Bunny smell

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 7sd replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 6 months ago by Bam.

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- 06/27/2017 at 10:45 AM
  Hazelbuny
  Participant
  15 posts
  I got my bunny Hazel 3 days ago from someone that didn’t treat her too well. She is 2 years old and isn’t spayed yet. She was left outside in 90 degree weather in a large dog crate. When I first got her she smelled so bad I had no choice but to bathe her. I know you’re not supposed to bathe bunnies but she is now an indoor bunny so I can’t have her smelling and tracking dirt everywhere. After her bath I blow dried and brushed her out but she had mats on her legs and bottom so I had to cut some mats off. The problem is that everywhere she sits for a period of time smells like bunny poop. I smelled her but she doesn’t smell, just where she sits. She is litter trained and I use a wood pellet litter and I layer hay on top. Her litter box doesn’t smell at all. She loves jumping on the bed and nudges me to pet her and I would love to have her there but it’s just the smell that’s made me not allow her on my bed. She only eats her pellets, I give her 1/8 cups in the morning and another at night. She has access to unlimited timothy hay all day but she has never eaten any. Will the smell go away after she is spayed or is it her diet or a combination of both? Is there any way to make her eat more hay?
- 06/27/2017 at 12:28 PM
  sarahthegemini
  Participant
  5584 posts
  I don’t know anything about the smell but in regards to not eating hay – this is really something that needs to be addressed. She needs the bulk of her diet to be hay. Have you tried various types? Maybe she’s having teeth troubles that’s preventing her from eating hay.
- 06/27/2017 at 12:33 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  Diet change and a spay will help. Hormonal buns can be pretty smelly, and the wrong diet can make a bun smell as well
- 06/27/2017 at 12:45 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17030 posts
  Check her anal glands. Here’s a video on how to clean them:
  http://www.howcast.com/videos/514700-How-to-Clean-a-Rabbits-Scent-Glands-Pet-Rabbits/
- 06/27/2017 at 5:08 PM
  flemishwhite
  Participant
  195 posts
  My limited experience is that rabbit poop does not smell bad. On two occasions I piled some bunny poop on the palm of my hand and had a sniff. I detected an herbal odor with a onion like overtone on the first occasion, the second time there was the herbal odor with a sulfur like overtone. This has satisfied my curiosity and I have not repeated this experiment!
  
  What does smell bad is the cecal pellets, the cecum pellets, that a rabbit produces at least once a day. You can own a rabbit for years and never know they are expelling these things. They are soft and mushy and smell bad since they are full of liver/bile enzymes. The reason you may not know about this is that the rabbits immediately re-ingest them the instant they come out. If you bunny gets too fat or gets spinal arthritis, they won’t be able to reach back to eat them and the pellets will get stuck in the fur around their rectum or fall on the floor where you can step on them with your bare foot. Ugh!
  
  Infected anal glands is a good suggestion.
  
  You said your girl is a few years old. My understanding is that female rabbits have a 90%+ probability of developing uterine cancer by age five. They need to be neutered before reaching 5 years.
  
  About feeding the pellets and hay. Why not give the bun a little more variety such as green leafy vegetables. Also your rabbit will like a treat every day. An apple slice, a banana slice. My rabbits currently like fiji apples and they like their banana slice a little green. Also now they get a few raw whole almonds every day.
- 09/07/2017 at 10:44 AM
  Hazelbuny
  Participant
  15 posts
  The smell was because of plugged up scent glands. I cleaned it and I got out a chunk of waxy substance (pretty gross). I also got her spayed and she doesn’t smell at all anymore. Thank you everyone for your help.
- 09/07/2017 at 11:10 AM
  joea64
  Participant
  1423 posts
  Glad you got that worked out! Yes, the scent glands around the anal/genital area can really, REALLY stink up the joint if they get clogged up – there was another thread recently on the same subject. I’m not looking forward to the cleanup job if it ever happens with my own buns, I tell you that much.
  
  More generally, healthy, well-fed rabbits kept in a clean habitat should never smell bad. It’s a bit difficult to describe the smell they do have, if you have your nose close to them, but a clean, healthy rabbit actually has a light, fresh smell that has a distinctly “rabbity” touch to it and is, to be honest, quite pleasant.
- 09/07/2017 at 1:41 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17030 posts
  So relieved it was the scent glands They’re stinky for sure!
  
  Great that you’ve got her spayed too ???
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