Should I worry about the ground being too dirty

[Bun-chan]

My rabbit is usually indoors. I clean the floors/carpets almost every day, we don’t wear shoes inside. Basically if I drop food on the floor, I wouldn’t be scared to pick it up and eat it.

Then there is the outdoor garden, with dirt and grass. There’s no herbicide or anything but it’s definitely dirtier than inside and I wouldn’t eat anything that fell to the ground outside. So should I worry? Do I have to clean her paws when she comes back inside? I’m worried that she’ll get sick if she cleans her paws.

I’m pretty sure this is a stupid question, cuz wild rabbits hop on the dirt and clean themselves and they’re fine, but are house rabbits different because they’ve lived indoors/in clean environments for too long?

[Bam]

This is definitely not a stupid question!

Many indoor rabbits enjoy some outdoors time when the weather permits. I have a run for my rabbit, where he can dig and eat grass and get daylight on him. He seems to appreciate this very much.

My rabbit is vaccinated against the dreaded RVHD virus which sadly has come to several places in the USA now. The vaccine is not currently available everywhere. If you are in the USA, I’d try to look int the RVHD situation in your area. We have a pinned thread about this illness https://binkybunny.com/forums/topic/please-read-rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease-rhdv2-outbreak-in-north-america/

There are other dangers than dirt to be aware of if you let your bun out in your garden. The garden must be very escape-proof. Predators like foxes and feral cats and also birds of prey are threats to a bun in a garden.

If there are raccons in your garden, they can carry some nasty parasites that rabbits can pick up.

All in all, indoors life is safer for a rabbit. Outdoors time can significantly increase quality of life for some buns though. Some buns will find the outdoors scary and uncomfortable.

[Bun-chan]

Thank you for your reply! We don’t live in North America and the vet said we don’t have to worry about RVHD. It is a private garden so its safe from predators or other animals. We don’t use pesticide either. Again my biggest worry is the dirtiness of the dirt, because like I said, I would eat off my floor but not the dirt.

[Bam]

Oh, great!

Well, there’s always a bit of dirt in the hay since its grown outside and hay is never rinsed. Like I said, I let my bun have outdoors time.  I know several rabbit people who do. Buns with very long hair (lionheads etc) can need a bit of cleaning up after vigorous digging, but not full baths.

If a bun likes the outdoors, I find it to be very enriching. The rabbit must obviously be protected from rain and snow and hard winds and too much direct sunshine, but in a garden that would be quite possible to achieve. Do keep an eye though, if you have poisonous plants, because many house buns have lost the ability to instinctively know what to avoid.

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