advice needed about mucky bum please?

Hello,

I'm hoping for some advice about Rosa's mucky bum please?

I have 2 bunnies, Lily and Rosa. Recently Rosa has been getting a very dirty bum, which i'm struggling to keep clean and it's looking increasingly sore.

Lily and Rosa share a hutch together. They used to be about the same size, but recently Rosa has been putting on weight and Lily has lost weight.

Lily is definitely still eating - I've watched her - and I've had her checked out at the vets and he was happy with her.

Rosa, on the other hand, has put on a bit of weight. She's a bit on the porky side and could do with loosing some weight. I think this might help with her dirty bum situation, although I'm not sure that's the whole problem as she's always had a bit of a sensitive tum.

They get fed a small handful (egg cup sized) of Science Selective and greens (cabbage/kale/spring greens) twice a day, and plenty of hay. I did have them on Excel, but swapped over to SS as I thought that might help Rosa, but it hasn't made any difference.

Can anyone help advise please?

Thank you.

Being overweight can lead to the Rabbit developing a mucky bum.

Has Rosa been examined by a Vet recently ?

How much exercise does she get/ how large is their hutch ?

Does she eat a lot of hay, I know you say they have 'plenty of hay' but is Rosa actually eating it ?

Hello,

Rosa was looked at by the vet at the same time as Lily, about a month ago now - he couldn't see anything wrong with Rosa either, other than that she could do with loosing a bit of weight.

The hutch is 4ft by 2ft, but is 2 stories high. They have a runaround run as well, although I have to admit they haven't been out in it much in the last few weeks since the weather's been bad. I would say Rosa does more exercise than Lily in general just because she tends to be more adventurous and will explore the tunnels in the run - no amount of coaxing will get Lily to do that, Lily is definitely more of a chill-out laid back bunny who'd rather lie down than run round. The fresh grass in the run doesn't seem to be great with Rosa' bum either.

They have hay in their hutch, and I also put more expensive stuff (more like the dried grass) in a separate hay rack for eating. It always seems to disappear, although I couldn't tell you which bunny is eating it, or whether they are sharing. I'll see whether I can watch them tomorrow.

I guess the obvious thing to do would be to separate them so I can monitor more closely who's eating what, but I'm reluctant to do that as they're good friends.

A vet visit may be in order but it might be that the veg or pellets aren't helping. Sounds like they are getting the same amount of pellets as my group of 4 between them and twice a day. That could be the issue or the veg. You could cut out the veg and reintroduce 1 at a time to see if that does the trick.

As for the weight I think the housing is the problem. A 4ft double hutch is just not adequate for 1 let alone 2 rabbits. They ideally need a larger hutch permanently attached to a run so they don't get muscle wastage, put on weight or get territorial due to lack of space.

It sounds as though they do not have enough space. The hutch is very small. Is there any way you could improve their accommodation so they have access to a lot more space 24/7 ? A large shed with a covered run attached maybe ?

It sounds as though obesity may be the primary problem, but another Vet check is certainly a good idea.