Stinky room? Help wanted Thanks

[cynthia]

Hi guys, 

I experianced a bit of an issue today. I walked in the room and…

my room stinks…

Not a pleasing smell either. It comes from my bunny. 

I clean the litter box once a week; I use wood pellets. I clean the room REALLY well once a week.

Once I clean it the room smells great, but during the week what can I do to tone down the stinky smell? 

It smells like his glands. How often should I clean them? I am currently cleaning them once a week. 

Thank you guys

[LBJ10]

His glands shouldn’t need a lot of cleaning. Is it an onion-y smell? If so, then my guess is that he’s marking. Is he neutered?

[cynthia]

Hi Thanks for your reply. 

No it legit smells like his glands. 

No onion-y smell.   
Yes he is neutered. I adopted him on Oct. Of this year.

[Desic737]

What do you use to clean? What works for me is a mixture of white vinegar and water, since it neutralizes odors well.

Wood pellets are pretty cheap; I switched to them because I take my bun’s litter box out every other day! I’ve noticed a significant difference and a lack of odor, obviously a dirty litter box will become smelly after sometime. Maybe I’m just a little excessive!

Watch for accidents outside the litterbox, too. Whenever Doodle has an accident somewhere in his cage that’s not his litter it’s pretty stinky, since nothing absorbs it.

[Eepster]

I never even clean Porky’s glands.

Possibly you are over cleaning them leading to them being over productive. Kind of like when us humans over wash our hair with very stripping shampoos they, our scalps just start making more and more oil so our hair seems greasy again sooner and sooner till we feel a need to wash it even more often, and it becomes a viscous cycle.

I wouldn’t rule out the possibility the smell is in the room. Use a blacklight flash light to track down any stains. Blacklight is also called “UV” short for ultaviolet or “woods lamp.” If you have a crayola glow station, the wand you draw with is actually a blacklight. If anything shows up, use natures miracle to clean the spots. https://store.binkybunny.com/natures-miracle-stain–odor-remover-p104.aspx

[skunklionshow]

I too would be concerned about over cleaning his scent glands.  Is he producing too many cecals?  Cecals will stink up a room really bad.  I also agree with checking for urinary accidents.  My latest bunn took about 2 months post neuter to get rid of his hormonal stink.  We have an open pen that we carpeted with carpet scraps.  We also put pee pee pads underneath the carpet scraps to monitor for accidents (sometimes it’s really hard to tell on the darker carpet).  How often do you clean your litterbox?  I usually do a full box change every few days. 

[cynthia]

Hi guys,
Sorry I have been working non stop and did not get a chance to get on until now.

I clean his litter box once a week. I also use wood chips.

Ok then should I clean his glands once every two weeks or leave him be? Sometimes its really waxy and sometimes its not too much.

After cleaning very well the smell did go away. I opened the window too.

I guess it just gets stinky towards the end of the week.

[cynthia]

So tell me more about bunnys glands. 

They have those because they have fur right? They cant sweat like we do. 

So do I even have to clean his glands at all? He poops in the litter box and has a few poopies around there but not anywhere else. 

[cynthia]

He did not go potty anywhere else. I checked and so far no accidents.

[cynthia]

I work work work so cleaning the litter box in the week is out of the equation for me. I know this would help a lot, but I get home late. 

[LBJ10]

Their glands are for making stinky stuff to coat their territorial poops with. It’s a signal to others that the area is currently occupied.

Most rabbits do not need their glands cleaned regularly. They can clean them themselves. Only if there is a hard waxy buildup do they need assistance. You can check them periodically, but you really shouldn’t need to clean them often. Reasons why you might have to: Bunny is obese, bunny is arthritic, etc. and cannot reach back there.

Cecals are “special” poop that bunnies produce. They are packed full of all the nutrients their system could not absorb the first time through. They are smelly and look like tiny grape clusters when whole. You typically don’t see them since bunny will reach down there and eat them right as they are coming out.

Also known as cecotropes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecotrope

[cynthia]

Hi
Thanks for the info. I cleaned where he sleeps and did not find urine or any kind of poopies there.
I opened the window and the smell did go away. There is not much air flow in the room. Is that an issue for my bunny? No air flow I mean like no fan ect

[cynthia]

Hi
Thanks for the info. I cleaned where he sleeps and did not find urine or any kind of poopies there.
I opened the window and the smell did go away. There is not much air flow in the room. Is that an issue for my bunny? No air flow I mean like no fan ect

[Author]

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