• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

how to bath a bottom

poppymoon

Wise Old Thumper
just noticed eric has a dry clump of poo stuck by his tail (guess it will take a while for the bio lapis to help - if it will:?).

could i have advice on how best to approach cleaning eric's bum please? he really struggles when being held at first and the tail is a no touch area.
 
Sooty used to sometimes get a mucky bum. I used to soak cotton wool pads in water and just keep wetting the poo until it was watery enough to wipe off. Lovely job! Then I wiped it with a baby wipe and dried it off.
 
What I've always done is sit them in an inch or so of tepid water to soften the poo and then ease it off gradually. I had a bunny who was really good and would stay in the water quite a while but Artie leaps out very quickly! If his bum is wet the water can start to work and you can put them back in water to rinse the debris off (if it breaks up). I've used one of the under bed storages boxes that are about 5" high so not too scary for the bunny and you can get one hand under then whilst they sit in the water and usually hold their shoulders with with other hand. It's important to towel dry them thoroughly afterwards, some people use hairdryers but I've found towel drying enough if the bunny is only wet around their bum and hind legs.
 
Sooty used to sometimes get a mucky bum. I used to soak cotton wool pads in water and just keep wetting the poo until it was watery enough to wipe off. Lovely job! Then I wiped it with a baby wipe and dried it off.
That actually sounds like Plan A for one clump of poo - it would be much easier!
 
i'll give it a go later then - no chance of him letting me do it now cos its eric siesta time. think i'll go out and get some of that fly spray for the bum (forgot the name:oops:).
 
I had to do this to my rabbit recently, it took me and my mum (and a lot of protest from Sooty) to get it off.

We had a bucket with rabbit shampoo in and kinda dunked her bum in (at which point she kicked like she was trying to swim and soaked me!)

After she had what seemed like a decent amount of the shampoo in the area, I rubbed the affected area between my two fingers and prised it apart.

Sooty then got a big hug, a nice warm towel and a huge carrot!
 
Wendy, it's Rearguard or Beaphar you want :D

thanks kate. i popped to the garden centre and managed to get beaphar fly-free. they did another beaphar one (twice the price:shock:) which was one application to last 2-3 months. that sounded a bit strong so i got the 'normal' one - hope it keeps him safe:(

i can use this on my piggies too but the other one was rabbit only:?

what caused sooty's runny bum?
 
Wendy, I used to give her lots of comercial treats before I knew any better :oops:

Once I cut these out, she was fine!
 
If the poop is dry it may be possible to brush it out or nip it off with a round ended pair of scissors with a little help.

Our old bun used to need regular bathies but he was happy to lay upside down in the crook of my left arm, like a baby, while I washed his bot with warm water and a little baby shampoo, before being towel dried.

Be aware that if you are having to wash Eric the effect of the fly treatment will be diminished as you are washing it off.
 
eric's having a go at cleaning it himself but there is some stuck underneath his tail at the side so i'll have to help him.

i'm not sure whats causing this but hopefully we can get it sorted so once he's cleaned up i'll put the fly stuff on and monitor him.

poor eric - he's really not a happy bunny. none of his fave veg, no pellets and a mummy that keeps staring at his butt whilst he's flopped out in peace:oops:
 
If you manage to find out what's causing it, please let us know. Sooty looks very similar to Eric and it seems to be happening again to her, but I can't work out why.
 
If you manage to find out what's causing it, please let us know. Sooty looks very similar to Eric and it seems to be happening again to her, but I can't work out why.

well, the bio lapis and restricted diet sorted eric out fortunately but then it happened again and i think i know what caused it.....the lovely green farm hay i have for my guinea pigs. twice eric had some and both times he had a squidgy bum (i only had to clean it that once as i'm rather vigilant with his poop:oops:). as soon as the caecotrophs were remaining uneaten and foul smelling, i started on the bio lapis regime again and it cleared up.

sounds silly that i think it was hay but i'm not letting him have it again, he can stick to his usual ones.

how old is sooty and what is her diet like? :)
 
well, the bio lapis and restricted diet sorted eric out fortunately but then it happened again and i think i know what caused it.....the lovely green farm hay i have for my guinea pigs. twice eric had some and both times he had a squidgy bum (i only had to clean it that once as i'm rather vigilant with his poop:oops:). as soon as the caecotrophs were remaining uneaten and foul smelling, i started on the bio lapis regime again and it cleared up.

sounds silly that i think it was hay but i'm not letting him have it again, he can stick to his usual ones.

how old is sooty and what is her diet like? :)

Sooty is a Netherland Dwarf, 4 years old. We feed her on Excel Junior / Dwarf pellets (unlikely to be them, she's ate them all her life with no trouble) and hay from the pet shop (varies depending on which shop we're in, possibly that). She's also a fan of the odd carrot:lol:.
 
Sooty is a Netherland Dwarf, 4 years old. We feed her on Excel Junior / Dwarf pellets (unlikely to be them, she's ate them all her life with no trouble) and hay from the pet shop (varies depending on which shop we're in, possibly that). She's also a fan of the odd carrot:lol:.

eric's fine with most hay - it was just the fresh bale from the farm. i certainly wouldn't let him NOT eat hay! maybe its the carrots? if you look thro other threads, i believe some buns have experienced sticky bum probs with carrots as they have a high sugar content (eric only gets the green tops). maybe try hay only for a few days to exclude the other things that could be causing it? has the vet checked her over and examined her teeth?:)
 
eric's fine with most hay - it was just the fresh bale from the farm. i certainly wouldn't let him NOT eat hay! maybe its the carrots? if you look thro other threads, i believe some buns have experienced sticky bum probs with carrots as they have a high sugar content (eric only gets the green tops). maybe try hay only for a few days to exclude the other things that could be causing it? has the vet checked her over and examined her teeth?:)

She's never reacted this way to carrots before, the vet has examined her teeth and there doesn't seem to be any problems, we reckon it must've been the grass because she's fine now.
 
Back
Top