Part of pet ownership is taking on the responsibility not only of being a provider, but also of being a caregiver for your new cuddly friend. While many complicated and sometimes challenging parts of raising and caring for animals detail grooming, it can sometimes be left out of the equation, especially when it comes to haircuts. But the real question is, can rabbits get haircuts?
Thankfully enough, you can be your rabbit’s hairstylist. It is important to note that, in doing so, you will need to put in some prep work and practice, and make sure you know any required safety tips beforehand.
This article discusses what type of rabbits can get haircuts, different methods to use to cut a rabbit’s hair, and other tips to know beforehand. Read along for more information.
What Type of Rabbits Can Get Haircuts?
While there are a myriad of different rabbit breeds that can get haircuts, like Lionheads, Angoras, and even Fuzzy Lops, the general rule of thumb is that only rabbits with long hair need to get haircuts. Even so, you’ll need to do a relatively significant amount of studying before you can begin cutting your rabbit’s hair, as it can be relatively dangerous when done improperly.
Another quick note is that short-haired rabbits can get away with just a simple brushing, clearing out loose hair and laying down frayed hairs, alleviating the need to get the scissors out because clumping and matted hair aren’t even a possibility.
A few other key factors about what “type” of rabbits can get haircuts would be what the emotional standpoint of the rabbits is, if your rabbit is more reclusive, only trusts certain people, is nervous, or generally agitated and grumpy, it might not be wise to attempt to cut your rabbit’s hair, as it only takes one fidget, or ill-timed movement to harm your bun.
What to Consider Before Grooming Your Rabbit?
The biggest thing to bear in mind before grooming your rabbit would be the key reasons as to why you are doing it in the first place, things like aesthetics are a somewhat justifiable reason, but truthfully the only reason anyone should be cutting a rabbit’s fur would boil down to the animal’s well being, anything else could be putting your rabbit in harm’s way, or simply annoying it for no good reason.
1. Health Benefits
The health benefits of cutting your rabbits’ hair, should they be long-haired, would be preventing hair clumps, keeping them from eating mountains of their own hair, which can crop up into gut issues in the long run, or even preventing them from becoming saturated with their own excrement, which can lead to its own list of setbacks and hygiene issues.
Aside from keeping them looking pristine, trimming your rabbit’s hair, especially in constantly mobile areas, can prevent them from pulling their hair out or causing painful irritations and infections if they do manage to agitate the area.
2. Maintenance
Mobility is the biggest factor to consider when planning your rabbit’s routine grooming. When rabbits hop, skip, and bound, excess hair can become tangled or twined. Keeping things trim will prevent your rabbit from having to endure these complications, improve their quality of life, and make their coat look great!
What Haircut Techniques Can You Provide for Your Rabbit?
There are, truthfully, only two ways of cutting your rabbit’s hair: either using a simple pair of scissors or utilizing an electric clipper. Each of these methods has its own pros and cons. Still, unless your rabbit is exceptionally calm, and the clippers themselves are almost entirely silent, you’ll want to avoid using them, especially if you are inexperienced.
If you aren’t very knowledgeable on how to go about clipping your rabbit, you have two uniquely valid options available, either you take some time, do research on not only techniques that are effective and safe, watch a few videos, preferably ones approved of by a vet, or option two, you seek out a vet, or animal care specialist (one that is versed in rabbit grooming) and get them taken care of there, perhaps even setting up a routine.
1. Scissors
Scissors, more specifically rounded-edge scissors, will allow you to cut your rabbit’s hair without potentially injuring them should they move from one side to another whilst you are going about your business. Even then, you’ll want to be incredibly mindful of where and how you clip your bun.
Taking a moment before each snip, ensuring there is absolutely no skin in the way of the blades, and that your rabbit is in an almost serene state before doing so, will guarantee that no injury comes to your pet before you alleviate them of any unnecessary fluff.
Another key point would be that not all rounded scissors are made the same; some are going to be made of inferior quality, and will cause you to struggle to get through your rabbit’s hair, especially if they are more on the woolly side of things than the fine.
2. Electric Clippers
While highly efficient at what they do and available in a multitude of designs, shapes, and safety measures, electric clippers come with a lot of what-ifs, especially for novice groomers. Once you get the hang of using them, you can make quick work of grooming. Still, most clippers have some risk factor regarding the blades, so do your diligence and shop around, but more importantly, study proper clipper technique before ever touching your rabbit with them.
Will Rabbits Get Spooked by You Cutting Their Hair?
It’s difficult to say for sure, primarily because all rabbits have different behaviours and tolerance levels depending on how they are raised, what their temperament is, how they view you, and most notably how likely they are not only to accept, but adapt to new things, most buns aren’t exactly the bravest bunnies in the yard, so it’ll take time, and warming up to get them to be comfortable with routine cuts.
Taking time to get them accepting to not only the tool you intend on cutting their hair with, but the way you’ll need to maneuver and interact with them while doing it will be a task in itself, there are definitely techniques that make these angles and cuts as non-invasive and comfortable as possible for your rabbit, but this will take time and patience for you to learn, and more for your bun to get used to you doing.
What Tips Should You Know Before Clipping Your Rabbit’s Fur?
Acceptance and understanding are paramount when thinking about cutting your rabbit’s fur, if they’ve never had it done, they have no concept of what you are doing, or why you are doing it, manipulating their coat can be agitating and annoying if you are inexperienced, and painful if you make a mistake, so it’s going to be a learning curve from both you and your pet.
1. Prepare Your Rabbit
You can begin to get your rabbit acclimated to the idea by setting your preferred tools out before hand, making subtle movements using them, or in the case of the clippers, letting them be on, and off, periodically, with varying distances from your rabbit, casually weaving the proximity with pets, and other microadjustments, letting them get used to the idea of you doing it.
In the case of scissors, you can do much the same, having the scissors closed and being in proximity whilst holding your rabbit in suitable positions, or simply navigating around them while they go about their business.
Brushing your rabbit before a clipping can also help them mentally line up with the routine of how things will go, which will help both you and your pet get into the mindset of grooming and make the whole thing less something to struggle through and more of a bonding experience over time.
2. Involve Someone Else
Getting someone else involved can have several benefits when discussing how you should navigate cutting your rabbit’s hair, from their favorite person being more or less a distraction from the act itself to the person comforting the rabbit before, after, and even during the clipping process.
Even something as simple as having someone whisk away the trimmings or hand you brushes or tools can streamline the entire process, making it more straightforward or less stressful and culminating in a much more positive experience for you and the rabbit.
3. Reward Them After Clipping
Rewarding your rabbit for a job well done is definitely something you can do, but be very mindful of the kind of rewards you intend to give, as not every reward needs to boil down to something edible. Unfortunately, this is what most people gravitate towards initially and can very quickly set up unhealthy habits and expectations for your rabbit.
Letting your rabbit have access to a special toy, area, or sight for a job well done is infinitely more feasible than simply giving them something to snack on. This practice, which can definitely yield results, can disrupt your rabbits’ eating habits or cause them to avoid their usual foods entirely, so be mindful of the expectations you set.
4. Use Gentle Techniques
We’ve alluded to it several times but cutting your rabbit’s fur while sounding simplistic at first glance does take a considerable amount of skill to do it effectively, and more importantly, safely, taking time to watch videos, or even better yet, getting a step by step first hand lesson from a vet or pet groomer can prove invaluable when learning the do’s and don’ts of trimming.
How Can You Clip Your Rabbit’s Fur?
You can easily clip your rabbit’s fur by firstly setting the stage so to speak, giving your rabbit and yourself a specific area to trim them, having your tools, and disposal basket nearby, with ideal environments backing the endeavor, and obviously having a little know-how both regarding using the tools, and knowing how to hold your rabbit to get the best results.
1. Set Up Your Area
Getting your rabbit’s trimming station set up doesn’t need to be an elaborate deal, a small location, perhaps a fenced-in area with a mat, your scissors or clippers, a brush, and you’re off to the races. The goal is to make the whole process as easy-going and straightforward as possible.
2. Learn How to Handle the Clip and Blade Properly
Regardless of whether you use scissors or clippers, there is definitely a level of skill involved in using them effectively, keeping you and your rabbit safe, and making each trim. The removal of the hair cut is a seamless interaction; you want to be able to move continually, without having time for your rabbit to get annoyed or fussy about what you are doing, constantly ensuring that each cut is never within range of your rabbit’s skin, thinking to the logic of measure twice, cut once.
3. How to Handle Your Rabbit
While it doesn’t really come as much of a surprise, there is definitely a technique in how you hold your rabbit, especially when dealing with certain problematic areas, like under the armpits, or towards their bottoms and behind their lower legs, most notably any areas around their tail, which is, believe it or not, part of their spine.
Precautionary measures for not only your rabbit’s tail, but also any other protruding body parts, be they old wounds, scars, or more natural things like massive teats on a mother rabbit, any of these can be sites where injuries can occur, even more notably folds, not that there is anything bad about having a particularly “Choncc” of a bun, but you’ll want to keep their safety and well being at the forefront of your mind.
Having an extra pair of hands makes this whole process even smoother, hence noting us talking about someone else being with you, this person can move your rabbits ears out of the way, aid you in lifting them for problematic areas, and even act as a second pair of eyes for uneven locations, or help gauge the webbing of their underarm to guarantee you don’t cut it either.
4. What to Do Between Haircuts
In between haircuts you can do smaller trimmings if you noticed specific patches of hair are growing exponentially faster than others, or if you find matted areas cropping up, but the best thing you can do is simply brush your rabbit to not only give them some relief and bonding time, but prevent those clumps from getting to be a problem before you can trim them up.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, you can definitely cut your rabbits hair, but you’ll more than likely want to call for a little bit of extra help when you do so, and take out a notepad so you can find the best techniques, methods and safety precautions on how to not only keep your bun safe, but looking stylish after each trim, but if this isn’t your cup of tea, you can always find a local stylist to get the job done for you!
