My stinky bunny

Hi all, it's been awhile since I posted. Rosie has been going well & is up to mischief as normal (approx 10 months old now)

We recently went on holidays & Rosie went to nanas for a couple of weeks.

We just picked her up yesterday & she seems healthy & well.. Apart from being incredibly stinky!

She lives indoors & outdoors & I brought her inside tonight for all of 5 minutes before having to put her back outside because her smell was so offensive!!!

She's never been stinky before ever! She's not fixed & is such a sweetie I've been considering breaking her.

Do female rabbits stink when they hit puberty?

I've read they can be fixed from 6 months old but we've never had a need (she's litter trained & generally a docile pleasure)

She also mounted me tonight a couple of times :-/ (vet has confirmed she IS a female)

Is it possible she's just dirty & needs a bath? If it's puberty (or pregnancy) would she stink?

Thanks I'm advance,


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*breeding NOT breaking her!


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Rabbits that aren't fixed can stink, though it's usually more of a male spraying issue. Both male and female rabbits will hump if not fixed though.

What was her environment like, was her cage and litterbox cleaned regularly? My buns usually are odorless, but if I fail to clean out their litterbox for a week they definitely start smelling. Is she physically dirty, does she have pee/poop stuck to her feet and butt area? (Could indicate gut problems) If she's dirty you can give her a very shallow butt bath, clean out her litterbox and see if she starts stinking again.

Try not to move her between the inside and outside too much if the temperature difference is significant.

Hormones and temperament are not even the biggest arguments for getting her spayed. Female rabbits have a high probability of developing reproductive cancer if they are not spayed. I hope you will consider getting this important surgery done.

Hey, does your Nana have any rabbits? Do you only have one rabbit or are there more.
It is very possible that your rabbit could have been in heat, especially if there was another rabbit around, this could have triggered her hormones which would cause her to stink.
Are you able to describe the scent?
Although it is usually just male rabbits that spray, a females hormones can also be triggered and they can put off a scent, like a male, to mark their territory.
if this is the case, spaying will definitely help with the smell.

Thanks so much everyone I had no idea it was healthier to have her fixed!!! I've only heard bad stories & how it can go wrong & though to myself 'if she's happy & healthy there's no reason to do this'

Yes her hutch/s & litter trey are cleaned every 2 days/3 times a week (I've tried leaving it longer but she makes far too much mess)

She went on a holiday to my mums recently & dad commented he'd let her out to hop around the back yard & how she 'loves that hole in the back fence where the other rabbits come through..' :-/ you can imagine how impressed I was considering he KNOWS she's not fixed!!!

I've had her home for a couple of days & she's pulling her fur out/nesting.

I just popped over to the vets to enquire about pricing to have her fixed & it's a lot cheaper then I expected but I still don't have the money right now to have it done.

I just googled the gestation period for mini lops (30 days!!!) and there next appointment isn't until the 15th January & mating could have occurred any time between the 10th December to the 3rd of January.

Do I just wait it out & see if she's breed with some feral rabbit? I don't see anyway I can afford to have it done ATM (financially struggling at this time of year)


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Can't describe the smell sorry. She's popped & weed on me before being trained & this stench is something else!

I read that I might be able to feel kits in her belly (especially if the feral rabbit was a lot larger) so I'm going to duck off for a sec & do that.

Rabbits can't go into heat.

Even if she did breed with a cottontail the offspring won't be viable (so if she did conceive the kits will be stillborn or not live long after birth) as a wild cottontail and a domestic rabbit are not genetically compatible. But it is another story if it was a Domestic rabbit turned loose by a irresponsible owner.

I actually just read the other day that cottontails cannot breed with domestic rabbits, but domestics can breed with wild rabbits that are found in Europe. After all, the domestic rabbit does not descend from cottontails. If anything, your rabbit is just feeling broody and/or having a false pregnancy.

If you flip your rabbit over and look at her genitals, you'll notice that there is a fold of skin on either side of the urethra/anus. If you part this skin, you'll be hit with a very strong musky odor. You might also notice that she has bits of litter, dirt, and smegma that has collected in the folds. It's a good idea to make sure these areas are staying clean - they will smell less and keep from becoming infected. A rabbit that is overweight, sedentary, and/or sitting in their litter all the time is more likely to be dirty in this area.

So she's just letting off her scent, and that's what you're smelling. If she was in a new place, especially if there were other rabbits/animals there, she might feel she has to stake out some new territory and will start emitting her musk as well as possibly marking (with urine). The smell is to attract a mate and to tell other animals to go away. I would say there is a good chance she'll settle back down and stop being smelly eventually, as long as you keep her in her territory and away from other rabbits.

If you do not intend to breed her, it would be a good idea to get her spayed. It would benefit you in that you would rarely or never have to deal with her smell, marking, or any sexual behavior (like mounting). It is true that a rabbit is more likely to develop uterine complications if they are not spayed and if they are not bred. Kind of like how breast cancer is more prevalent in women who never breastfed and colon cancer is more common with people who don't eat enough fiber. So it would benefit her health in the long run.

However, if you are only looking at it from the rabbit's health perspective (and in terms of risk), I would say it would not hurt to keep her intact unless a problem presents itself, since the chances of complications during surgery on such a small animal would be a concern as well. It might not hurt to find out which is more common: a rabbit dying from surgery or a rabbit dying from uterine cancer. Good luck in your decision.

The OP is in Australia. They do not have our North American cottontails. The reason that European wild rabbits can breed with domestic rabbits, is because our domestic rabbits come from the European rabbit. So they are the same species, which cottontail rabbits are not. For the OP's rabbit to have potentially been bred, depends on what type of wild rabbits are in their area.

RosieTheRabbit, unless you have the vet or an experienced breeder palpate to check for babies at 2 weeks, you do just have to wait about 35 days to know for sure if she is pregnant or not.