Thread: Rabbit Fur?

Looks like you figured it out alright. If it hasn't been tanned it'll be sensitive to moisture - getting damp can let bacteria grow and the fur slip, or if it dries before that happens but is untanned it'll harden since it's more or less rawhide.

Chemical tans are easy to use and give a decent finish, but my personal preference is bark/veggie tans. It's slower, but gives a nice rich deep brown colour to the leather. Has to be worked until dry or it'll be rock hard. Keep the mix a little acidic and the solution strong and you won't get fur slip, then rinse and neutralize it at the end so you don't get acid burn in the leather a couple years down the road. In a hide that's as thin and low in oil as a rabbit's it's impossible to case harden the hide so just hit it with the strongest tan solution you can make. If you slip the fur rabbit skin makes really nice soft book or glove leather too.