Can i bath my rabbit?

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loopy

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My rabbit looks like he needs a bath, as he's cream and he sits out side alot, so there for he looks dirty on his back.

Can i bath him? If so how? i no that may sound stupid but do i just put him in a bowl of shallow warm water and can you get rabbit shampoo? also how do i dry him?

Sorry about all the questions.

Loopy
 
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12067&forum_id=17

That's the link from the bunny 101 forum, hopefully that might help.

Generally bathing a rabbit is like a last solution. You can buy wipes that might do a good job of cleaning a bunny without a full bath, or use a warm, damp flannel. Some people will give a butt bath if necessary.

A full bath can put a rabbit into shock, and they can also digest a lot of fur when they are wet, due to them grooming themselves.

Having said that, there have been times when I have had to bath a bunny. I have had two bunnies that have needed baths, and they have needed them more than once, most of my bunnies have never had a bath.

When I bath them I used warm water (tested with the elbow like you would if you were going to bath a baby), and I use the mildest shampoo I can. There are rabbit shampoos but I have never used them.

Its best to do it on a really hot day so that the bunny doesn't lose too much heat, and it's easy to keep them warm afterwards.

Usually I towel dry them as best I can, but once I used a hair dryer because I knew that the bunny would be ok with it, but you can only do that if you know for sure, otherwise it's too risky. But if you use a hairdryer, don't aim it straight at the rabbit, do it from a distance and sort of waft the warm air around.

But generally, a bath should be avoided if at all possible.
 
Wipes sound a good idea, i never thought of that. i will take a look next time i'm in the pet shop for wipes, or can i just use baby wipes?


 
I honestly don't know about baby wipes, but I know that Pets At Home do some good rabbit wipes. I used them on one of my grubbier rabbits and he came up really well :)
 
That no-rinse shampoo looks good too, i wounder if i can get it in the uk. I will ask google in a bit.

Another question if you don't mind,why is it that rabbits can't live wih guinepigs,i always thought they could, but all the pet shops here have separated them.
 
Its to do with the fact that they both have different needs, i.e. different types of foods, hays, etc, and also things like the rabbits can injure the pigs if they step on them and stuff.
 
Rabbits and cavies should be housed separately. Rabbits can carry pathogens that are fatal to cavies. Cavies also require a higher protein feed than rabbits do.



Pam
 
when i was little i had a rabbit and a guinnea pig who lived together for years and they were inseperable!
 
Thats what i always thought, and used to see when i was little, but now they say they must be kept separate, I can see why now i have read these replys.
 
When I was little (about 20 years ago) it was common place for people to house bunnies and guinea pigs together, but I'm inclined to think that was because not many people understood much about the differences between them, and now, when people know so much more, the advice is much better and more accurate than it has ever been before.
 

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