Semen or sign of disease?

Hi, I have a question about my four month old boy (not neutered yet). He seemed to hit puberty suddenly 3 weeks ago (taking an interest in his sister), and his testicles have grown a LOT in the past two weeks.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed streaks of goo in his fur around his genital area, and flakes of white stuff near his skin which definitely isn't mites/skin flakes. The goo is occasionally browny-yellow which made me wonder if it was a problem with his bowels/bladder bc I've had to give both bunnies fibreplex a few times since adopting them a month ago. However, given the timing I wondered if it was more to do with semen deposits?

He's also started digging at me a lot and I've noticed he has a strong scent around his genitals when I pick him up - which I'd read they release when they smell female bunnies and they dig to impress them.

I'm asking now bc I just found a small amount of the white goo coming directly from his anus. Seeing as his penis is so close, I suppose it could have maybe gone in the anus... but it seemed more like it was coming from his bum.

So now I'm concerned that it could be some sign of disease? Does anyone have experience with anything that sounds similar?

(Another potential symptom is that he shakes his head around a lot, but I put that down to him recently having mites, but he seems to have recovered judging by the fur regrowth and the skin healing, so it's weird that he's still shaking his head around )

So, in summary; thick white goo, thick browny-yellow goo, flakes of white stuff stuck to skin, head-shaking)

I can post pics of the stuff but it feels weird just posting unsolicited pics of my bun's testicals

Pictures are always a great visual indicator for the other members to better help you understand what could be done about the situation. Pics for that are never unsolicited, neither uncommon.
I can't help you with the rest of it though, never had such an experience. But whenever in doubt, it is better to consult a rabbit-savvy vet.

If he has white goo coming from his bum, you need to get him to the vet right away as it could be a sign of a possible infection. If it may have drifted over from his urinary tract, it sounds to me that he may have bladder sludge, which is a build up of calcium deposits from the bladder and can create bladder issues. Bladder sludge will be thick and pasty, gritty, or thick creamy urine. If instead you're finding mucous or a gelatin substance around the anus or with his poop, this is a different problem and can indicate a serious illness(usually bun will also be acting unwell), so you should contact your rabbit vet right away.

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-...abbit-friendly-vets/rabbit-friendly-vet-list/
Medirabbit: mucoid enteritis

If bladder sludge seems like what could be going on with your bun, I would suggest getting him checked out by your knowledgeable rabbit vet, and maybe a good time to also get him neutered.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Urine
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bladder_sludge_and_stones
https://rabbit.org/bladder-stones-and-bladder-sludge-in-rabbits/
Buns with bladder sludge issues usually requires a change of diet to a low calcium grass based pellet, no alfalfa in the diet, and low calcium veg/greens. Some owners even have to do low calcium bottled water for their bladder sludge prone buns. And like Catlyn said, when in doubt it's best to talk to a knowledgeable rabbit vet.

Low calcium diet for rabbits

JBun said:

If he has white goo coming from his bum, you need to get him to the vet right away as it could be a sign of a possible infection. If it may have drifted over from his urinary tract, it sounds to me that he may have bladder sludge, which is a build up of calcium deposits from the bladder and can create bladder issues. Bladder sludge will be thick and pasty, gritty, or thick creamy urine. If instead you're finding mucous or a gelatin substance around the anus or with his poop, this is a different problem and can indicate a serious illness(usually bun will also be acting unwell), so you should contact your rabbit vet right away.

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-...abbit-friendly-vets/rabbit-friendly-vet-list/
Medirabbit: mucoid enteritis

If bladder sludge seems like what could be going on with your bun, I would suggest getting him checked out by your knowledgeable rabbit vet, and maybe a good time to also get him neutered.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Urine
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bladder_sludge_and_stones
https://rabbit.org/bladder-stones-and-bladder-sludge-in-rabbits/
Buns with bladder sludge issues usually requires a change of diet to a low calcium grass based pellet, no alfalfa in the diet, and low calcium veg/greens. Some owners even have to do low calcium bottled water for their bladder sludge prone buns. And like Catlyn said, when in doubt it's best to talk to a knowledgeable rabbit vet.

Low calcium diet for rabbits

Click to expand...

Okay, thank you.

He's not acting unwell at all, and his poos and wees all seem to be normal - could he still have these issues even with normal poos?

He's on Burgess Excel junior rabbit nuggets at the moment, and I'm about to start phasing those out and replacing them with Burgess Excel indoor adult rabbit nuggets.

JBun said:

If he has white goo coming from his bum, you need to get him to the vet right away as it could be a sign of a possible infection. If it may have drifted over from his urinary tract, it sounds to me that he may have bladder sludge, which is a build up of calcium deposits from the bladder and can create bladder issues. Bladder sludge will be thick and pasty, gritty, or thick creamy urine. If instead you're finding mucous or a gelatin substance around the anus or with his poop, this is a different problem and can indicate a serious illness(usually bun will also be acting unwell), so you should contact your rabbit vet right away.

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-...abbit-friendly-vets/rabbit-friendly-vet-list/
Medirabbit: mucoid enteritis

If bladder sludge seems like what could be going on with your bun, I would suggest getting him checked out by your knowledgeable rabbit vet, and maybe a good time to also get him neutered.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Urine
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bladder_sludge_and_stones
https://rabbit.org/bladder-stones-and-bladder-sludge-in-rabbits/
Buns with bladder sludge issues usually requires a change of diet to a low calcium grass based pellet, no alfalfa in the diet, and low calcium veg/greens. Some owners even have to do low calcium bottled water for their bladder sludge prone buns. And like Catlyn said, when in doubt it's best to talk to a knowledgeable rabbit vet.

Low calcium diet for rabbits

Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for the reply.

It's only the one time I've found it in his anus, the rest of the time there are strings of goo on his fur around his genitals. He doesn't have any at the moment I can show you, but there is dried stuff on his testicals which I've photographed - unfortunately it's a bit tricky with his underside being white!

He's showing no signs of being unwell, he's extremely energetic other than when he's enjoying being petted! I've seen him eating his cecotropes too which is great.

I took him to the vet a fortnight ago when I took his sister in to be spayed, and when they examined him his testicles were tiny, so they said to bring him back when he was closer to weighing 2kg, at that time he was about 870g, he's about 1.1kg now

Here are the pics, plus one of him snoozing underneath the heater

JBun said:

If he has white goo coming from his bum, you need to get him to the vet right away as it could be a sign of a possible infection. If it may have drifted over from his urinary tract, it sounds to me that he may have bladder sludge, which is a build up of calcium deposits from the bladder and can create bladder issues. Bladder sludge will be thick and pasty, gritty, or thick creamy urine. If instead you're finding mucous or a gelatin substance around the anus or with his poop, this is a different problem and can indicate a serious illness(usually bun will also be acting unwell), so you should contact your rabbit vet right away.

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-...abbit-friendly-vets/rabbit-friendly-vet-list/
Medirabbit: mucoid enteritis

If bladder sludge seems like what could be going on with your bun, I would suggest getting him checked out by your knowledgeable rabbit vet, and maybe a good time to also get him neutered.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Urine
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bladder_sludge_and_stones
https://rabbit.org/bladder-stones-and-bladder-sludge-in-rabbits/
Buns with bladder sludge issues usually requires a change of diet to a low calcium grass based pellet, no alfalfa in the diet, and low calcium veg/greens. Some owners even have to do low calcium bottled water for their bladder sludge prone buns. And like Catlyn said, when in doubt it's best to talk to a knowledgeable rabbit vet.

Low calcium diet for rabbits

Click to expand...

I've just found it on Maple, so I've sent this photo to my vet - I'd still appreciate any ideas though!

What is your litter box set up like? Are you able to see the urine after your bun pees, or is it absorbed into the litter? Do you see any white creamy stuff on the top of the litter after your bun pees?

JBun said:

What is your litter box set up like? Are you able to see the urine after your bun pees, or is it absorbed into the litter? Do you see any white creamy stuff on the top of the litter after your bun pees?

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I have carefresh in there, the white one, so I can see it. There's no creamy stuff on top, it gets absorbed in but I can see the colour. Sometimes they pee on puppy pads I have next to the boxes, and there's never any on there. Following surgery a couple of weeks ago, Maple did have a few instances of poos that were strung together but I thought that was from hair, plus she'd just had surgery so I expected her to be a little off for a few days.

Does the urine seem to have any white calcium sediment in it, even if it's not thick and creamy at all? The dried urine may appear chalky.

I haven't seen any, I'll look out for it though. I've definitely seen it in rabbits at the shelter I volunteer at so I know what it looks like in fresh urine at the least - sort of an egg-like consistency. That is the sort of thickness of the stuff I've seen on my bunnies, just a bit more stringy and not in their urine.

JBun said:

Does the urine seem to have any white calcium sediment in it, even if it's not thick and creamy at all? The dried urine may appear chalky.

Click to expand...

The bunnies at the shelter I think had it bc they were giving them guinea pig food because it was cheaper and I've just weaned mine off that, so maybe it is calcium?

Yeah, see if it clears up with the change of food, and also keep watch for any signs of a bladder problem developing.

JBun said:

Yeah, see if it clears up with the change of food, and also keep watch for any signs of a bladder problem developing.

Click to expand...

Thank you! I'll have a read through the information you've sent me.