Is it safe to bathe rabbits?

[Sukibus]

Just been on you tube and there are several clips of people putting their rabbits in the shower/bath. All the rabbits look petrified! Is it really necessary to give them a bath?

 

[VickiP]

No it's not in my opinion. If they have a dirty bottom etc just bathe that area, a lot is said about how difficult it is for rabbits to regulate their body temperature's under stress and then these people bathe them? Why were they doing it-for something to film and put on youtube? I have heard of people putting them in the bath for bonding aswell - don't get it myself as it isn't a very nice or natural surface to be on for the rabbit.

 

[georgie_f]

I've seen some of those videos. :shock: Poor buns do look scared. It winds me up that people put videos like that up because it just puts bad ideas into other peoples heads. I'm sure there are some buns out there that may enjoy it but I've never met one!

I have to bath my long furred bunny occasionally but I only put him in a few centimetres of water and he absolutely hates it. It's not natural for rabbits to be in water (although they can swim a bit).

Sometimes bathing is nessecary - I do Barley in the summer as I worry about fly strike because he's so fluffy - he looks like a moving haystack on occasion. I don't think it should ever be done 'for a laugh' though.

 

[BaileyBunn]

ive heard they can twist there backs in the bath as its so slipperey and can really do damage to themselfs, wouldnt of thought the bath was the best place for bonding... rabbits fur doesnt dry quick and they can get the chills easy, you can get antiseptic wipes from petshops or just use a damp cloth to clean them if theyve got themselfs messy, always try to keep them in a warm room after or even better towl them off!x

 

[Coineanach]

I don't think it's a good idea. Any extra stress for a rabbit is a bad idea. Apparently there are rabbits which enjoy the water but I've never met one. The only time my buns have ever been bathed is for treatment of mites with medicated shampoo. Even with a dirty bum as VickiP said, I only wash the bit that's needed, and even then only if I've already tried sponging and brushing the mess out beforehand.
A lot of people will do this just for the 'fun' factor - see my rabbit look like a drowned rat kind of thing. Which is exactly why they're on youtube.

 

[nursecroft]

I showered my buns before their bonding in the summer but kept them indoors, i have a none slip mat in the shower and they were fine. I wouldnt submerge them in water in a bath :? we used to have to bath my sisters bunnies bottom when she was old, we just used an old washing up bowl and very shallow water so it was only her bottom that got wet. If its not neccessary then i dont think its a good idea and i think those youtube video's are awful, especially the ones were they put bunnies in swimming pools too

 

[Birdie]

I only washed my Benjamin tree times in 11 years. This was because of him aving a dire rear and also whilst i was renting i was horrifed to find the carpet must have ad fleas in it so i had to was all the dry blood of him.

Bunnies are generally very clean animals and so clean themselves

 

[georgie_f]

ive heard they can twist there backs in the bath as its so slipperey and can really do damage to themselfs, wouldnt of thought the bath was the best place for bonding... rabbits fur doesnt dry quick and they can get the chills easy, you can get antiseptic wipes from petshops or just use a damp cloth to clean them if theyve got themselfs messy, always try to keep them in a warm room after or even better towl them off!x

Agree with the bath tub thing - very slippery and too easy to overfill! I pop Barley in an indoor guinea pig cage in literally about three cm of water and supervise him the whole time he's in there. Mostly he'll just sit down and accept it but sometimes he'll attempt to hop out the lid so I'll give him a stroke and he seems to calm down again after a nose rub. I find as he's so fluffy, getting whatever is stuck in his fur a bit damp really helps when I come to grooming it out. It makes the little bits of poop softer so they can just be teased off. Plus only his feet and his butt get wet.

He's so fuzzy I doubt a wipe or cloth would do. :? If I could do it that way, I would though.

I then towel dry him and give him a quick blast with the hair drier (set on a very low heat) which he actually seems to quite enjoy! :lol:

 

[Santa]

Sometimes bathing is nessecary - I do Barley in the summer as I worry about fly strike because he's so fluffy

To be honest I think you're probably putting him at higher risk of flystrike by bathing him :? If there are any eggs or maggots in there, they won't get washed off, they'll get even deeper embedded, and the nice damp fur after a bath will just encourage them to thrive there. Also, damp fur after a bath is more likely to attract flies, as that's exactly the sort of environment they seek to lay their eggs in. I really wouldn't recommend it.

I would never bathe a rabbit unless my vet expressly told me to do so and there was no other choice, but it's not necessary or kind the vast majority of the time

 

[Sukibus]

Thanks for all your replies people! I use wipes on my rabbits and they hate it. Can't imagine putting them in a bath full of water!

 

[Santa]

:wave: Are you using wipes for a particular reason? Are they actually getting dirty? I wouldn't use anything at all really, they groom themselves to get clean and shouldn't need human intervention for cleaning unless they are poorly.

If you're using a wipe, they could potentially be ingesting some of the chemicals on it, as well as getting slightly damp which will raise their risk of infection and flystrike. If your bunny is poorly and actually needing cleaning, I'd take the advice of a good bunny vet to find out why and solve that, rather than actually cleaning your bunny yourself. Healthy bunnies really shouldn't need it

 

[georgie_f]

To be honest I think you're probably putting him at higher risk of flystrike by bathing him :? If there are any eggs or maggots in there, they won't get washed off, they'll get even deeper embedded, and the nice damp fur after a bath will just encourage them to thrive there. Also, damp fur after a bath is more likely to attract flies, as that's exactly the sort of environment they seek to lay their eggs in. I really wouldn't recommend it.

I would never bathe a rabbit unless my vet expressly told me to do so and there was no other choice, but it's not necessary or kind the vast majority of the time

As I said previously, I dry him properly with a hair drier on a low heat. I don't put him back outside wet. My vet suggested I bathe him and clip his fur shorter when I took him in for a check up in summer. He is normally very clean until he starts to moult and then everything seems to stick.

I don't consider bathing him to be "unkind". I do it to try and ensure his health and wellbeing. The alternative is to let him walk around with half his bedding and a load of poo stuck to his butt.

 

[cooldarls]

I bathe Buddy every couple of days only because he had a funny hip and cant sit on his back legs and clean himself the way Bramble does. It is normally his right side he cant clean.. The vet said its because is hip is mishaped from birth so he cant sit properly. he is fine at doing everything else as his back feet sit properly but he just cant balance. Anyway to get back to my point

I do bathe him when he needs to but i never use wet wipes or anything with chemicals, all i use is a flannel and warm water and he is completly dry and warm when he goes back out. I am lucky buddy enjoys cuddles so will sit on my knee with a towel and get towel dried for ages and then when he gets bored of that he goes and gets on his heat pad thing are they called snuggles or something and then cleans himself while getting warm.

 

[Coineanach]

If you're using a wipe, they could potentially be ingesting some of the chemicals on it,

I have seen rabbit-safe wipes. Never used them myself as I find a flannel and a comb works well enough.

I once rescued a bunny who was massive, and severly overweight. She'd been in a hutch her whole life and had nothing to do other than eat. She had to be cleaned on a regular basis, and even when she was down to a normal weight struggled to keep herself clean purely because she was so big, out of proportion and couldn't reach her back end. The result of backyard breeding methinks Sadly in cases like these and in older incontinent or ill bunnies bathing is the only option to keep them clean.