Is it ok to bathe a rabbit?

[Feathery]

Hi guys.  I’ve had my rabbit Dotty for a little more than a year now. 

 As you all know, rabbits like to “hang out” quite often in their litter box after doing their business.  Sometimes after she’s done, she’ll fling her front wet paws a bit before she starts grooming herself.  When this happens, she dirties her fur and anything around her. 

 For these reasons, I’ve been giving her bunny showers about once or twice per month.  I use shampoo to wash her fur.  Recently however, I’m starting to question if this is actually healthy for her.

 Any suggestions and productive comments would be much appreciated!

[Sarita]

Generally speaking, bathing a rabbit is not at all recommended. Sometimes you may have to do a “butt” bath but never a full blown bath.

Is she dirtying her face or what exactly?

[Feathery]

It’s mainly her legs, her butt, and the corners of her mouth. Those areas get yellow, and I don’t want her dirtying up the house when I let her run around.

Now that I know, I’ll make sure to definitely stop with all the washes. I’m a very clean person myself, and I think this habit of constantly wanting to be clean is being brought onto Dotty. Her health is most important, and I would never want to jeopardize it for anything.

Thanks for the response Sarita!

[Sam and Lady's Human]

My bunnies have yellow feet sometimes and I have light carpet, it doesn’t transfer at all. I would only wash if a bun was having poop issues.

[Monkeybun]

If you don’t like her hanging out in wet litter, you could try putting a littler screen in her box, that could help.

[LittlePuffyTail]

My white bunny has stained yellowish feet. Sometimes his feet get wet if he’s sitting in his litter or splashing pee but I just wipe his feet with a kleenex. He never gets bathed. Being wet is horribly stressful for a bunny.

[Beka27]

What kind of litter are you using? Is the urine not getting absorbed enough?

[Feathery]

Dotty’s litter box is actually the bottom of an old bird cage. I’m not sure if any of you have ever owned birds, but a lot of the cages have bottoms that can slide out with a screen on top. The size of the bottom is about the size of most litter boxes.

I cover the “litter box” with newspaper. It absorbs the pee pretty well, but not very fast. When she pees however, the pee sits on top for a few mins before being completely absorbed, and she just sits there getting it on her fur.

I used to place hay on top of the newspaper, but she would just spread the hay everywhere.

[Elrohwen]

I would try using a litter rather than newspaper – IME newspaper doesn’t really absorb pee very well. I use wood stove pellets, though I’ve liked Yesterday’s News as well. Do you have the little grate thing in the litter box like it’s pictured there? You could put litter under that and she would sit on the grate, keeping her out of the pee. Or you could remove it entirely and just put litter down with a little hay on top.

I agree that bunnies don’t need baths. They clean themselves regularly and most do a very good job, so bathing is unnecessary. If she’s really flinging so much pee around when she tries to groom herself, I think changing up your litterbox setup will help.

[Feathery]

Posted By Elrohwen on 03/05/2013 10:40 AM

I would try using a litter rather than newspaper – IME newspaper doesn’t really absorb pee very well. I use wood stove pellets, though I’ve liked Yesterday’s News as well. Do you have the little grate thing in the litter box like it’s pictured there?

Dotty’s litter box looks almost exactly as the one in the picture, except it’s black and not purple.  If by “little grate thing” you mean the screen on top of the box, then yes she has that as well.  However, I put the newspaper on top.  I read somewhere that a bottom with gaps can hurt rabbits’ feet, and I didn’t want her to get sore foot especially when hangs out in the litter box so often. 

[Sarita]

It would be fine to use the grate on top of the litter in this instance and I would definitely suggest something other than newspaper – it’s fine to line with but not as an actual litter as it does not really absorb. Fill the bottom with the litter then place the grate on top. You just don’t want her to be on wire bottom cages 24/7 but in a litter pan, it’s fine.

It’s very clever to use the bottom of a bird cage too!

[Deleted User]

Hmmm…..This is what I would do. If you have a local feed store near you I would purchase a big bag of equine pine. It’s like $6.50 for a 40lb bag. Or a bag of Feling Pine from your local Target. I wouldn’t suggest buying it from a pet store because if you price it its actually more expensive to purchase it there then at Target. Feline Pine and Equine Pine are the same thing. =] I would stick that on the bottom of her litter box where it slids in and out. And instead of putting newspaper on top of the grate I would put down a layer of soft hay. This way the urine can perculate through the hay and hit the litter without hurting your bun’s feet. Not mention your bun gets a meal out of it. ;P If not and you’re willing to spend money. BB sells a great litter box with a screen if you’re looking for a litter box that has one.

[Feathery]

Posted By Skipper’s Mama on 03/05/2013 11:22 AM

Hmmm…..This is what I would do. If you have a local feed store near you I would purchase a big bag of equine pine. It’s like $6.50 for a 40lb bag. Or a bag of Feling Pine from your local Target. I wouldn’t suggest buying it from a pet store because if you price it its actually more expensive to purchase it there then at Target. Feline Pine and Equine Pine are the same thing. =] I would stick that on the bottom of her litter box where it slids in and out. And instead of putting newspaper on top of the grate I would put down a layer of soft hay. This way the urine can perculate through the hay and hit the litter without hurting your bun’s feet. Not mention your bun gets a meal out of it. ;P If not and you’re willing to spend money. BB sells a great litter box with a screen if you’re looking for a litter box that has one.

I think I might try this.  Thanks for the suggestion!

[Deleted User]

No problem! This is what I actually do. But instead of a grate I have a screen from BB on top. =]

[Elrohwen]

Yep, I agree that a grate in a litter box can work really well and you don’t need to worry about sore hocks (that’s more an issue with rabbits on wire grates 24/7). I also think using the birdcage bottom is really clever.

[Author]

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