Matted feet help!

[Coelinhos]

Casper is a daft bunny with a disturbing habit; if he sees another rabbit using the litter tray he just HAS to sit in the fresh wee and poop.
It drives me mad.
Even with super absorbent litter and regular tray changes he still finds his way into a wee patch or two.
He also will not clean his feet. Or his bum. He’s in full health so unless he’s forgotten about a cecotroph the butt is rarely an issue, but the fur on his bum and belly can get matted (he’ll lie flat out in the wee with his paws sprawled. It would be adorable if it wasn’t, you know, in a puddle of wee). This means semi regular trimming of the matts on his tummy. Which he hates.
We’ve had to butt bath him once because he forgot about a whole pile of cecals and sat in them while I was at work so they’d dried in by the time I found out. It went okay but I’m nervous about rabbits and water and getting him dry took forever.
His feet have developed some matted bits. I’m worried about trimming them because I know fur on feet is important to prevent sore hocks.

Anyone else have a rabbit who likes getting messy? Or any ideas for keeping him clean?

He’s perfectly capable of cleaning himself. He just… Won’t.

[pinknfwuffy]

Have you tried a grate or screen over the litter? It allows the wet to drain through and the solids to sit on top for easy cleaning. Binky Bunny sells screens in their shop. That might help keep him from jumping into wet litter and getting his feet super damp.

Butt baths are perfectly okay as long as you dry him well, which you mentioned was tricky. I would recommend a very absorbent cloth like microfiber to wick away moisture from the water. It may also be worth putting one right outside the litter box like a door mat so even if his feet are wet they might absorb some of the dampness when he hops out. I would think a bath for his feet (even just a baking tray with a little water to set his hocks in) would help a bit rather than trimming too much from the feet.

I’m just guessing here – someone else may have better experience with this. Good luck!

[Doodler]

Oh my goodness that has to be frustrating.

From some of the wording you used I am assuming you aren’t in the US. If you aren’t I am not sure what you might have available but the only thing I can think of is to try using a grate or screen over the litter box, for example something like the litter box screen that they sell in the Binky Bunny store. My bunnies use the Ware Jumbo Scatterless litter box because I wanted to avoid them stepping in any mess whenever possible. Even though it’s called jumbo it’s pretty small so it won’t work for a lot of rabbits however.

[Coelinhos]

Hmmm using a screen on the litter tray sounds like a good idea. I’ll see if I can get hold of one.
He can get quite destructive and thumpy though if he can’t get his way. I’m a bit worried that he’ll get angry that he can’t reach the pee and have a full on strop. (The last Casper strop cost me an entire duvet and pillowcase set, one pair of shoes and my dignity as I grovelled and begged in front of an incredulous bunny. It was an argument over the replacement of a wooden tunnel)
I use microfiber towels a lot. I get through them quickly because the little one destroys them in seconds. They’re not allowed in the rabbit cage because of how eager she is to kill the towel.
I’m a terrible bunny mum; they’re so spoiled!!! Gorgeous little brats.

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