wool and remove any webbing that may have developed in the coat without damaging the fibers in any way. It blows out any dust or debris in the coat, and it ensures that more of my rabbit's coat stays with my rabbit until harvest (which is especially important for show bunnies!). The main reason I blow out coats is to keep the fiber clean and in tip top shape so that it is in prime condition come harvest time. Combing alone just doesn't cut it with all the dust I have floating around my mini-rabbitry!
DO NOT OVER GROOM YOUR ANGORA RABBIT. Regular use of a slicker brush, daily combing, and any kind of excessive grooming can break the fiber and contribute to the kind of matting you are trying to prevent! Metal comb, and/or blower.... That's all I ever recommend using.
How do I groom a badly matted Angora rabbit?
There is no simple answer for this one.... It takes a lot of patience, and a calm demeanor, to adequately remove a badly matted wool coat. If your rabbit's coat gets to this point, don't try to salvage it... take it all down and start over!
For less serious matting, I rely on one grooming tool in particular. I discovered it when I started out with Angora rabbit rescue, and it works wonders on removing solid mats from a coat. Safari mat remover for dogs. While my links will bring you to Amazon, I buy all of my grooming tools from my local Fleet Farm. This one cost me $8, and it's worth its weight in gold:D
