New bunnies and a question

[Drob800]

Hi. We are new to the group and new to the world of indoor bunnies. We adopted some French Angora rabbits this weekend and have a question. Our bunnies came from an outdoor farm hutch and their feet and undersides are really dirty. I’ve read that you should not bathe bunnies but I don’t think they will be able to groom themselves clean, even in their new clean home. Opinions on one-time lower-half bath? I thought of using very diluted Dawn soap. It’s good for cleaning up ocean animals… it should be safe for rabbits?

Thanks

[Bunny House]

Hi and welcome to the bun world! They are adorable!
Absolutely please do not ever use dawn soap for bathing animals. Baths are bad for buns and can cause them to go into shock and die. I’ve done butt baths when mine pee on themselves so you should just use a warm wet cloth and wipe them down and then make sure they are completely dry before putting back.

Please read BUNNY INFO on this website and house rabbit society’s website for bunny information. Bunnies are a whole different beast of animal to care for so it’s best to take them to a rabbit savvy vet for a check up and they can tell you awesome information on bunny diet and care!

[Bladesmith]

I suggest (And if I’m wrong someone correct me if I’m wrong), an unscented baby wipe should work for cleaning off surface dirt. But given how neat bunnies like to keep themselves, they should be able to clean pretty much anything off of themselves unless it’s clumped or stuck on. I wish you luck. Your bunnies are gorgeous, but whoo boy are you going to be doing a LOT of brushing and combing.

[kurottabun]

They look so fluffy!

How bad is the dirt? If they have some dirty stuff stuck on them then you could try brushing gently first to see if it comes out. If it doesn’t then a butt bath with warm water is normally fine as long as the bunny is dried thoroughly after. Take note that some bunnies don’t react well to water though, especially if it’s in a new foreign environment and may actually be scared.

If the bottom is just stained then you could actually just wait it out. Bunnies shed and stained fur will eventually be replaced by a new clean coat of fur

[Asriel and Bombur]

Another option, especially if they are matted and come from a bad situation: they’ll need to see a vet asap to check overall conditions for the bunnies. Vets will usually do a sanitary shave for things like this and can give them a bum bath if needed.

Also, do you know if they are all spayed and neutered? If not, you will need separate enclosures for them all as bunnies that aren’t fixed+bonded can and will fight to the death as well as surprise you with unexpected litters.

[Drob800]

Thank you all!
I am setting up a schedule with the vet today. I’m planning on having Bucky (apricot and white) neutered first. He’ll get cleaned up in the process. He’ll get to hang out by himself in his bachelor pad for several more weeks.
We definitely do not need any baby bunnies any time soon.
The ladies will be all be spayed in the next week or so. I might have to give one of them a bum bath but the other two are probably okay.
Bladesmith, you are right about the grooming. We had a sort of “business plan” for my daughter’s FFA SAE project to sell the wool so we had prepared for lots and lots of brushing.
However, we thought we would sell compost just as a sort of side item. We had heard several times that bunnies produce a lot of poop. But OMG we had NO idea! LOL. We are now thinking we’ll be begging the local non-profit garden center to take as much as possible.
Again, thank you all. I’m so glad to be part of this group.

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