I used to have problems with one of my bunnies, and often had to bathe her. Putting her in a plastic basin with 3 or 4" of water works really well, especially if it's really caked on. The more that is on there, the longer you need to soak. I usually took my free hand and swished it back and forth across her bum. The warm water loosens it all and it will fall right off. I could feel when it was all off, then would squeeze the excess water out while I lifted her out onto a waiting towel. I did this on the floor which is a bit hard on the back, but wanted to make sure she couldn't hurt herself if she ever got away from me. I would then wrap her in the towel, and hold her against my chest while rubbing her bottom dry. She has a very thick coat (think she has some Rex in her), but it didn't take that long to dry. I have a small heater that I plug in and point under the coffee table which the 2 of them have claimed as their own. I've had my girls for 4 years now, so they're more used to me, but she was by far the most skittish of the 2. She allowed me to do this quite willingly. I know she didn't like to be dirty. I would lean over her while she's in there, and keep talking to her softly while kissing the top of her head. Hope this helps.
Just a warning to you. My parents were very good to let me move with them after my divorce and I moved back to where I grew up. They didn't want me to bring my bunny, but ended up falling in love with him. I had to take him over for visits after I moved out, because they missed him so much! The thing is, they would feed him things he shouldn't have - even after I told them over and over to PLEASE don't feed him anything other than the veggies I prepared and hay and pellets. When I first got him, the previous owners told me they used to feed him toast with peanut butter. I didn't think it was good to give him, but would occasionally give him a tiny corner of my toast. Once I read up on how to care for them, I realized how terrible an idea it was, so I quit giving him that altogether. Not my parents. I had to take him over there Mon - Friday for the day for several weeks because they tore the balconies off our building and put new ones on. It was really noisy through the day and I thought it was too stressful for him. They were very kind to let me take him there. I stayed with him most of the time, but I did have other things I had to do, so he was there alone with them some. On the very last day of the reconstruction, I was about to leave to go and get him when my sister called me and told me Hector was sick. He had pooped all over their rug and it was really messy, not reg poops. I rushed right over there to get him. They kept him in a tv room in their basement that had wall to wall carpet, and they just kept the door closed all the time. I had asked my Mom the day before as I was leaving if there was enough veg for him. She said there was and I said it's only one more day, if you run out don't worry, he doesn't have to have his morning veggies. When I got there, I found iceberg lettuce in his dish. A LOT of it. I had told her repeatedly not to EVER give him that. Also, as I cleaned up the rug and checked around the room, I looked in the cardboard box he used to sleep in and chew up. It must have had about 6 large pieces of bread in there SMEARED with peanut butter! I couldn't believe it! I took him straight to the vet and told them. They checked him over and told me to take him off everything but hay. They said he would need to rest his digestive tract for at least the weekend. When his poops went back to normal, I could slowly start adding pellets and veggies. I took him home and worried myself sick over him. He perked up almost immediately, and I was so relieved! It had only been that one day that he'd had diarrhea. I'd been with him all day on the Thursday over there. His poops went back to normal and he was doing binkies! I was so happy. After several days, I decided he could have a little bit of veggies in morning. That went well, still had good poops and was hopping around, jumping up on my lap, and being his regular sweet self. He begged for food when I was eating supper, but I didn't give him any veggies at supper, just a few pellets. He seemed to be great all evening. At around midnight, I decided I was going to bed. Hector was 100% free roam in my apt. I went over to where he was lying on the rug and kissed the top of his head and said goodnight. I thought he seemed lethargic, so I picked him up. I said, "Hecky, are you ok?" He immediately had a massive seizure and went limp in my arms. I ran down to my car with him and drove 5 mins to the emergency vet. I knew he was gone, but I didn't want to believe it. They were very kind, took him into a room and checked his heart. She shook her head and I really lost it then. It was so devastating. Hector was there for me when I was going through the hardest time of my life - when a lot of people weren't there for me. I'd had rabbits when I was a kid but my parents made us keep them in the barn. I'm not sure what killed him. It was very hot that night, and I didn't have a/c. My parents did, and their basement was really cool. I know he was in stasis, but he seemed to be over it. I blamed myself for not waiting longer to feed him veggies. I blamed my parents for feeding him the wrong things (not to their faces). I went over there the next day and they were in the living room. I drove in, and took his body down to their freezer. I stay up with him all night. I washed him, brushed him out, and held him in my arms, sobbing for hours. When the sun came up, I realized he was starting to smell. I wrapped him in his favourite blanket, and put him in my fridge while I showered. When I walked into their living room, my Mom said, "Did you bring Hector? I heard you go downstairs, why didn't you bring him up here to see us?" I looked at her and said, "Yes, I brought him, but it's not what you think." She looked at me and I told them he'd died. We all started crying. I asked them if I could bury him in their back yard. He loved to lay in the little garden in one corner. It was cool in the earth under the plants, and he could see the kids in the next yard playing. Their back yard was all fenced in, so it was a great place to take him to play. We all went out and took turns shovelling, then I went and got him. We all were sobbing. I don't know if the neighbours saw us, and don't much care. I know they felt as bad as I did. I just want you to understand that even well-meaning people can do things that could be deadly to your rabbit. I still miss my boy. I didn't think I could ever get another bunny, it was so devastating to lose him. Six months after he was gone, I adopted 2 bonded females. I love them dearly, but they could never replace my Hecky. Make sure you tell your parents they just cannot feed your bunny anything you don't approve. You say your Dad feeds your bunnies behind your back. Maybe he's only feeding them pellets you have for them, but whatever it is, he should know that if anything happens you may never know what happened to them. Also, my bunny who needed to be bathed quite a lot - I thought it was bc she is chubby and couldn't clean herself as easily as her smaller sister, but finally realized it was fruit. I only ever gave them very small amounts of fruit. Like one thin slice of banana or little pieces of freeze dried strawberries. When I stopped all the fruit, she has NEVER had another problem with poop stuck to her. Just something you might want to try.I have clean one of my bunnies bum quite often but my issue is my dad feeding my bunnies behind my back which had made the smallest a bit overweight. My bunny could get soft poop getting stuck to his fur, so he had problem cleaning himself and needed help. My bunny have lost a bit of weight so he can clean himself better now. I only need to clean his scent glands with olive oil when he start to smell, he still have a bit of trouble cleaning everything himself.
Sometimes spot cleaning is not enough, it all depend on how bad it is and how much that is stuck in the fur but often spot cleaning will be enough to get the bunny clean.
I think I have only cleaned my whole bunny once and that was when he jumped into a bowl a tomato soup and got soaked with soup. But you should never bath a bunny, but if it happens to need a bath. You need to make sure to make the bunny become fully dry and keep them warm. The danger of bathing a bunny is that they get into hypothermia and can get really sick. The reason why you should never bath a bunny.
Hope your bunny will get a clean bum
Sorry this is so long, and quite sad, but I try to help anyone with their buns when I can, as I've had lots of good advice from people here.Just a warning to you. My parents were very good to let me move with them after my divorce and I moved back to where I grew up. They didn't want me to bring my bunny, but ended up falling in love with him. I had to take him over for visits after I moved out, because they missed him so much! The thing is, they would feed him things he shouldn't have - even after I told them over and over to PLEASE don't feed him anything other than the veggies I prepared and hay and pellets. When I first got him, the previous owners told me they used to feed him toast with peanut butter. I didn't think it was good to give him, but would occasionally give him a tiny corner of my toast. Once I read up on how to care for them, I realized how terrible an idea it was, so I quit giving him that altogether. Not my parents. I had to take him over there Mon - Friday for the day for several weeks because they tore the balconies off our building and put new ones on. It was really noisy through the day and I thought it was too stressful for him. They were very kind to let me take him there. I stayed with him most of the time, but I did have other things I had to do, so he was there alone with them some. On the very last day of the reconstruction, I was about to leave to go and get him when my sister called me and told me Hector was sick. He had pooped all over their rug and it was really messy, not reg poops. I rushed right over there to get him. They kept him in a tv room in their basement that had wall to wall carpet, and they just kept the door closed all the time. I had asked my Mom the day before as I was leaving if there was enough veg for him. She said there was and I said it's only one more day, if you run out don't worry, he doesn't have to have his morning veggies. When I got there, I found iceberg lettuce in his dish. A LOT of it. I had told her repeatedly not to EVER give him that. Also, as I cleaned up the rug and checked around the room, I looked in the cardboard box he used to sleep in and chew up. It must have had about 6 large pieces of bread in there SMEARED with peanut butter! I couldn't believe it! I took him straight to the vet and told them. They checked him over and told me to take him off everything but hay. They said he would need to rest his digestive tract for at least the weekend. When his poops went back to normal, I could slowly start adding pellets and veggies. I took him home and worried myself sick over him. He perked up almost immediately, and I was so relieved! It had only been that one day that he'd had diarrhea. I'd been with him all day on the Thursday over there. His poops went back to normal and he was doing binkies! I was so happy. After several days, I decided he could have a little bit of veggies in morning. That went well, still had good poops and was hopping around, jumping up on my lap, and being his regular sweet self. He begged for food when I was eating supper, but I didn't give him any veggies at supper, just a few pellets. He seemed to be great all evening. At around midnight, I decided I was going to bed. Hector was 100% free roam in my apt. I went over to where he was lying on the rug and kissed the top of his head and said goodnight. I thought he seemed lethargic, so I picked him up. I said, "Hecky, are you ok?" He immediately had a massive seizure and went limp in my arms. I ran down to my car with him and drove 5 mins to the emergency vet. I knew he was gone, but I didn't want to believe it. They were very kind, took him into a room and checked his heart. She shook her head and I really lost it then. It was so devastating. Hector was there for me when I was going through the hardest time of my life - when a lot of people weren't there for me. I'd had rabbits when I was a kid but my parents made us keep them in the barn. I'm not sure what killed him. It was very hot that night, and I didn't have a/c. My parents did, and their basement was really cool. I know he was in stasis, but he seemed to be over it. I blamed myself for not waiting longer to feed him veggies. I blamed my parents for feeding him the wrong things (not to their faces). I went over there the next day and they were in the living room. I drove in, and took his body down to their freezer. I stay up with him all night. I washed him, brushed him out, and held him in my arms, sobbing for hours. When the sun came up, I realized he was starting to smell. I wrapped him in his favourite blanket, and put him in my fridge while I showered. When I walked into their living room, my Mom said, "Did you bring Hector? I heard you go downstairs, why didn't you bring him up here to see us?" I looked at her and said, "Yes, I brought him, but it's not what you think." She looked at me and I told them he'd died. We all started crying. I asked them if I could bury him in their back yard. He loved to lay in the little garden in one corner. It was cool in the earth under the plants, and he could see the kids in the next yard playing. Their back yard was all fenced in, so it was a great place to take him to play. We all went out and took turns shovelling, then I went and got him. We all were sobbing. I don't know if the neighbours saw us, and don't much care. I know they felt as bad as I did. I just want you to understand that even well-meaning people can do things that could be deadly to your rabbit. I still miss my boy. I didn't think I could ever get another bunny, it was so devastating to lose him. Six months after he was gone, I adopted 2 bonded females. I love them dearly, but they could never replace my Hecky. Make sure you tell your parents they just cannot feed your bunny anything you don't approve. You say your Dad feeds your bunnies behind your back. Maybe he's only feeding them pellets you have for them, but whatever it is, he should know that if anything happens you may never know what happened to them. Also, my bunny who needed to be bathed quite a lot - I thought it was bc she is chubby and couldn't clean herself as easily as her smaller sister, but finally realized it was fruit. I only ever gave them very small amounts of fruit. Like one thin slice of banana or little pieces of freeze dried strawberries. When I stopped all the fruit, she has NEVER had another problem with poop stuck to her. Just something you might want to try.
I'm glad you're able to talk to them about this. I'm sure you already know they should never eat pasta or bread - even small amounts. Bunnies are complicated pets and I'm not sure where you live, but even though I live in a large, urban area, it's difficult to find vets who specialize in rabbits. If something happens to a bunny, you will of course be upset, but you wouldn't want to feel it happened because of something you did or did not do. I think that was a great idea to tell them they would have to pay for the vet! Smart! Hay will help wear down Olin's molars, so hopefully they will stay good now that they've been filed. My girls, Pippi and Annika send him soft nose bonks and a couple of thumpy thumps <3
They may seem a bit pricey, but last a few months so it's definitely worth it. Hopefully you will get a chance to try these out!!
try cutting back on the kale / vegetables as they have sugar and gas that may be causing the runs .
you mentioned his teeth need to be filed often - this shouldn't be an issue with pet rabbits, maybe try introducing him to new toys?? ideally get him chewing wood to naturally file his teeth. it will definitely save you money, too.
I second the Sherwood tablets. Trixie gets 1 tablet a day, split in half; one for morning and one for her evening meal. She has not had a poopy bum yet (thank goodness), so I give these to her as more of a preventative measure for this and GI Stasis. Even though they're $18.65, there's 100 tablets so they last Trixie 100 days.Ugh, 'poopy bum' is the worst!! I used to struggle terribly with it on my Netherland Dwarf, until I found the perfect remedy/solution that also doubles as her daily treat...
"Sherwood Pet Health Digestive Support, Papaya". These are amazing! I cannot say enough about them, I get them from Amazon (and because I live in Seattle, their headquarters it's really handy how everything is delivered in less than 24 hours haha)
Depending on how she is, she gets 1-3 tablets per day. She absolutely adores them, will come running across the room to eat one! At first she wouldn't though, so I had to trick her by hand feeding her oats and mixing one of these and every once in a while. Now she's addicted!!
These are a total lifesaver for poopy bum. Not only have these made her perfectly healthy, but I do not have to have the messy job of cleaning her up ☹ They may seem a bit pricey, but last a few months so it's definitely worth it. Hopefully you will get a chance to try these out!!
