Poo stuck - grooming lionhead X

Hi all

I have a male bunny. When we got him (from a rescue) we were given special instructions about his food because he has no front teeth. We were never given any instructions about extra grooming and we just assumed he was a 'normal' white bunny. Having been on here for a few months now I think that Rambaldi is a Lionhead Cross. He is a red-eyed white bunny with a mane and a squished flat face :







There are two problems:
1) Cleaning the fur around his bottom. He eats his poo without any worries and he is always cleaning himself. All of him is very clean except for the fur around his bum which gets matted and stuck with poo. His fur is never wet or discoloured. His anus is always dry, clean and perfectly pink with no health issues.
2) Rambaldi HATES being picked up - it is a nightmare every time; he scratches and squeals. When he is picked up he stops making a fuss but shakes like a leaf, so I only do necessary work such as claw trimming.

How do I groom him? When I do pick him up I carefully remove the poo stuck fur. I know the ideal would be to pick him up and groom him every day but it would be such a stress and he is such a nervous bun it would be awful. When I had to give him injections for a few days he managed to find the only place in the run I couldn't get to him and he would hide every time I went outside - even though I go outside many times a day. To pick him up more than once every 10 days or so doesn't seem feasible. I have Rearguard ready for as soon as the first fly appears but I really want to find a way to make him clean. Any ideas?

Thanks for you help

Emma

PS Sorry if this is in the wrong area, I had no idea if grooming should be in health or not...

How about trimming his back end? That would reduce the grooming

My bun Poppy is the same - i have to trim her back end quite often and do routine bum checks - whereas all the other are lovely and clean!

Try to trimming it a bit like angie said.

ETA: He's bootiful!!!

my teddy is quite good at cleaning herself but sometimes it goes into wee long hard tangles so i get my husband to trim round her wee anal area (much to his disgust but he won't hold her). what you could do is groom him on the sofa so he's up nice and high and just use a soft brush. you can get a nice soft brush my P@H. for trimming his back end place him in the corner of the sofa and while one of you's tip him onto his bum you can trim the area. that way you don't cause stress in lifting. he will get used to it. mine are used to being lifted but i always trim their nails etc in the bathroom.

Thanks all!

I think I'll take the advice and trim him. It feels a bit mean but has to be better than grooming him everyday and causing so much angst.

thanks heaps!

PS It is nice to hear someone else thinks he is beautiful, so many peeps think he is ugly

:O how could they ?? he is beautiful

aw no way how could they think he's ugly. he is so sweet looking. Don't you listen to them rambaldi pet your a wee hunny

Such a lovely rabbit, I love REW's.

I am not sure what food you feed your bun on and how much food you give. Whilst I appreciate that your bun may have problems grooming due to the lack of front teeth. sometimes buns can not get enough fibre and will also get dirty bottoms.

Going by the piece of paper in your post, I assume that you may not be based in England. Do find a food that is as high in fibre as possible and transfer your bun over to that, also ensure that you only feed a minimial amount of pellets, they only need about a egg cup of food each per day. I have had many buns come into rescue who have had dirty bottoms who have become clean once their hay intake increases.

If you don't feel safe using scissors around his bum incase he moves suddenly, or you accidentally cut him, I reccomend a Solo Comb, which is a comb with blades in it, so you can't cut your bunnie. I use one on my dogs if they get matted.

http://www.sologroom.com/

huppie said:

Thanks all!

I think I'll take the advice and trim him. It feels a bit mean but has to be better than grooming him everyday and causing so much angst.

thanks heaps!

PS It is nice to hear someone else thinks he is beautiful, so many peeps think he is ugly

Click to expand...

No advice but he is not ugly. Hes sooooo cute who couldnt love that serious little face

yey! Rambaldi is a lovely handsome bun, hoorah! He does have a very serious face - even when he is binkying :lol:

The Sologroom looks like a godsend, thanks for sharing!!!

I feed my bunnies Science Selective, the two of them share 80grams a day (split between morning and evening feeds). They also get fresh veggies every evening. On top of that the gannits eat hay all the time. Their poo is firm, round, small, non-smelling and brown fleckled with the hay bits. Rambaldi's poo is slightly smaller than Huppie's (hoorah - I can always tell the difference :lol: ). I never see any of the cecotrophs (sp?) and Rambaldi has never had diarhoea. I don't think fibre is the issue but I could try reducing the amount of Science Selective anyway. 40g each seems a little more than an eggcup?

Emma

well thats what i feed mine too. well you could always try reducing the amount of pellets see if it makes a difference. ted sits her potty munching so she gets a little damp which tangles the fur a bit underneath, but a regular trim keeps it al in order. their little cecals can get stuck to the fur when their trying to eat them so maybe thats what's happening to him.