Bathing.

[houdini]

I have had my bunny, Houdini, for 3 weeks now, and I would like to give him a bath.....but something tells me this might be a little difficult, we Havnt completely bonded yet as he does not trust me but he will walk up to me and hop all over me when I am laying on the ground with him and he will take treats from me, how do I bath him without him hating me afterward

 

[Flash Gordon]

why do u need to bathe him?..bunnies are very clean animals havent u noticed ur bun cleaning himself nonstop?..
if their cage is clean ,they will keep themselves clean..
i dont bathe any of my buns and their shiny and clean and smell wonderful...
bathing is dangerous for a bunny...some bunnies it scares really bad..and they can get really sick from being wet and cold...it takes forever for a bun to be thoroughly dry ...
i wouldnt do it..

 

[kirbyultra]

Hi, welcome.

Rabbits groom themselves and keep themselves quite clean on their own. Rabbits generally are terrified of water and you will have yourself a very frightened and upset bunny if you try to put him in a bath. Furthermore, bunnies have so much fur that the bun will be drenched and take forever to dry all the while freezing -- not a good thing for a bunny to experience at all.

Unless he has some medical issue that prevents him from grooming himself from head to toe (paralysis or something like that), I don't see any reason to bathe a bun. If you got him in bad condition, my suggestion would be to just keep him in a clean and dry environment for now -- in time he will grow some beautiful fur on his own. If he has matted fur, try to brush them out. Spot clean with a damp cloth if you have to. Avoid submerging the bunny into water if at all possible. Use a super absorbent towel to hand-dry as best you can if you have to get him wet.

 

[avarocks]

There is a spray shampoo sold for small animals in the pet stores...you could try that for spot cleaning. I keep baby wipes on hand also, but have so far only had to use them on my guinea pigs. Milo has so far kept himself very clean. If your bunny doesn't trust you now, he will trust you even less if you try a bath. I'm with the rest...don't do it.

 

[Byfuzzerabbit]

I give my rabbit a bath once a year. During the summer when it's warm. My rabbit doesn't like the hair dryer so I have the sun dry her up. Most of these baths are because she gets something on her. Once I was cleaning her room and I had 409 or something to clean the floor. I went to the bathroom and I had her upstairs watching TV. Well she decided she wanted make sure I was cleaning her cage correctly so she went back to her room and get 409 stuff on her. Or when I was cleaning the fish tank and decided that she would help by knocking over the bowl I had the fish in.

I have to get into the bath with her or else she throws a fit. She's good about in when I am in there with her. I use a bunny shampoo and an all natural conditioner. I say wait a bit and try to choose the warmest month of the year. You will probably be spending all day getting your rabbit to dry. I would wait like a year if you really want to give your bunny a bath or just wait until he gets really dirty like the laundry machine breaks and gets your rabbit wet.

For the most part rabbits are very good about staying clean. Mine just happens to decide that she wanted to go into the fireplace because it's nice and cool during the summer and I need to clean out the ashes still.

 

[Violet Crumbles]

houdini wrote:

I have had my bunny, Houdini, for 3 weeks now, and I would like to give him a bath.....but something tells me this might be a little difficult, we Havnt completely bonded yet as he does not trust me but he will walk up to me and hop all over me when I am laying on the ground with him and he will take treats from me, how do I bath him without him hating me afterward

You're humanizing your pet. He's not going to hate you for bathing him. Sure, he'll know immediately if you don't know how to handle him properly or are not confident about doing it and he'll respond to that but he's not going to hate your for bathing him.

Don't bathe him if you're not experienced handling him yet. When you are, and if you still think he needs a bath, dry bathe him with corn starch - work it in, comb it out. If it's a dried on mess you need to clean, spritz the messy fur lightly with water or vinegar and then work in the corn starch then comb it out.

Congrats on your new bun.