Dirty rabbit?

[Sofia N Isabella]

 My two bunnies stay indoors. I never let them run outside as much as possible because we have four dogs who can’t be disciplined when it comes to rabbits. Despite being indoors all the time, I find my rabbits dirty.

They groom each other all the time but when I touch them, their furs are not that soft. Sometimes I notice that their fur (in the face, chin, jaws, feet, some parts of the body) are matted. They smell good though, but I can’t help comparing them with other bunnies I see in photos. The other buns seem so soft and cuddly and clean. While I love my babies and cuddle them all the same, I wonder why they don’t look that soft and clean in photos. Plus, I noticed that their feet aren’t very clean. The bottoms of their feet are brown. Some bunnies in the pictures have white feet bottoms.

I know I don’t groom them regularly but I do try once a week. Except we always get in fights and they end up getting mad at me and me being all sorry and fearful that I might have hurt them. But the bottomline, I never get to clean them enough. Please help?

[LBJ10]

What sort of comb/brush are you using? Wooly isn’t picture perfect when it comes to his hair. I will find him with these weird cow licks on his back. O_o He also gets some mats on his butt since you can’t really brush him properly down there. I just pull them out or snip them with nail clippers. Leopold, on the other hand, has developed a habit of pushing the litter to the sides of the litter box. Then he pees on the bare plastic and sits in it. Sometimes when I see him turn around, there’s a pee stain on his butt. Ugh! If he’ll let me, I’ll wipe him off with a damp cloth. But it seems like Wooly will get it for him as well.

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

I have never had this problem. What is dirty on there feet is it poop? If your rabbits aren’t litterbox trained maybe litterbox train them. Grooming will help with this to make sure that there fur isn’t matted. Do you notice any dandruff on them because it could be a result of fur mites my bunny has that right now and he had matted fur and dandruff. hope this helps

[Elrohwen]

What kind of housing set up do you have? It sounds like their feet are dirty because they’re spending a lot of time standing in their poop and pee.

As for the rest of their fur – what type is it? It’s tough to keep the wooly breeds looking soft and perfect and they do need regular brushing to tame mats. With normal furred buns though, you shouldn’t need to clean or groom them to keep them looking nice – grooming is just to get out loose hairs that they shed, rather than clean them or keep them mat-free. Neither of my short haired buns need care to keep their fur soft and clean – they do that on their own.

I would look at how they’re housed and what they’re fed to see if it could be contributing.

[Tate]

How big of a cage are they in and what litter are you using and what are you feeding them?

[tobyluv]

Are your rabbits spayed and/or neutered? If not, they may be spraying each other, which could explain the fur being matted and not feeling very soft.

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