mucky bottom

Hi everyone

Im hoping someone can help me, my wee bun benji who is only ten weeks old has a mucky bottom, he is only on the food i was given from the rescue and only a very little at that, he is getting it twice a day as instructed and only 50 ounses at a time it barely covers the bottom of the bowl but even at that he is never finished the bowl even by the next day sometimes and i dont refill if he hasnt eaten it all so sometimes i am only filling it every second day so i dont think it can be too much food and i havnt changed it from what the breeder gave me which was chudleys.

He doesnt get any veg and gets tons of hay which he eats so i am really confused as to what can be doing it to him and worried.

I have tried to use a wet cloth and warm water to soak his bottom and try to get the muck off but he keeps squirming when i try to turn him on back to do this and i dont want to stress him out even more by keep doing it also there is a bit on his leg and he jumps up every time i try to get it off his leg.

Any ides how to clean him up to start with and with what so as not to stress him out too much and any ideas on why hes getting it.

Hes so friendly and i dont want him to feel frightened by me keep trying to clean him up unless im doing it right,

Thanks alot anyone in advance

worried bunny owner

gill

Firstly Chudleys is loaded with molasses so is not really a good feed for a Bun
I would change him on to either Science Selective Pellets of A+P Pellets

Chudley's is very popular amongst Breeders but as I have said it is not a nutritionally sound feed to give.

To clean your Bun you could wrap him up well in a towel. Sit down wth him on your lap and use unscented baby wipes to get the poo off.
Its great that he's a good hay eater and hopefully once you get him off the Chudley's he wont get a mucky bum anymore

Janex

thanks jane i will try that will it be okay to change him slowly as is normal over seven days or so would he still get a mucky bottom until hes changed over completely

Also stupit question when i wrap him in a towel i take it hes on his back and the towel is round him with the mucky bottom showing to clean him as he is a wee wriggler

thanks again

Am so sorry that you are so worried.

I am told that dry bathing is easier to clean bunnies bottoms. If you use corn flour and rub it into the sticky stuff you should find the mess starts to slide off the fur. You will still have to upend Benji tho, do you have someone to help you?

As Jane has suggested a change in diet may be all that is needed - I speak from experience of this. Also if you have not had him so long the stress of the move may be upsetting his tum.

Best wishes,
Vanessa.

gill shirlaw said:

thanks jane i will try that will it be okay to change him slowly as is normal over seven days or so would he still get a mucky bottom until hes changed over completely

Also stupit question when i wrap him in a towel i take it hes on his back and the towel is round him with the mucky bottom showing to clean him as he is a wee wriggler

thanks again

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I would change the food over slowly. You could also add a probiotic to his drinking water to support his guts during the transision

If you wrap him up in a towel with just his bum showing then hold him on your lap with his head facing you you should be able to clean him.
Better still get someone else to have him on their lap, his head facing them, then you clean his bum

Janex

hi vanessa

Thanks for quick reply it is chudleys hes on as was given by rescue but i believe that is not a good one for buns so am thinking of trying to change to something else just worried that still have to do it over a period of time and that will still have to feed the chudleys as well till changed over completely will that not still affect his mucky bottom.

Yes i do have someone to help me and the cornflouer is a good idea never would have thought of that - thanks for that idea.

Also i wouldnt say ive seen diarrhoeh in his cage but have seen this morning several excess poos and dont wont to give him any more of that food in case make it worse but know have to change over gradually??? what should i do

thanks again
gill

thanks again jane

If i change the food over slowly would still giving him the chudleys too not still make his bum sticky, suppose i dont have a choice though do i?

Also when you say to add a probiotic to his water would i get this from the vet or what would i use. Sorry to sound so very unknowledgeable i have five buns all of diff ages and have been very lucky and not had any of them ill and had read up tons before having any of them and have been addicted to this site since i joined gaining as much knowledge as i could but still never had to tend a sick bunny so feel bit stupit at mo thought i was gaining more knoweledge than i had.

thanks so much for your advice it is invaluable as is this site

gill

If Benji is eating plenty of hay then I wonder if you could just stop giving the Chudleys paticularly if he is not eating much of it anyway, and try something new a couple of days later but starting with very small amounts?

I am not sure that this is the recommended thing to do but it took three attempts on pellets to find what suited Barney. Between pellets two and three I did the above and there were no problems - tho Barney was older and was also eating some greens too. Like you it felt wrong to carry on feeding stuff that was obviously not the best for him.

Is this an option for Gill and Benji?

P.S.

I have used avipro plus as a probiotic.

Some good pet shops may sell it. You can also buy it on line. Google comes up with several suppliers - think I used vetark or www.petmeds.co.uk.

Hope this helps.