Best way to clean rabbits rear

Hey all! Sorry for such a gross topic aha but I Was hoping for a bit of advice on the best way to clean my rabbits genital area!

We’ve had him nearly 3 weeks now, rescued from fairly gross living conditions. He’s an unneutered male french lop. He has a really smelly rear end, not urine or poop but very wet and ‘gunky’ and after a couple of Vet visits they’ve diagnosed a skin infection under the folds of his testicles.

We were doing our best to clean his rear every day but we’ve now got to wipe him down with an antiseptic wash, let it dry and then put a cream on it twice a day for 10 days.

He’s a friendly boy but he’s BIG so when he wiggles it’s pretty hard to keep him still. Just wondered if anyone had any advice on the best way to hold him? My partners on hand to help but he’s not that confident with rabbit handling. Will turning him on his back twice a day for 10 days just be way too stressful for him (I know it should be avoided where possible)? I’ve been kind of reaching under as best I can while he’s on my lap currently but I really need two hands free to really get in the folds... (it’s as grim as it sounds but we’re committed to getting him healthy!).

Any advice welcome!

Firstly you will need to be mindful about flysyrike at the moment.
Secondly you could try kneeling or sitting and then putting bunnies head towards your groin and you may then be able to ever so gently lift bunny up supporting his rear, hand underneath. It may be less stressful than on his back.
Also would suggest if you can, using hibiscrub as is an antiseptic wash and very good and cleansing.
Hope this helps.

Thankyou we’ll give it a try We’ve got hibiscrub to use so glad it comes well recommended!

You could try leaning him back on your chest so that OH can get to him. You would need to be sitting down. Good luck with him and I hope he gets better soon.

I would ask your Vet about using this as he is at very high risk of Flystrike

https://www.viovet.co.uk/F10-Produc...sMxTkNmwcV0XMdZkNpf6LAt9OWwrCCOhoCz68QAvD_BwE



Once the infected skin has healed I'd recommend that you have him castrated. The Vet may need to do some 'cosmetic' surgery too to remove excess skin folds. Otherwise the problem may become chronic.

Re the handling. If you are more confident in doing that you could hold him on your lap with him facing you . Your OH could then do the cleaning and application of the cream.

Jack's-Jane said:

I would ask your Vet about using this as he is at very high risk of Flystrike

https://www.viovet.co.uk/F10-Produc...sMxTkNmwcV0XMdZkNpf6LAt9OWwrCCOhoCz68QAvD_BwE



Once the infected skin has healed I'd recommend that you have him castrated. The Vet may need to do some 'cosmetic' surgery too to remove excess skin folds. Otherwise the problem may become chronic.

Re the handling. If you are more confident in doing that you could hold him on your lap with him facing you . Your OH could then do the cleaning and application of the cream.

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Will the fact that he’s living inside keep him safer from fly strike? We were initially using an F10 Cream (I think it said barrier cream) as the first vet we saw though he was just sore from sitting in dirty bedding.

Definitely planning to get him neutered once he’s all healed up as we have a single lady that we’d like to try bonding him with in the future!

I have indoor buns and have fly netting attached to all the windows. I've found them very effective and no flies have managed to get in at all since I started putting them up last year. I got mine from Aldi and they're very quick and easy to put up. They're attached using sticky back velcro. They still let the breeze in so no need to worry about your rooms getting too hot.

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If you must put him on his back on your lap, put his feet close to you so cannot kick as hard and hurt his back. Good luck with your new bunny.

KandTheBuns said:

Will the fact that he’s living inside keep him safer from fly strike? We were initially using an F10 Cream (I think it said barrier cream) as the first vet we saw though he was just sore from sitting in dirty bedding.

Definitely planning to get him neutered once he’s all healed up as we have a single lady that we’d like to try bonding him with in the future!

Click to expand...

Unfortunately not

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-health/illness/flystrike/

Just a quick update - it’s already looking so much better! We’ve got a good system of my partner holding him (he watched lots of videos and practised on a stuffed toy bless him!) and me wiping him down, drying and applying the cream. It’s only been 4 out of the 20 times we’ve got to do it and already it’s hugely improved. Also I got the f10 spray as suggested and give him a quick spritz with that! Thanks for all the help

https://ibb.co/5MPZd9X

KandTheBuns said:

Just a quick update - it’s already looking so much better! We’ve got a good system of my partner holding him (he watched lots of videos and practised on a stuffed toy bless him!) and me wiping him down, drying and applying the cream. It’s only been 4 out of the 20 times we’ve got to do it and already it’s hugely improved. Also I got the f10 spray as suggested and give him a quick spritz with that! Thanks for all the help

https://ibb.co/5MPZd9X

Click to expand...

Excellent !! What a handsome fella he is