Dirty Butt

[Binkers]

We picked up an 8 weeks old holland lop yesterday. This morning he has some dried poop pellets stuck to his bum. What is the best way to clean his bum? He also has some dry poop under his chin so  I think he must have been eating them. 

[Bam]

Congratulations on your new bunny!

If he’s been eating poop it’s probably cecals, rabbits are supposed to eat their cecals. It’s a form of rumination, same principle only a different method. Cecals look like small shiny brown clusters of grapes, they are very sticky and can get mushy and stick to the bunny’s rear. 

If there’s not a lot on his bum, you can brush it out after rubbing in a bit of cornstarch to absorb moisture. If there’s a lot, yoy can give a butt-bath in lukewarm water. If you absolutely have to you can use a tiny bit of organic mild schampoo, but very often rinsing and picking out clumps with your fingers will do fine. Take care to dry the little rear properly after so he doesn’t run around with a wet behind and gets cold. 

And try to get him to eat hay. Fiber is so important to bunnies that it just can’t be stressed enough. Hay is key to bunny health.

Sticky poop is not uncommon in young rabbits and it’s not an emergency – true diarrhea is however a true emergency. True diarrhea means liquid poop, watery and/ or mucosy, and NO normal round poop at all. A baby bunny that gets those symptoms (tyhis typically affect babies) must see a vet right away.

Here’s an article about mushy poop vs true diarrhea: intermittent soft cecotropes

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