Does any one wash their rabbits?

[MoonSpiritMom]

Some of my does and kits have yellowed fur on their feet.. this is obviously just normal discoloration from being in a cage.. but I'm wondering if i should wash them? or is that just asking for bad luck.. lol?


Do Show rabbits get a "wash and blow dry" before every show?

 

[ladysown]

vinegar works wonders. just spritz it on.

 

[karebru]

I may get scolded for this. :nono:
I have a Havana buck that is a real sprayer.
He gets it everywhere including all over himself, and on me, if I'm not careful... Even when I am careful. :x I've thought about culling him, but he's a real character and kind of fun otherwise. :roll:

Anyhow, I put my buns in small transport/holding cages when I clean, and one hot day, I seriously hosed that one down while he was inside his. He didn't really fuss and didn't seem to mind it that much... I think he liked being cooled down, actually.

Summer's coming and he's pretty stinky. Time to do it again... This time with soap. :twisted:

 

[SableSteel]

Generally, show rabbits don't get washed before a show (or ever), but if the feet are really bad (and they'd have to be *really* bad - it's normal to see stained feet at shows) I've heard of people soaking the feet in shallow water, sometimes with vinegar or diluted denture cleaner mixed in. But not bathing the whole rabbit, and never using soap.

 

[akane]

Rabbits chill very easily even in what seems like warm weather and they don't dry well. Their coat has to stay fluffy for protection from cold and sun. You can use dampened baking soda rubbed into stains and wiped off/combed out when dry or a short soak in vinegar. Water by itself doesn't do much to staining and any shampoo or soap is an extra risk so only if necessary. If someone gets ill or extremely dirty somehow it is usually the butt, belly, and/or feet with poop/mud so I clean them in water just deep enough to cover their underside while standing in it and use oatmeal based moisturizing horse shampoo. Towel dry well and keep them away from air flow. In winter you might want to cover them in a towel or blanket to make sure they are protected from draft.

 

[Miss M]

Summer's coming and he's pretty stinky. Time to do it again... This time with soap. :twisted:

I'm not going to scold you. I do want to let you know that the water from the hose-down may not have even touched his undercoat. With soap, it would make it to the skin. You could end up with a clean rabbit, but the only time I ever took that chance was with a kit that got into the pee and poo in the gutters. I blew the little fellow dry, and it took a while, even on such a young kit. A long time to get him completely dry and warm again.

 

[MoonSpiritMom]

hmm.. well i have white vinegar.. i can spritz their feet. The kits kinda smell like rabbit and green stuff right now... its super odd smell to me.

I've got a kit from one of the litters.. the kids fell for him.. and now i have to keep him. He's a house bunny now. so keeping him clean and not off smelling is is kinda a big deal for us.

I always wondered if rabbits where washed before shows.. like dogs were. interesting stuff!!

 

[karebru]

Summer's coming and he's pretty stinky. Time to do it again... This time with soap. :twisted:

I'm not going to scold you. I do want to let you know that the water from the hose-down may not have even touched his undercoat.

Thanks, Miss M.
You're probably right about that. All I did was towel him off a little bit (That, he didn't care for.) and he was completely dry in less than an hour. Of course, it was in the mid 90s... Just slightly cooler than his other option. The oven.
It may not have done much to clean him but it got him to groom himself while he was drying. Which must have helped some.
Concerns noted.

 

[akane]

The kits kinda smell like rabbit and green stuff right now... its super odd smell to me.

I know some people who wash their pet guinea pigs quite frequently to remove smell. To me they always smell fine. Hay, pine bedding, and basic guinea pig smell is normal and quite similar to the constant horse stable smell growing up. My stepdad was on the other end of the spectrum. He'd start ranting whenever I cleaned cages because they smelled strongly of hay and bedding again. He complained when cages weren't clean and he complained when cages were clean. Then he wondered why everyone ignored him. :lol:

 

[michaels4gardens]

washing a rabbit should be done for their health, not for any routine reason. --- if a rabbit has a urine soaked, or diarrhea soaked back end or hind legs it is good to wash that off asap.- using dilute dish soap, or pet shampoo works just fine-- but-- only wash the part of the rabbit that is in danger of urine scald, not the entire rabbit, -- make absolutely sure you rinse all of the soap off the rabbit, then towel dry, then blow dry with a hair dryer on low heat setting, make sure your hand is near the area you are blow-drying so you will be aware if you are getting the rabbit too hot , gently rub the fur back and forth with your hand as you are drying to make sure the rabbit is completely dry all the way to the skin.

 

[Schipperkesue]

I washed one. It was disgustingly filthy. I dried with a blow drier after and made sure it was warm throughout the process.