Fur for Fiber

leeta84

Ridin' The Range
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Hey all my rabbit is 3 months old now. I'm wondering if I should stick to just blowing her out and brushing or cutting her fur off at this point. I do have a blower and tried it out once but I have a lot to learn and so does she when it comes to sitting still lol. BTW I cut off what I call her "top knot" cuz it got matted. Plus this way she can see better. I want to cut her cheek fur back too as it is matted but do I have to worry about the whiskers?

She is inside for now and so the warm weather is not a problem for her.

What should I do?
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AmberLops

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I would recommend shaving her if you have the clippers...if not, try cutting the hair with scissors.
If you're using clippers, use a #40 or #50 blade, nothing else will cut through that thick coat.
And you do have to be careful when clipping because their skin is sooo thin and one tiny cut can tear for inches. Trust me, I did that a few weeks ago and it was bad :(

But if you want to spin fiber for yarn...brushing or 'plucking' would actually be the best way, that way you get the full strands of long hair that can be spun more easily than clipped hair.
A de-shedding brush made for dogs is perfect. I have that for my French and I get quite a bit of fiber from him that way. The only downside is that you can't get all of the fiber from your rabbit.
About whiskers...some people say never shave them but I think Angoras are the exception because their cheeks mat more than anywhere else. I shave off my angoras whiskers because I have to!

This is a good link!

https://104homestead.com/fiber-rabbits/
 
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