stuck in molt? help

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lordessashley

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fair time here is soon approaching, I am new to rabbit showing so I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to detail with coats till now. my daughter took her dutch to show a few times and the last 2 shows she got dings for the coloring.... is she stuck in a molt? I have brushed and brushed and I can't seem to rid the discoloration!!! I even started her on calf manna a few months ago.... help. I'll try to add a picture.. it says it's too big... <br /><br /> -- Wed Jul 12, 2017 7:29 pm -- <br /><br /> I hope the picture is ok..
 

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To me, it looks like she may be sunburnt. Is she housed in a hutch, in a barn, or inside? Obviously, you probably don't have your rabbit in full sun. But my rabbit got sunburnt just because the hutch got sun in the morning, and then when the sun shifted in the afternoon he was in shade; and somehow he got burnt. The sunburn faded his black coat to a reddish brown; so on a chocolate rabbit I imagine it would have a lighter discoloration as pictured on your daughter's dutch. She does not seem to be molting to me, but if it is sunburn you want her to molt it out. A small change in feed, a car ride, or a small change in housing may cause her to molt. For example, I have a rabbit I currently want to molt . I let her run in the exercise pen, took her for a car ride, and gave her a bit of dandelion every day. Now she's molting. No idea how that helps, but that's what I was told. :?

BUT.. keep in mind I'm pretty new to this rabbit stuff... I've only been doing it for four years. So maybe someone with more experience could pitch in here? :lol:
 
i have some anecdotal evidence (my own rabbits) that tells me that sunbleaching can occur even if they NEVER encounter direct sunlight. the heat alone can lighten the fur, somehow. all of my black rabbits turn brown in the summer months and none of them get direct sunlight at any point of the day. it's worse when they just about to moult. and i've found that brushing doesn't always help a moult go faster. it falls out when it falls out. i can brush a patch of obviously dead fur on a rabbit for an hour and i might get 3 hairs out because it's just not ready.

how long has she looked like this? you said two shows, but i don't know how far apart your shows are. it may be a combination of both. it usually takes my rabbits a couple months to fully moult out and they look patchy and weird until then.
 
I think one show was in May and the other was in June. I did just make her a new Hutch. The other was in shade almost all day. She is outside. Now I have her in a bigger Hutch and more shade as it is under a tree. And has a roof. I will see what I can do to force her into a molt. Thank you so much for your responses! I had rabbits growing up, and I have never heard of sun bleaching their hair until we got this one :)
 

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