Steps to Clean a Rabbit With Poopy Butt
Written by The Rabbit Hole Hay Team
If your rabbit has what is un-eloquently known as “rabbit poopy butt” – literally fecal matter stuck to your buns, well, buns – then it’s going to be your task to get your pet cleaned up. In a previous post we discussed what causes poopy butt. Now, let’s go over the steps to clean your rabbit with poopy butt.
There are two effective ways to cleaning a rabbit's rear end. You will need to judge the severity of the mess to determine which will be the best choice for you. Dry cleaning poopy butt is the easiest and should be the least stressful for your rabbit, but should only be used in light to moderate situations.
Wet cleaning should be used in the event that you have a big mess. Rabbits do not like baths, and will generally express their discomfort in getting one. The following rabbit care steps should help minimize that stress.
Dry Cleaning
What You'll Need:
- Unscented Baby Cornstarch Powder (Do not use any products that contain talc) - We'd suggest using a plain food grade corn starch. But, if you want to have a bottle for dispensing and want some of the other enrichments to help the skin heal you can use Burt's Bees Wax or Johnson's as both have all natural solutions.
- A Fine Toothed Comb - a lice comb works well.
- Anti-Bacterial Hand Soap - this is for your hands because you're going to be in direct contact with your rabbit’s feces.
Steps to Clean:
- Put your bunny on their back so that they are relaxed and comfortable and you have easy access to the messy area.
- Take a few minutes to put your bunny completely at ease. A minute or two of tummy rub usually does the trick.
- Liberally apply the cornstarch to the soiled area.
- As the powder comes in contact with the poop it will loosen and allow it to be easily removed. You may need to work the powder into the harder to remove pieces. They should loosen and be able to be gently pulled out.
- Gently run the comb through the fur once most of the debris is removed. (Important: your bunny's skin is very sensitive and fragile, do not pull hard as the skin can tear)
- Rub and pat the remaining powder out of your bunny's fur. They should be much better.
Now that was easy rabbit butt care, right?
Note: While placing a bunny on their back to "relax" is a no-no, it's okay to place them on their backs to perform a medical procedure and/or clip nails.
Wet Cleaning Poopy Butt Rabbits
What You'll Need:
- Bunny safe pet shampoo with no additives, organic, and with no insect killing properties. - Do not use human shampoo or dog shampoo. Both dogs and humans have tougher skin than rabbits and the chemicals used in those shampoos can cause irritations.
- A Shallow Sink
- Warm Water - you may need enough to do multiple washes and a rinse.
- Towels
- Blow Dryer - optional
Steps to Clean:
- Fill the sink with 2-3 inches of lukewarm water. You will want this to be as neutral as possible as your rabbit’s skin is very sensitive and they'll already not like this ordeal.
- Mix about a tablespoon of shampoo in with the water.
- Hold your rabbit gently but firmly so that your rabbit cannot jump and injure themself. Lower just their rear end into the water.
- Gently agitate the messy fur. When the water becomes dirty repeat, starting with fresh warm water.
- Once all the debris is removed rinse the fur thoroughly. Make sure that no shampoo residue remains.
- Towel dry gently making sure to dry their back to fluff.
- A blow dryer can be used on low speed and warm temperature. Keep your hand next to your rabbit’s skin to protect against burning your bunny. The skin is already inflamed, make sure not to burn it too.
Healing
Your rabbit is now clean, but we still have two issues: your rabbit's rear end is now sore and the actual cause of their poopy butt.
After poopy butt skin sore on a rabbit's rear end is common. Skin inflammation can be relatively easy to fix. Carefully clip your bunny's fur away from the inflamed area, to not clip your bunny's skin use round point shears. Make sure to take your time when clipping, you want to do everything possible to not cut their skin. Once you've clipped the fur away, you can apply a balm or triple anti-biotic ointment like Calendula or Neosporin.
Prevent Poopy Butt in the Future
Now that you've cleaned your rabbit's poopy butt up, you'll want to make sure it doesn't come back.
Remember that poopy buns is a symptom to some sort of digestive or mechanical issue your rabbit has. We recommend feeding your rabbit a diet almost exclusively of quality Timothy Hay as it will give them the fiber they need to bring their digestion into alignment, which in turn will stop them from having poopy butt.
Ultra Premium Coarse Timothy Hay
Our Coarse Timothy Hay contains mostly stems, long seed heads, and leaves. This grade of hay comes from the first harvest of Timothy Hay or an exceptionally coarse second harvest. The key to this grade of premium hay is that it’s made up entirely of coarse stems and leaves.
The 2019 Ultra Premium Coarse Timothy Hay we have in stock is currently a 9/10. We hand-selected this batch because we knew it would be what you and your small pet were looking for in a Coarse Timothy Hay. It checks off all the boxes for quality Coarse Timothy Hay and has a very small amount of brown leaf. The farmers did a great job this year! Want the full Coarse Timothy Hay Report? Click here.
Coarse Timothy Hay provides a strong balance of roughage and nutrition for rabbits, guinea pigs, and chinchillas. It’s long seed heads, short broad leaves, and long thick stems make it coarser providing long strands that promote natural chewing behavior.
Is Coarse Timothy like First Cut Timothy?
Timothy Hay begins to grow during the spring after it’s had a winter nap. By late spring or early summer the hay is ready to be harvested for the first time of the growing season. It’s usually by mid June that the farmer cuts the first growth of the year. During this early growth the plant grows long thick stems, short broad leaves, and long seed head (flowers). When this is harvested it is commonly referred to as First Cut Timothy Hay.
Occasionally, when the summer is cooler and the plant is not overly stressed by the heat during the second growth it will grow hay that is very similar to the first harvest. We have renamed our product to Coarse Timothy Hay to allow us to provide you a product based on the qualities that you are looking for in your hay rather than the time of year that it is harvested.
Most of the time you’ll receive a First Cut Timothy Hay when you buy our Coarse Timothy Hay, however, on occasion you may receive a very coarse Second Cut Timothy Hay. We’ll of course notify you in our hay report if this happens (click here to see report!). You can rest assured that you will be receiving consistent hay, with the qualities you and your small pet are looking for.
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Our Coarse Timothy Hay contains mostly stems, long seed heads, and leaves. This grade of hay comes from the first harvest of Timothy Hay or an exceptionally coarse second harvest. The key to this grade of premium hay is that it’s made up entirely of coarse stems and leaves.
The 2019 Ultra Premium Coarse Timothy Hay we have in stock is currently a 9/10. We hand-selected this batch because we knew it would be what you and your small pet were looking for in a Coarse Timothy Hay. It checks off all the boxes for quality Coarse Timothy Hay and has a very small amount of brown leaf. The farmers did a great job this year! Want the full Coarse Timothy Hay Report? Click here.
Coarse Timothy Hay provides a strong balance of roughage and nutrition for rabbits, guinea pigs, and chinchillas. It’s long seed heads, short broad leaves, and long thick stems make it coarser providing long strands that promote natural chewing behavior.
Is Coarse Timothy like First Cut Timothy?
Timothy Hay begins to grow during the spring after it’s had a winter nap. By late spring or early summer the hay is ready to be harvested for the first time of the growing season. It’s usually by mid June that the farmer cuts the first growth of the year. During this early growth the plant grows long thick stems, short broad leaves, and long seed head (flowers). When this is harvested it is commonly referred to as First Cut Timothy Hay.
Occasionally, when the summer is cooler and the plant is not overly stressed by the heat during the second growth it will grow hay that is very similar to the first harvest. We have renamed our product to Coarse Timothy Hay to allow us to provide you a product based on the qualities that you are looking for in your hay rather than the time of year that it is harvested.
Most of the time you’ll receive a First Cut Timothy Hay when you buy our Coarse Timothy Hay, however, on occasion you may receive a very coarse Second Cut Timothy Hay. We’ll of course notify you in our hay report if this happens (click here to see report!). You can rest assured that you will be receiving consistent hay, with the qualities you and your small pet are looking for.
But, if you see that changing them to a strict diet of Timothy Hay does not stop future messes than a visit to the vet will be required. There are a number of easily treatable ailments that can help alleviate your bunny of this discomfort in the future.
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