Frankie had that problem for a while, but it went away.

when bunnies spray it’s kinda skunky smelling I’ve noticed. if you’re cleaning her scent glands monthly, then spraying would be my guess. generally spraying cuts down once a bunny has been spayed or neutered, but Hareiette still sprays sometimes.

Bailey is really territorial, and she will leave that smelly skunky scent on some of her territorial poops. So if Medusa gets busy marking her poos with that stinky scent, then maybe it leaves a bit a residual smell around her. Bailey will also spray sometimes, but it’s not like a full blown spray, more a like a piddle squirt.

Also, ust to clarify, if you smell her head and her body, is her fur and body actually smelly, or just basically the air around her.

I never knew about stinky poops! I’ve always thought it was stinky wee or spraying!

Poopy!! I’ve just sprayed snackajacks all over my computer with giggling!!!

Bobbles gets very excited sometimes, and while she’s dashing around the house she gives off that skunky smell. When she sprays you know that she sprays. At first I thought that that skunky smell was her just sweating, but later was told she was marking.

Gravehearted:  Yeah, on some of the poos that bunnies want to put an extra" little message" on, they add a little smelly scent (from their anal glands).  It’s not that easy to spot unless you are looking for it but what sets it apart from a regular old random dry poop, is that is looks exactly the same except for if you look closely,there will be a very very light wetish coating.  The poop itself is still very dry, it would be equivalent to just barely dotting it with a light oil.  

But itt dries rather quickly once it’s out, so it will soon look just like all the others, and the smell dissipates, but the territorial "message" will still be incoded enough for other bunnies to  smell.  However if a bunny is really territorial, they may add it to more poops, and if you are in the area, it can seem make it seem like the bunny is smelly. (which in a way s/he could be if he was just done adding it to his poops)

So Poopy, that’s what I think is going on (without really seeing) because if she was spraying, you should be able to see it.  It’s just urine being shot or sprayed out on furniture and flooring.  It’s not easily missed. (it’s not like some fine mist or anything – it’s messy!) 

My bun Raymond is the territorial poop KING (a title which he carries proudly ) and when he makes the stinky poops it is usually any time that he runs around the house because he likes to refresh his territorial markings daily (lest someone forget that Raymond is around). The territorial poops he makes definitely have a coating that is very shiny and sticky looking.

I think my boy DJ and Raymond would have a drop dead, all out no holds barred poop war if they ever met each other.  DJ is like a machine, leaving his little gifts behind as he patrols his area.  Much worse now that we have fosters in the house.

I have had the same incidence happen with my two and I directly realated it to the vegetables that they were being given by keeping a "smell" calendar and a list of veggies they were given each day and eliminated them one by one.  They do not get the same veggies every day so by process of elimination, I knew which ones to stop feeding them. It turns out that their GI-tracts were sensitive and had a hard time dealing with veggies like cilantro, bok choy and kale…off the top of my head those were the worst offenders. Maybe this could also be a contributer to the "smell?"

Also, what kind of litter do you use and how often do you change it? Do you place a nice bunch of hay on top? I am also wondering if your bunnies’ fur isn’t getting urine soaked from laying in the litter box (that will cause a stink)?  Anyway, these are just some ideas.

Basil would definately do it. I found that the more "aromatic" or strong smelling herbs and veggies are the culprits. Something with the natural oils in the plant and the enzymes in the GI tract cause the "skunk."

Care Fresh is a really good brand of litter so I think that is definately not it.  Give it a try without the basil for a few days and see. It make take a little while for it to clear out of the buns’ system.

No problem and you are very welcome! I just happened accross this thread and thought, hey, I’ve had the same thing happen!  FYI – Parsely is a good alternative and it is supposed to be good for digestion too and it’s easy to grow in a pot on the porch.

Awesome! I bet you that your bun is going to LOVE it. For some strange reason mine like the flat Italian parsely better than the curley.  I can’t tell the difference but apparently they can.

Hey,Scarlet_Rose,  that’s great information.   I also never knew that!  Another tip to add to my notes!

I’m glad I could share! The same thing was happeneing with my 2 bunnies and it just occured to me to start a food diary of "smell" and went from there.  The bunnies were just fine and did not suffer from gas, bloating or anything serious.  It was just the SMELL!!

Sweat glands are my least favorite thing about bunny ownership. For me, it’s not just the smell but the ear wax texture too. YUCK!

Good to know!!

Awesome! Well awesome that was it, not awesome you got the smell again. Blech!

One of our recently adopted buns from the shelter had skunk smell. One day I came in and it was horrid! I asked the vet techs to see if they could clean his scent glands and they were told by the vet that rabbits scent glands are never cleaned!

Well, it went away so maybe it was something we fed him or just his urine since he hadnt been fixed yet.

My rabbits like flat leaf parsley and wont touch curley parsley. They like Dill but only in moderation otherwise they stick their noses up at it. lol

Wow, Hedi, you sure have some challenging times educating the people there. But your patience I’m sure will pay off and the rabbits will benefit in the long run.

I second that.  Great job Hedi! I’ve had to remove some really huge hard-as-rock clumps from scent glands, soaked in vaseline or aloe-vera gel first. I can’t imagine it being comfortable at all.  I’ve even seen where the poor bunny either pulled out the fur around it or licked the fur bald. That tells me that no, it is not comfortable if they aren’t cleaned.