You'd think that choosing one of the best rabbit brushes would be a piece of cake, after all, how many brushes for our floppy eared friends could there possibly be? Well, as it turns out, quite a few, which can make selecting the right one more than a little challenging. Thankfully, just like shopping for the best rabbit hutch, a little bit of background knowledge goes a long way when it comes to picking a brush for you bunny.
Rabbit grooming is incredibly important and while our bunny buddies are very clean little creatures who will spend a good portion of their day tending to their appearance, their fur can easily become matted, so they really do need human help when it comes to keeping their coat looking its best. Excessive grooming can also cause digestive issues (there's a lot of hair being swallowed!), so regular brushing can help minimize tummy troubles.
When it comes to rabbit shedding, expect this to happen every three months. Shedding can be light or heavy depending on the time of year, but brushing will greatly help to lessen the amount of fur you find on your floors - which is a huge plus if you tend to keep your floppy eared friend indoors and find yourself having to vacuum constantly. Regular brushing also helps to stimulate the natural oils in your rabbit's skin, which keeps their coat looking shiny.
There are a range of different brushes on the market, including grooming gloves, slicker brushes, and detangling combs. If your rabbit's fur tends to mat frequently, starting with a detangling comb can be a great option as this will help loosen up the fur, making it easier to get a brush through. Grooming gloves are lovely as your bunny will feel more like they're getting petted than brushed and the offer a nice massage too! And slicker brushes are ideal for those heavy shedding periods as they do a great job of collecting all the hair up.
To help you decide on the right grooming tool for your bunny, here's our roundup of the best rabbit brushes lining the shelves in 2024...
PetsRadar’s pick of the best rabbit brushes
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One thing to mention straight away: this comb couldn't be described as a budget buy. There are far cheaper combs on the market, but we haven't found one that claims to be the absolute best. In fact, the manufacturer says it promises you won't find another comb that compares (albeit falling short of a money-back guarantee). But what's behind such a strong boast?
Well, as affirmed by many user reviews, this patented comb removes a great amount of excess hair and that's down to the design. Each tooth of the comb, for instance, is of a sufficient length to get into the undercoat and the rounded ends means it does so without scratching the skin. Meanwhile, the plastic sleeves act as a band to catch fur. They create friction too and this stimulates fatty acids to transfer to the coat.
Even so, it may take a little bit of practice. The instructions say you should comb along the growth pattern of your rabbit's hair and then switch to start combing against the hair. It may take a small amount of time to get your bunny used to it (and to perfect the technique) but by going slowly, users say it starts to work a treat.
Sometimes a rabbit's hair can become tangled, knotted and matted and that can make grooming with a conventional brush rather painful. You can often feel a resistant tug when you're running a standard comb through fur that's tangled, so the kindest way of dealing with it is to use a product like this: a rake comb with stainless steel blades that will cut through the problem patches.
As well as making light work of the tangles by slicing the matted hair into more manageable, separable strands, it also removes the loose undercoat. It's certainly a friendlier alternative to whipping out a shaver and the good news is that it won't cause huge problems for your bunny's skin either since the product has been designed to minimize irritation thanks to its rounded edges.
Having a choice of using 12 or 23 teeth combs also makes this a versatile device – one that's also comfortable for you to use because the handle is non-slip. You'll tend to use fewer teeth to get in deep on the worst of the tangles and the larger number of teeth for greater thinning. You can then make use of the grooming comb that comes bundled with the rake to remove the excess hair and dirt, giving your rabbit a nice, clean coat. This has wide spaces between the smooth round teeth on one end and narrower spaces on the other, again catering for different levels of matting.
For tangles, knots and mats that don't look like they need to be cut, a slicker brush is a great way to keep fur in tip-top shape. Such brushes are suitable for any pet and they are certainly perfect for rabbits. They can be used as part of your weekly grooming regime to help you keep on top of your bunny's excess hair.
With this product, a few soft, short strokes is often all that you'll need. The rounded pins help create a flowing coat but reduce the amount of pull on the skin although some users report the pins being a little too spaced apart. There's every chance that your rabbit will enjoy the experience too since the brush massages the skin, increasing circulation of the blood and making grooming a more pleasurable experience.
One of the best features, though, is the easy manner in which you can dispose of the hair and dirt you've removed. There's a button on the back of the head, in easy reach of your thumb from the non-slip naturally fitting handle. Pressing it causes the bristles to retract and that will allow the waste to fall, with the remaining strands easily swept and wiped away.
A good alternative to an actual brush is a glove and this pair is about as premium as they come. For the price, you actually get two, packed in a well-presented box and looking almost fashionable – about as fashionable a grooming glove could ever be, anyway.
Improvements have been made to this product in 2021 which shows the care taken by the manufacturer, K&K. They're now being advertised as suitable for most hand sizes – in the past they appeared to be marketed for all but some users complained they could be too big. They are also double-stitched around the wrist which K&K say makes them impossible to rip.
It makes for a compelling product; one that has 260 tips spread across tough flexible medical-grade silicone, each of a sufficient length to brush unwanted hair away. As you move your hand over your rabbit's body, you'll also be giving them a massage and, if you find hair on your furnishings, you can use the glove to remove those too.
The only thing we'd like to point out is that the description says the glove can be used when bathing a pet. There's no doubt that it would work well in water but be aware that this product is designed for a number of pets including dogs and it's not advisable to bath a rabbit. They are generally clean pets and bathing them will likely strip their fur of natural oils and maybe cause distress.
If you're not sure whether you should grab hold of a slicker brush or a soft bristle brush, then why not grab them both. While you're at it, it may also be a good idea to snap up some nail clippers and a distracting chew toy while you get on with the task at hand. Expensive? It doesn't have to be.
With this set, you don't need to make any decisions, making it ideal for novice rabbit owners. You'll get all four items in a handy value pack and you can simply get on with the various tasks at hand. For starters, the slicker brush's stiff pins will remove excess hair and help to reduce shedding. The softer bristle brush can then help distribute natural oils across the coat by gently massaging the skin.
Using both should help with matted hair and they'll help to keep a rabbit's coat in very good shape. While you perhaps shouldn't expect the same quality as products sold individually, users are, for the most part, more than happy with the quality. So long as you're careful when using the slicker brush, you'll be able to groom without scratching the skin. And that will lead to a very happy bunny indeed!
While the primary aim of a rabbit brush will be to keep your rabbit's hair tangle-free, extra features are nice too, which this particular brush provides.
As well as functioning how a rabbit brush traditionally does, it also serves as a massage brush. The beads on the end assist blood circulation, and will not scratch their skin.
The idea behind this brush is ease of use, and this is provided in spades. The handle is non slip, making it easy to wield, and with just a click of the button, the hair on the brush will be dispensed with, making it easier to use next time round.
Some reviews have reported that this brush isn't as small as advertised, leading to the bristles to get caught in their pet's hair, but these complaints are generally few and far between.
Overall, this is a useful and reliable tool that should fit the bill for your rabbit.
How to choose the best rabbit brush
The rabbit brush you choose will depend to a great extent on your overall aim. In general, you can leave a rabbit to their own devices and only intervene when you feel it's a appropriate, but there's no harm in using a brush with stiff bristles to remove dead hair on a semi-regular basis. You can then step up to a slicker brush if the hair is becoming tangled.
A glove brush may be ideal if you want to groom while petting. Rabbits like being patted and stroked and it's a way to do both at once. It's also worth paying that little bit more for a brush. There are lots of cheap ones on the market, but they're not all built to last and you don't want to keep replacing them.
