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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 20sd replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by Q8bunny.

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- 07/03/2017 at 6:09 PM
  GeorgieTheBunny
  Participant
  212 posts
  Hazel our new adopted bunny has a stinky litter box…
  
  She was fixed this May 1st. We adopted her the end of May.
  
  I figured it was hormones and have read that there’s upwards of 6 weeks before smelly hormone pee stops. It’s been over that timeframe soo when our first nail clipping session went scared bunny pee puddle and I had to clean it up I made note of the fact that her pee is odourless -?
  
  Then is her poop what is smelly?
  But bunny poop is supposed to be fairly neutral (Past experience) but her lil poops are kinda stinky
  
  Are her scent glands icky?
  I’ve seen the How Cast video of how to check scent glands but dang! Hazel is waaaay to fluffy to see much. Her fur is brown and I think I see “stuff” but she is very skittish.
  
  What do I do?
  Anymore resources people can link or courses of action to take?
- 07/03/2017 at 6:16 PM
  Aaron
  Participant
  184 posts
  Usually it is the other way around, the pee is the most foul smelling thing on this earth and the poops smells like nothing unless it is cecotrophs.
- 07/03/2017 at 6:20 PM
  GeorgieTheBunny
  Participant
  212 posts
  I have yet to see a cecotrope, ever. I look in the litter box to check on her health and only see normal looking pellets.
  
  I had absorbed her pee puddle in a paper towel and…. you know….. elected to see if the passing of time was making things less smelly…. It was odourless
- 07/03/2017 at 7:06 PM
  Wick & Fable
  Moderator
  5842 posts
  Wick’s poos are the smell source because his pee is odorless, due to apple cider vinegar he gets in his water. My understanding is some poops are coated in a small oil that gives off a strong scent, evolutionarily to leave a scent
  
  The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 07/03/2017 at 10:57 PM
  Q8bunny
  Participant
  6345 posts
  I’m inclined to believe it’s the poops. Chewie’s calling card (marking) poops (when we have foster critters) are shiny and pheeyouuu stinky. His normal poops are pretty much odourless.
- 07/03/2017 at 11:32 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  It could be her scent glads if its seemingly every poop she makes that stinks. Otherwise, even fixed rabbits will continue to leave marking poops, which smell, one in a while
- 07/04/2017 at 5:26 PM
  GeorgieTheBunny
  Participant
  212 posts
  Well; I can add poop smelling to the weird things I do for the well being of my bunny.
  Annnnd I can smell a poop drop from the couch, 7ft away from her condo where her litter box is.
  
  All of her poo smells AND all of her poo has a slight surface oily shine.(@Q8 does the shine mean marking poos?)
  
  I walked into the vet office to ask about this (and check out the adorable mural they’re painting); here’s what I got in a voicemail before I even arrived home:
  
  “The scent glands are located in small folds in the genital area
  If I’m going to look, wear gloves because it will leave a scent on my hands
  Odour in the poop is usually due to food
  Reduce veggies one at a time for a few days each to see if there is an improvement. ”
  
  Hmmmm….
  She is only getting romaine lettuce for veg (1c am & 1c pm -she has tried nibbles of a lot of things but the two local rescues suggest the very lowest risk for veg, esp. when bun is new in your life)
  We’re transitioning her from oxbow adult rabbit food to martins little friends adult Timothy hay pellets (5th ingredient in oxbow is molasses, don’t need the sugar)
  Her roughage is oxbow orchard grass (“hypoallergenic”)
  And she gets apple and crab apple branches on the fairly regular.
  Ooh! And the tiniest nibble of dried papaya every other or third day or so
  
  So
  What do I cut?
- 07/04/2017 at 6:33 PM
  Luna
  Participant
  2219 posts
  I would cut out the fruit first and see if that helps. If you can’t see her anal glands, another way to check them is to give her bum a sniff . If they are clogged up, you’ll definitely smell it.
- 07/04/2017 at 10:09 PM
  Rookie
  Participant
  466 posts
  You can also take a few poops and submit them to the vet for poop testing. This would out rule any bacteria or parasites to be concerned about.
  My vet just told me today that she now adds poop testing to her initial new bun check ups because she had one baby bun get really sick from a parasite that they got from grass it was getting that was contaminated by other animals. Here is Ontario Canada the test is not very expensive and I would recommend it for a peace of mind.
- 07/04/2017 at 11:05 PM
  Q8bunny
  Participant
  6345 posts
  If poops themselves are a good consistency, the shine is marking scent lubrication. The vet might have misundestood and thought cut fresh food cuz poos are shiny and smelly as in mushy poos??
  
  Rookie: I’m moving back to Ontario (London) next year. Do you happen to know which parasite the bun picked up? I’m assuming it was from fresh outdoors grass and my parents have a regular menagerie of raccoons and buns and rodents and birds in their yard.
- 07/05/2017 at 6:35 AM
  Rookie
  Participant
  466 posts
  It was worms of what dogs get as well as a worms that wild bunnies carry. But quick medication cleared it all up for us. Can’t remember what the parasite she was talking about yesterday but she gave me ova and parasite testing collection kit.
- 07/05/2017 at 8:19 AM
  GeorgieTheBunny
  Participant
  212 posts
  Her poops are perfect looking (if that’s a thing)
  Right size, right shape, consistent from poop to poop, no mushy bits, slightly darker colour (deeper brown rather than a golden brown) but that’s common when the diet is all orchard grass.
  
  Yay! Q8 comes back to Canada!
  
  @rookie Not very expensive- like how much? I can’t see my vet without paying $100 for exotic pet consult
- 07/05/2017 at 8:23 AM
  Wick & Fable
  Moderator
  5842 posts
  Your vet may be referring to cutting down veggies because the poop is too moist, which I have read about before. I don’t think this is a problem if the poos are still a good size and shape, because this means although your rabbit gets veggies and is well hydrated, she’s still eating enough fiber to produce healthy poos.
  
  The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 07/05/2017 at 8:38 AM
  Vienna Blue in France
  Participant
  5317 posts
  Mine give off a pheeewiiieeee smell once a day…. cecotrope poops and poops alone. A rich oniony pooey smell.
  Goes after a while…. you’ll get used to it…. hahaha.
  Im not sure, but can’t confirm if its just the female and not the male….
- 07/05/2017 at 9:20 AM
  Q8bunny
  Participant
  6345 posts
  Choo sometimes toots so the odd little whiff of something interesting doesn’t phase me anymore as long as his raisins are looking good
- 07/05/2017 at 1:44 PM
  Rookie
  Participant
  466 posts
  I was charged $54 for the ova and parasite screening. That’s what the invoice says exactly. But yes I was too also charged the initial bunny consult for my new bun which was 95$. But it was his first time going to the vet otherwise there is no consult charge.
  I just dropped them off and Sprocket didn’t even need to be there. It was the same with rookiehr too did not need a visit I just had to drop off the poops for testing then they asked him only after to come in for a weigh in for the right dose of meds
- 07/05/2017 at 11:39 PM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22356 posts
  Posted By Wick on 7/03/2017 7:06 PM
  
  Wick’s poos are the smell source because his pee is odorless, due to apple cider vinegar he gets in his water. My understanding is some poops are coated in a small oil that gives off a strong scent, evolutionarily to leave a scent
  
  Yep. GTB, these look as if normal bunny poop had been given a light coating of cooking spray oil. As opposed to the super glossy look of cecals. Are you seeing any slight sheen on some of her poops.
  
  People have described the scent as like onion-y (like VB mentioned), corn chips, frajitas, gym socks… A friend of mine says warm weet-bix smell. Lol. Any of those smells like what you can smell?
- 07/06/2017 at 11:15 AM
  GeorgieTheBunny
  Participant
  212 posts
  Yes to the sheen.
  Every poop in the box (Correction: almost every poop)
  
  I took @Luna’s suggestion; her little bum smells like not much.
  
  I can’t say that the smell is like corn chips or fajitas because I like those things.
  Maybe like the gym socks of a person with a glandular problem.
  
  Okay: Went and interviewed the litter box. Onions don’t smell that bad but there’s are notes of onion smell.
  
  So what; conclusion is I have a very territorial bunny-?
- 07/06/2017 at 11:39 AM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22356 posts
  So what; conclusion is I have a very territorial bunny-?
  
  Very possibly…
  The good news is, if it is territorial poop marking, it usually does subside.
- 07/06/2017 at 10:48 PM
  GeorgieTheBunny
  Participant
  212 posts
  @JG That is good news! I was hoping as much.
  
  The humane society said she displayed cage aggression plus the Mr. and I have been boxed a bit (once for him when she didn’t understand hands were coming to put food in her dish and twice for me, but I was trying to clip her nails so I “deserved it”) and she likes licking everything to claim it (not us humans though); so in my mind that fits with the idea of a bunny who has some independance to prove.
  
  Sigh, for now it’s going to be very regular litter box cleaning. Her personality is softening already, hopefully she won’t feel the need to drop stinkys forever.
  
  My last reflection is that I’m surprised I didn’t read about this anywhere! I’ve read a few house rabbit books, 2 of 3 cover-to-cover annnnd I googled and BinkyBunny searched this issue and didn’t really see this answer. I’m glad there’s a community like this for this
  
  Thanks to all the Binky Bunny Peeps who’ve helped!
- 07/06/2017 at 11:30 PM
  Q8bunny
  Participant
  6345 posts
  No worries. If it makes you feel any better, my wookie licked the sofa meticulously from the age of 3mo to just over a year, at which time he decided that I finally deserve licking too.
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