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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Anal Scent Glands?

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    • Mocha
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      509 posts Send Private Message

        Hi everyone!

        I was checking out the house rabbit monthly maintenance sectionand I came upon the part about cleaning the scent glands.

        I have never done this before and I need some help! Sometimes when I pick Rumpus up and flip him into his favorite relaxing “snooze position” , it smells a little weird. Not really like the litterbox. Is this smell coming from his scent glands?

        Mocha doesn’t really smell at all though.

        Do you think I should attempt to clean them? Anyone who does clean them, how do you do it? Does it hurt the rabbit, or will they notice and freak out?

        Any helped would be much appreciated!


      • LittlePuffyTail
        Moderator
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          The anal glands have a very strong, musky, almost skunk odour. I’ll admit I don’t do mine very often, unless I notice a smell or see some goop in that area.

          If you are gentle, it does not hurt the rabbit. They certainly do not enjoy it, but my rabbits treat it like getting their nails trimmed. They are not happy but they tolerate it. I don’t trance my buns, I get my husband to hold them on his shoulder, baby burp style, and I sort of lift up the tail and work from there. It’s more difficult than if they were tranced, but I just don’t like trancing them.


        • longhairmike
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            slide a dripping wet q-tip almost parallel along the length of the opening.
            go from top to bottom while twirling it. this will help it grab some gunk with each swipe (if there any is in there) as well as soften any pieces
            if they are a pair, they are probably cleaning each other occasionally while you’re not looking.


          • Mocha
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              LittlePuffyTail- I had no idea that trancing rabbits was bad. It’s much easier to do than holding him sort of on my chest because he likes jumping off of it and onto the floor! I think i’ll try wrapping him in a “bunny burrito”.
              longhairmike- I know this is kind of weird, but I tried cleaning them today while I cut his nails and I couldn’t really seem to find the slits. I found his umm butthole, and are the slits above it or next to it?
              They are a pair but Mocha doesn’t really enjoy getting to personal with him.


            • JackRabbit
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                The scent glands are on each side. IMO, cleaning scent glands is a two person job because you kinda have to search threw the fur because they are just closed slits. Pretty much takes one hand to hold the fur apart and open the gland, and the other to use the q-tip. If there’s anything hard that’s a little stuck then you have to soften it with the wet q-tip too. Imagine using a wet q-tip to clean very soft ear wax out of a pocket in the skin and you pretty much have it.

                We had the vet show us where and how the first time. So far, our lops glands have been squeeky clean when we’ve checked them. At the vet’s office, Kieko had some waxy buildup plus a hardened piece of wax stuck in one gland (glad the vet dealt with that one!). The soft waxy stuff will be about the color of ear wax. The hardened stuff (if any) may range from earwax colored to black (even hardened ear wax can be black – that’s normal).


              • JackRabbit
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                  Forgot . . The glands are on the outside, on each side of the two “regular” “down there” openings.

                  I sometimes wonder if what people are smelling that they think is “litterbox” is actually the bun opening it’s scent glands. The smell ranges from musky to “OMG there’s a skunk in here!” One of my buns (Moshi) produces odors covering the full range (musky when something scares him, skunk when Kieko used to be in the same room and would get snippy).

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              Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Anal Scent Glands?