Cashmere Grooming

- Baby Coats - Adult Coats - Equipment- Helpful Pointers -

Baby Cashmere Rabbits

When Cashmere's are younger they need the most work as they are still getting their adult coats. The first coat is always the worst coat as it is much softer and lacks (obviously) the correct guard hairs of the adult coat. When beginning to work on their coat it's a good idea to place them on your lap and very gently tease out any tangles that are starting to

form. It is recommended that you start working on their coat when they to 10 - 12 weeks old. Try not to do all the initial teasing in one-lot, but in a couple of lots each time.

Baby Cashmere Lop Beginning to Moult

If you purchase a baby Cashmere Lop it may appear quite fluffy, or even have begun to moult and may soon knot on the shoulders. It may even appear bald on the neck and

behind the crown and ears. This is the sign that your young rabbit is moulting out his baby nest coat and is starting to

grow his adolescent coat. At this time you should have started his regular grooming sessions. In order not to stress or frighten the rabbit too much, it is recommended that or the first couple of weeks a daily grooming session of about 5 minutes, lengthening gradually to about 7 minutes should be started. This will help to get the coat in order and accustom the

youngster to a routine.

If this seems to hard the coat can be cut or shaved between 8 and 10 weeks, there new

coat comes through in top condition.

Keeping Adult Coats Under Control

Once the coat is getting under control, these sessions can be reduced to twice weekly for 5- 10 minutes or so and eventually, when the adult coat is attained at about six to ten

months old, once or twice a week should be perfectly adequate, perhaps done when the

cage is cleaned out.

The newcomer to the young Cashmere Lop can become quite alarmed with the amount of soft coat that comes away during grooming sessions. However this is the loose coat that

has been moulted, so it does need to be removed otherwise it will form knots and eventually become so thick as to prevent air circulation to the skin. This not only prevents the new coat from growing properly, but it can also cause skin infections and irritations. It is

important to remove extraneous material (bits of hay, shavings, straw, etc) from the coat, which would initiate knotting and matting if mot attended to. Particular attention should be paid to the areas around the genitals, the tail (above and below) the legs (around the ring if this is fitted) and on the chest and shoulder region. These areas are best reaching

with the rabbit lying in your lap on its back. If you ask the breeder where you purchase your lop, they should show you how to do this safely at the time when you are shown the best way to handle your rabbit. In the case of particularly pampered pets, consideration should

be given to trimming the hair around the genital area to assist their toilet activities.

Equipment

Probably the most common equipments used are combs, including a large one, perhaps one obtained from large Pet shops intended for longhaired cats and often called a moulting or shedding comb. Also a small one for around the trickier areas (such as the

genitals). The latter could be a small flea comb or one often sold as intended for small livestock. Some people also use a slicker brush but generally brushes only glide over the surface of the coat and do not get down to the base of the hair shaft, where knots can

occur. A handy tip is to blow into the coat. You can often spot small knots in the coat this way and they can then be gently teased out with the fingers. If you have left grooming too long and some larger knots are present, it may not be possible to get through these with the other equipments. In this case, gently tease the knots apart first, then your fingers are

often the best equipment!

Shedding Comb

Slicker Brush

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Kirsten Smit

www.nibblenursery.com.au

Copyr ight © 2008 Nibble Nursery

Helpful Pointers

You will find that coats will vary from Cashmere to Cashmere and some will require grooming daily, whilst others only require a quick check over weekly, with more attention

when the rabbit is moulting. However, it is always recommended that the Cashmere Lop is checked over once or twice a week, perhaps when cleaning the hutch. The following are

some points you should check.

a) Check the bottom is clean and dry (often an early indication of health problems

b) Check the teeth. The breeder should show you how. Malocclusion needs to be

discovered early and can occur at any age of rabbit

c) Removal of wood shavings, hay, etc from coat, to keep skin and coat in good condition

d) Check the ring if this is present, that nothing is caught underneath, including shavings,

knots, etc, which could cause a great deal of discomfort.

e) Never house rabbits on a wire floor.