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SMELLS!?

jredk04

Warren Scout
Ok, i know that there will be a characteristic smell from a houserabbit - but has anyone any tips on keeping the odour to a minimum?

I'm not just talking about wee but hay, food etc...

also - is it true that an unneutered male's wee is stronger than a neutered one?

many thanks
 
Roo's wee wee was differently very strong smelling before he was neutered. now there is no smell unless you get up close and personal to his litter trays :D
Don't know about the rabbit smell though all i ever smell is the hay and i like that.
 
If you get your bunny litter trained then it's a simple matter of cleaning out the tray regularly to keep the whiff down. They do smell muskier before the op, both boys and girls.

They also get a bit whiffy after they've been eating greens. Their poos get a bit cabbage smelling.

As for the smell of the bunnies themselves, there isn't much of one really. They're not like cats and dogs that have an inherent whiff to them. I think it's because they're little vegans. Even after eating all that poo I've never noticed that their breath smells at all

So if you clean up their 'leavings' regularly then you shouldn't notice too much of a smell at all.
 
yeah male's do have a 'certain smell'. Someone told me to clean out my un-neutered buck's glands near his boys bits and omg.. i nearly passed out with the stench!!.. dunno if i dare go near that area again!! does anyone else clean them?
I agree i dont get too much smell if i keep the litter trays emptied regularly and i also love the smell of hay.
Chris
 
Bunnies don't really smell unless you stick your nose in their fur. And if you do they don't really have a wet dog smell to them more like they've been sitting hay.

Unneutered males tend to spray urine which can whiff a bit. As long as you regularly clean the litter tray of a bun then there isn't really any smell :)

Tam
 
Diddeen said:
yeah male's do have a 'certain smell'. Someone told me to clean out my un-neutered buck's glands near his boys bits and omg.. i nearly passed out with the stench!!.. dunno if i dare go near that area again!! does anyone else clean them?
I agree i dont get too much smell if i keep the litter trays emptied regularly and i also love the smell of hay.
Chris

Hiya Chris - that did make me chuckle! I am presuming you mean the scent glands and they are certainly not pleasant when you have to deal with them! All rabbits have these scent glands on either side of the vent which are hidden in the folds of the skin. This also masks a small opening that looks like a pimple where they omit an oil to attract the opposite sex. If the rabbit does not keep it clean then the oil becomes rancid and
hard and can eventually resemble a sunflower seed. You can remove
this with care using a Q-tip dampened with water or unscented oil
and a peg for your nose ;-).

Hopefully the rabbit will then finish the job for you. I have been told that rubbing a little fresh garlic in the area encourages the rabbit to clean itself but have never tried it on my rabbits. It is worth cleaning this regularly when trimming the nails as that avoids the really hard build up that can stick to the skin and damage the skin when peeled away.

I am so glad that us humans prefer a bottle of wine and a candle lit dinner!
 
I have six house rabbits in one room (and lots of other small furries too) and a girl that came to see me the other day said that she could not smell anything other than hay... If the litter boxes are kept clean and the bunnies are neutered, then there should not be a problem. I do remember though that un-neutered bunnies' wee and poo really smells strongly, especially the males'.

There is not much you can do about the smell of the hay though. You might want to try an air-purifiers that does help with all smells.

Vera
 
I don't know if anyone else does this but I sniff the top of their heads between their eyes and it smells real nice. Rosie smells like holidays and all girlie but Billy smells rather like ... um ... a comfort blanket I used to have ... :oops: all embarrassed now :oops:

!!!!! My little comfort blankets !!!! :lol: :lol:
 
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