Matted hair spot removal?

Hello all, this will be our first post/question.

First of all, we got our rabbits earlier this year. Honestly, I've read so many threads here before starting, trying to do everything right. Can't tell you what lengths we've gone to provide everything possible from correct cages, feed, veggies from organic home garden, fans, water misters, double shade with space in between to serve as a heat barrier etc...

The problem is with our buck. (All rabbits are perfectly healthy and get regular petting, veggie treats, poop tray cleaning almost every other day, fresh hay etc... Stools are regular and not soft...

I read in several places that Marble tiles could help with the heat... It did!

The problem was that our buck urinated on the tile wherever we placed it. He sat in it for a day and a spot on his hind quarter got matted. We wiped with warm water, but one spot (1/2" X 1") became severely matted right to the skin (kind of like dreadlocks). We hoped that he would clean himself and he did for the most part, but there has been this one persistent matte spot as described above. We can probably cut a lot of it off, but do not want to risk injury to his skin.

So far, suggestions discovered from reading threads include baby shampoo (Mile approach), to mineral oil (more aggressive approach) with follow up wiping/removal of oil so he doesn't ingest any of the oil and start a digestive issue.

Before we begin with the baby shampoo and progress (if necessary) with the mineral oil, are there any similar experiences/advice any of you can offer?

By the way... THANK YOU for everything we've learned so far from this website. It has become our number one "go to" info resource!

PS: We mated our buck (NZR) with our 6month old NZW doe and so far all looks pretty good, expecting (hoping) for our first kindle in two weeks! (This will be her first so we are expecting anything from sad to wonderful, not getting our hopes up too high but definitely optimistic!)

Thank you again!

Richard & Tresa

I would use seam ripper to cut out the mat.

Your rabbit is short haired and the mat is right at the skin so wetting it will just make the mat tighter and possibly bigger as neighbouring fur may get stuck with it.

Oil or cream rinse can help you to pull it apart but again this works better on mats in long furred rabbits and not so much on short haired.

As the fur grows back it will be more prone to matting so use a line toothed metal comb to remove dead hair or pull out mats before they get too big.

I agree with Dood.

I have both long haired (lionhead) and short haired (NZ) rabbits. I would definitely cut out the mat on a NZ. I would probably start with a bunny burrito (wrapping him up in a towel to calm him and immobilize him).

Mine don't urinate on their tiles, thankfully, but for your buck you might want to get him one of the slotted resting boards. Maybe even get two, and you can rotate them in and out of the fridge for some coolness.

Oh...welcome to RT!

THANKS!!!!

I read your reply out load to Tresa about using a seam ripper and both our faces lit up! Of course! Makes total sense, safe, one spot at a time, we both use them and we can just do a little at at a time without being invasive on "Stubby" (Pedigree NZR whose over exuberant mother bit off the tip of one of his ears before we bought him... When we first saw him we both turned to each other and cried out "Nemo!" (As in "Finding Nemo and his dwarf "lucky fin"!)

We're going to try it out tomorrow morning and let you know how it worked out... Just makes us feel bad knowing he might be in discomfort... with that only exception, he was ( is) such a hansom young Buck (and friendly beyond belief! He'd let me pet his head and cheeks for days if I could stand there long enough! LOL!

Thank you again!

Richard & Tresa

PS: We mated our buck (NZR) with our 6month old NZW doe and so far all looks pretty good, expecting (hoping) for our first kindle in two weeks! (This will be her first so we are expecting anything from sad to wonderful, not getting our hopes up too high but definitely optimistic!)

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From what I've experienced, NZs typically make great first time moms! :clover:

Richard & Tresa":33ezxmr2 said:

with follow up wiping/removal of oil so he doesn't ingest any of the oil and start a digestive issue.

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Mineral oil wont hurt him. When horses colic, they are given gallons of the stuff to move things along. It is indigestible, so will just pass out of his system.

Richard & Tresa":33ezxmr2 said:

The problem was that our buck urinated on the tile wherever we placed it.

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While it probably wont be as effective as laying upon it, perhaps you can mount it vertically to the side of his cage so he can at least lay against it. If he sprays on it the urine will just run off (or dry in place) so wont be a big issue aside from being unsightly.

A steel medium/fine tooth comb will work very well too.