Can you wash a bunny

While it might be only on rare occasions, it is important to know how to give a rabbit a bath. Particularly if your bunny is overweight, arthritic or has suffered an injury which limits his mobility.

He may not be able to reach the perineal area the area including the anus and reproductive organs for proper cleaning. Rabbits generally urinate daily or several times a day. Their urine may be red or orange or dark in color and may contain sediments. Rabbit urine is highly concentrated and caustic and must be allowed to soak into a litter box or bedding deep enough to create a barrier between your bunny and his waste.

When urine is allowed to saturate their fur, rabbits develop a condition called urine scalding or wet tail. Signs of urine scalding are red, irritated skin and loss of hair surrounding the vent and running up the length of the belly. Note: If your rabbit is showing signs of urinary incontinence more than a dribble , or if urine color or consistency changes, you should contact your veterinarian. Rabbits produce two kinds of droppings; either hard, round fecal pellets or soft, mucus-covered bunches of dark pellets known as cecotropes.

Fecal pellets are primarily made of indigestible fiber. If droppings are left throughout the cage, clean the bedding frequently and try to discourage bunny from sitting in the waste. Left uncleaned, fecal covered and urine soaked fur can lead to a horrifying condition known as myiasis or fly strike.

Flies, such as blow flies and grey flesh flies, are attracted by the odor of waste. Check your rabbit thoroughly for larva and consult your rabbit veterinarian. If bunny is made to sit in soiled bedding or cannot properly position himself to a comfortable urinating or defecating position, he is at greater risk of urine scalding and fly strike.

Also, his caging is inadequate and you should address his space needs immediately. Rabbits like to bathe themselves and spend a lot of time doing so. This means you only need to worry about occasional accidents which should require no more than a butt bath. Being submerged in a bath can startle and frighten a rabbit, causing him to kick and scratch and even bite. You can find accounts and videos of rabbits swimming in baths and pools and oceans but it is not recommended to let your rabbit swim.

Swimming in a bath tub exposes rabbits to residual cleaning chemicals. Some rabbits experience incontinence, the inability to hold their urine properly. Older rabbits or rabbits with an underlying medical problem commonly experience this issue. Dried urine can build up on the fur, causing a bad smell and leaving the rabbit uncomfortable. If this happens to your rabbit, Clean the area using a cotton ball dipped into water.

Dry the area thoroughly with a hair dryer on a warm, low setting. Again, your rabbit may get frightened. Use a super soft towel or blanket instead if necessary. Take your rabbit to the vet to seek treatment for the underlying problem causing incontinence.

Keep fur trimmed short so the rabbit won't get damp. Long hair around the anus and underside of the rabbit can trap moisture close to the rabbit's body. Keeping the fur in these areas shaved or trimmed short helps the skin underneath dry faster and keeps the area clean. Ask your vet how to best maintain the fur on your particular breed of rabbit.

Method 3. Choose a flea solution formulated for rabbits. If you notice that your rabbit has fleas, talk to your vet about using a flea solution made for rabbits. Advantage, Program and Revolution are all designed specifically to get rid of fleas on rabbits without damaging their delicate skin or otherwise impacting their system. It's better to use one of the formulas made just for rabbits.

Never submerge your rabbit in a flea dip of any kind, even if the packaging suggests it's safe to do so.

Apply the suggested dosage between the rabbit's shoulder blades. Follow the instructions from your vet or on the packaging to apply a small amount of the liquid solution to the area between your rabbit's shoulder blades. This is the safest spot to apply it since the rabbit can't reach back and scratch or lick it away. Most flea solutions require multiple applications over the course of a month.

If you're not sure how much to apply, talk to your vet before taking action. Use a flea comb to remove fleas and nits. If you prefer a natural solution, an old-fashioned flea comb does the job. In order to use this method, it's important to have a good relationship with your rabbit, since combing out fleas and nits can be quite time consuming.

Have a partner hold your rabbit while you meticulously comb through its fur to pick out fleas and nits. Be sure to cover the rabbit's entire body.

Check the rabbit again after a few days. In most cases you'll need to repeat the process two or three times to account for new nits hatching. After a few weeks, the fleas and their nits should be gone. In between cleanings, sanitize the flea comb by boiling it in water for five minutes.

Clean the rabbit's living area thoroughly. If you found fleas on your rabbit, they have probably infested its living space and yours as well. Sanitize the rabbit's cage and change the bedding several times during the treatment period. Boil the rabbit's dishes and toys for five minutes to get rid of all traces of fleas, and wash blankets in very hot water.

If fleas have infested your carpeting, do the following: Cover the carpet with a layer of diatomaceous earth or baking soda. Let it sit there for eight hours or overnight. This dries out the fleas' eggs. Vacuum the powder and dispose of the vacuum bag. Repeat the process every few days until all traces of fleas are gone. When your rabbit is safely in its cage, you can also catch live fleas by plugging in nightlights close to the floor.

Place a bowl of soapy water under each light, and the fleas will jump in. Remove the bowls before letting your rabbit out to play. Do not use flea bombs or other external chemicals. Rabbits are quite sensitive to chemicals, and the heavy pesticides used in flea bombs are no exception. Avoid using any type of chemical solution around your rabbit. If you feel using a flea bomb or spray is the only way to get rid of the fleas, keep your rabbit in a safe location during the application process. Clean the room thoroughly with water and white vinegar to get rid of traces of the pesticides before reintroducing your rabbit to the area.

Did you know you can get expert answers for this article? Unlock expert answers by supporting wikiHow. I recently bought a dry pet shampoo, but the packaging doesn't state whether it's safe for rabbits or not.

The label says "Not for internal consumption", and my rabbit does lick himself a lot. Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer. Not Helpful 8 Helpful Not Helpful 9 Helpful Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. If for some reason your rabbit is wet down to the skin, it is important to get them dry as quickly as you can to avoid hypothermia.

You may use a blow dryer, but it must be kept on the lowest setting and moved back and forth so as not to concentrate the heat in any one area for too long. Check the heat being applied by putting your hand in the path of the airflow.

Rabbits are also extremely sensitive to heat, so high heat for any prolonged period of time can cause heat stroke and death. Helpful 2 Not Helpful 1. Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1. Only bathe your rabbit when it is absolutely necessary. Rabbits, much like cats, lick themselves, swallowing the loose hair, thus letting us groom them less often. Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1. Krempels of the University of Miami. The dry bath method is preferred because, as I said, rabbits hate water and being dunked in water can make then unhealthily stressed.

First place your bunny in a comfortable upside position in order to see the parts to be cleaned. Keep your bunny is a calm state and do not apply any force. The handheld vacuum can be useful here if you have an assistant that can suck up all the particles in the air so nobody breathes it in. The handheld vacuum will be used only to remove the floating powder safely from the surrounding air. A dry bath is a fast method that rabbits usually do not mind. They may even find the powder soothing as it takes away any sting from urine scalding.

Wet baths are not recommended for rabbits. A wet bath should only be considered in extremely dirty messes. However, if you must bath a rabbit, do it correctly and carefully. If any skin gets red, then a natural soothing balm can be applied.

Also remember, an assistant can help so the bunny does not freak out and hurt themself. You will want to add a tablespoon of shampoo to the bathwater and mix it in well.

If you are doing this by yourself, make sure your arm is firmly wrapped around the bunny. Then use that hand to wash gently the dirty area with soapy water. This may take a couple of water changes until your bunny is fully clean.

Do a final couple of rinses with water that has no shampoo in it. You will know when you are done when the water is free of any bubbles or residue from the shampoo. Wash all affected areas fully. When drying your rabbit, you can gently squeeze out water from wet fur if your bunny is okay with it.

Then you use the towels to gently rub and finish off the drying with a blow dryer on a not-so-hot setting; being careful, as I said before, to not burn the delicate skin of your rabbit. You can also delicately use your fine-toothed flea comb to dry quicker by spreading the fur. Make sure the rabbit is fully dried off and apply some soothing balm if needed. If a bath seems to be something you need to do often, it may be a symptom of an illness.

Rabbits are really good at keeping themselves clean. In addition, they have natural oils on their skin that are essential to good fur health, and too many baths will strip them of that healthy skin oil. With those two things in mind, a bath should be a rare thing. Rabbits are clean animals, and most pet bunnies go their entire life without a wet bath. My name is Stacey Davis and my family has kept rabbits for decades.

Here on RabbitPros. I bought a bunny named Hoppy for my two daughters last week, and we want to make sure she is kept clean.

Your email address will not be published. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. We know about how rabbits tend to multiply very quickly and in large numbers too.