bath time!

[sgregory]

My bunny has gotten some poop on the bottom of her feet that she doesnt seem to want to clean off.

I’ve tried to give her a bath before but she doesnt take well to it. She doesnt like beingheld in the first place, never mind being placed in a tub of water.. >.<

How do you guys give your more skiddish bunnies baths?

[Sarita]

Well, I usually don’t do a full fledged bath for my rabbits with these issues. I usually just hold them over the sink and use a cup of water that I pour over affected to areas to soften the poop then try to take them off manually when the poops soften. Sometimes the poop on the feet though are a little more of a challenge than on the bottom area because they are more packed down.

It doesn’t matter what you do though, they will not like this either – you just have to hold firmly to them.

[sgregory]

i really dont think my bunny can handle this.. she will squirm a lot. im too worried this would hurt her. is there a particular way to hold her feet down and hold her while washing like this? because if i dont hold her feet she will kick uncontrollably. she might even nip if i hold her too firmly..

[Adalaide]

One morning my husband got up before me, he used the bathroom and went to his computer to check his email. About 2 minutes later there was a splash and sounds of bunny struggle… OOPS he left the lid up! He pulled the shower curtain mostly closed and put about an inch of water in the end of the tub and tried to be as nice as possible washing her off with a washcoth. She was not happy and struggled a lot and tried to get out, he just kinda had to stick with it til she was all washed off. Of course, my wet little bun in a towel was perfectly happy to be held and dried.

[ZooLady]

My rabbit doesn’t like being handled either. But I find if I bring him to a room he has never been before, he is a lot more accomodating. Bring your rabbit somewhere that she is unfamilliar with so that you become the only familiar object and she will be more comfortable with you. Keep her on her back—rabbits go into a trance-like state when you do, and try using baby wipes to get the poop off. Do this sitting on the floor in case she decides to jump so she won’t hurt herself.

Don’t be afraid to wash her because she kicks.  She may not like what has to be done, but you can’t let her pop around all poopy!   It’s called tough love.  My rabbit always kicks up a fuss when I have to do anything with him, but he forgives me right away after.   Give her a treat when you are done.  Be firm too—hold her tightly so she doesn’t wriggle away.   If you keep her on her back though, she should go ito a trance and it shouldn’t be an issue.

Also this site has a how to do a “bunny burrito” with a towel–a method for containing skittish rabbits. Have you seen it? It may help. Look it up!

[sgregory]

i have seen it, and it has helped with a lot of other things, but once she’s around water, forget it!
and i like the idea of using a baby wipe. that’s okay for her? i would have been worried about using it in case the soapy leftovers were going to make her sick but if you do it, it must be fine!
thank you so much, i really appreciate it.
as for the unfamiliar room, there isnt a such thing. lol. she’s pretty much free range unless im not home or asleep.

[jerseygirl]

Other things you could try is comb it out or rub where it’s attached with tiny bit of mineral oil then remove the excess oil after the poop comes off.

[KatnipCrzy]

If the poo is dry I would wrap the bunny in a towel and try to comb it out.  I have only ever done a butt bath when my bunny had a very messy, smeary area on her bottom.  I filled the tub about an inch full-used on hand to hold  her and ther other hand to scrub the yucky area.  I took her out ASAP and wrapped her in a towel and it took he 3 towels to get her rear end not soaking wet- she has super thick fur and soaked the water like a sponge.  Not to mention my shirt was soaked after holding her to dry her.  I let her hop around on the bathroom floor for 1/2 hour to continue to dry where it was clean and there were no drafts and even more dry towels for her to lay on.

Julie

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