I got them wet!

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Miss M

Miss M

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ILoveBunnies and I cleaned the rabbitry today. We regularly sweep the chutes, but it's been a while since they were rinsed off. My beloved Shay :lovers: had rinsed them several times, but, with his work schedule, I hated to ask him. So I decided to do it myself. :)

Well, I don't know how he does it, but he only gets the bunnies' feet wet. Not me. No matter how careful I was, no matter what setting I used on the sprayer, I just could not seem to keep those rabbits dry! :eek: I got water all over them -- not so bad that they were soaked, or dripping wet, but enough to make the outside of their coats of fur pointy.

The adults bathed like crazy, like cats do when they get wet, and ILoveBunnies picked up each of our dozen 6-week-olds and rubbed them all dry, as well as she could. She really hated that job. Okay, she didn't. :p That child will find any excuse to hold a baby bunny!

Are they going to be alright? It's been around 60* today, and it supposed to be in the low 50s by 6:00pm, and the mid- to upper 40s by 9:00pm, bottoming out in the upper 30s to around 40* tonight.

Shay's doing it from now on! Sorry, Shay! :(
 
I don't know about what happens when they have to stay wet for days, but I have 2 6week old American kits that regularly climb into the water crock when it's full. They just see me coming with the watering can, wait until the crocks are full, and climb in....sit there quite happily looking around. :x

I would guess that if you keep them out of a draft, they'll be fine. maybe put some straw or grass or hay or something inside that they can curl up in? Or even a beach towel type thing?
 
Wet is OK, as long as they dry, wet and cold, or staying wet is where you run into problems
 
Oh, thank you, that's a huge relief!

I wish I could put some hay or a towel in... maybe I could with Pearl's, but Squeak's are dirty. She didn't teach them to eat their cecotropes, and, since they're a bit softer and stickier than the manure, they stick to the bottom of the cage, and to the babies. :evil: Man, how do you even get cecotrope bits off of the wire?!?

Not quite sure why this is... with Pearl, and her babies, I hardly ever see a cecotrope. Squeak is one of Pearl's babies. Why didn't she pass this on? Oh, well. I'm not keeping any of Squeak's babies, anyway... they're all destined for freezer camp. :chef:

Thank y'all for easing my mind about getting water on them, I really appreciate it! :)
 
I also have a few that are determined to stand or sit in their water crock as soon as there's fresh water in it. As long as they can get dry pretty quickly and their bodies are not drenched through to the skin they should be fine. Water on the tips of the hair will dry without hurting the rabbit.
 
All Spookies kits seem to LOVE jumping in their water. i freaked at first, thought they were all gonna die...but they seem to do ok.
 
Yay! I got to hold baby bunnies!!! Wheeeee!!!!!!!<br /><br />__________ Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:58 pm __________<br /><br />Haha!
 
might be that they are overproducing their cecotropes. i get that sometimes with HL litters. That they seem to overproduce them for a bit. They gradually get over that, but just means some bum-washing for a bit...or cage washing. Relatively easy to get off when dry, but wet and gooey... a wet wash cloth works. :)
 
ladysown":2jwb0l5a said:
might be that they are overproducing their cecotropes. i get that sometimes with HL litters. That they seem to overproduce them for a bit. They gradually get over that, but just means some bum-washing for a bit...or cage washing. Relatively easy to get off when dry, but wet and gooey... a wet wash cloth works. :)
Click to expand...
Oh... I hadn't heard of overproducing them before. That's weird! Of course, the whole cecotrope thing is weird, but that's another issue. :)

What are HL litters?

I'll try to get them off the wire tomorrow... I confess, I hadn't tried. They just looked like they were stuck there permanently, so I was trying to figure out some way of removing them. I don't know that I have enough time in the day to try to keep their posteriors clean, so I'll opt for trying to keep the wire clean! Thanks for the tips! :)<br /><br />__________ Fri Jan 07, 2011 1:23 am __________<br /><br />Holland Lop?
 
They come off easier when they are wet, I have a pressure washer for those spring cleaning moments, but a spay bottle and some soaking, then a janitorial supply long handle bristle brush

I had the steel BBQ brush, but the stainless brush takes off the wire's Galvanization with the poo


OOOOH
just remembered, a unused toilet brush does wonders
 
I have heard (but have no source to back it up, so please just treat it as a possibility) that overproduction of cecotropes - or failure to eat them - can be a sign that the rabbits are getting more protein than they need.

(Sometimes it also happens with obese rabbits, because they can't reach to consume them as they are produced, but I don't think that is the case here.)
 

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