HELP!!the case of the poopy butt!

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How to cure poopy butt

  • Put damped cloth on soiled area

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Put in sink

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • Total voters
    2

Teddy101

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Location
Tobyhanna PA
Hello guys, Im a new rabbit owner and i just gotten sweet little teddy a week ago. We been doing so good together.I just have one problem.My rabbit has poopy butt. I dont know what to do. I read online and they said soak them in a sink then try to take it off gentaly. But how can i do that if he wont let me hold him!! Please help!!
 
How old is your new little guy?

Having a poopy bum is usually an indication that something is wrong. Often it is diet-related. Stress can also be a factor.

If you've had him just a week, have you made any changes to what he was used to eating? What does he eat each day? (Knowing his age can also help figure out possible causes.)

Cleaning his bottom isn't the cure. Preventing it from happening to begin with is more important. Then he can clean himself up (usually).

How messy his bottom is may determine whether you need to clean it all. If it's thick and matted poo, he'll need a hand getting it clean. If it is just mildly messy, he can probably clean it himself (especially once the cause is stopped).

If you have to clean him then you can use a plastic tub and just put an inch of warm water in it. One of those plastic shoe storage containers from wal-mart (or similar) can work. If he's wiggly, I'd keep the container on the floor and place him in it. That way if he gets away from you he isn't falling from any height. You only want his bum to get wet - not the rest of him (his paws will get wet too).

Massage the area gently to loosen the poos (you can use latex gloves if you like). Towel dry his bottom well and keep him indoors so he can dry thoroughly.

In the meantime, let us know his diet and age. Then we can offer suggestions.
 
Thanks for replying! Teddy is now 13 weeks old. Everyday i feed him timothy hay and alfalfa based pellets for juvenile rabbits. The breeder said that im not able to feed him veggies yet until 1 year of age. I dont know how true it is, but ill listen just to be on the safe side.Do you think that thats the right diet for little TeddTedd?
 
Unlimited timothy hay is perfect. If you don't already do so, I'd refresh it at least once a day (preferably twice or more) to encourage plenty of hay eating.

Alfalfa-based pellets are also fine for a rabbit under 6-7 months of age. Hopefully, though, they are plain pellets (no colorful add-ins or seeds). If he isn't eating about his body size in hay everyday, then it is good to reduce the pellet amount to encourage more hay eating. Considering that he's getting a poopy bum, it may be a good idea to cut back a bit on the pellets anyway. Some buns are more sensitive than others.

Greens can often begin to be offered as early as 12 weeks of age, but I would not advise it right now if he's already having some digestive issues.
 
Not to interrupt but also if you have only just got teddy them give him a couple of weeks to adjust to you and the house and just because he won't let you hold him now keep on trying and he should get used to you:)
 
Thank you guys for the advise. Teddy seems really happy. He binkys and runs all over my room ever since day 1.The first time i got him he was pretty friendly. He licked us, let us cuddle with him, but he never wanted to be lifted up. And i understand that. Hes not the only bunny out there like this. I was just so afraid last night. I almost cried because i heard that there is something called deadly fly strike,and i hapend in rabbits with poopy bum. Its when a fly lays eggs in a rabbit and eats away his insides and out.Hes been like this for about 4 days now.I love my Teddy.I dont wanst to lose him. And I have to clean him. He tried to so many times but it just didnt work for him.He wont even let me help him.:-(
 
My bunny used to have poopy butt all the time. I would have to check her daily and clean her a couple times a week. Then i stopped feeding her pellets all together. She stopped getting poopy butt all together then. I started introducing good quality pellets in small amounts and finally found a good brand that worked for her. She was fine after that. I couldn't feed her any veggies though or else poopy butt would return. I did a lot of reading and some rabbits just have touchy digestive systems. You need to do trial and error with food and veggies. if your bun starts getting poopy again then stop that food. Only try one at a time so you know what is causing it. She was much happier without having to clean her all the time. She had a white bum so it was easy to see if it started up. She also loves to eat and will eat my other rabbits food so i had to watch her as eating too much also caused the poopiness. She just had a touchy stomach and in time i figured out what upset her. Good Luck. The tub with a little warm water in it works best if she doesn't like to be held. There are actually some videos on youtube about this...i found them very helpful. Hopefully you can get the poopy butt to go away, if not it may be worth a trip to the vet.
 
Hello guys,thanks so much for the advice. Yesterday morning, I saw him grooming himself and he was finnally able to reach the soiled area. I was so happy. Deadly fly stike did scare me alot you know, so atleast that was such a relief. But just because he cleand it dosent mean it wont come back. Ill take your advice Anna R. I will change his diet to make sure this wont happen again.

Thanks Again!!!
 
When I got rabbits as an adult, one of my big initial concerns was how to avoid fly-strike, heh - When I was 8 or 9, I had a rabbit who got a cut on his shoulder while running around the back yard and then got fly-strike in the wound as a result! Fortunately, I had awesome parents who rushed him to an after-hours vet as soon as we discovered it and he was able to be nursed back to heath, but the experience definitely stuck with me. If he's an inside bunny, I wouldn't worry too much though (especially this time of year when stray flies getting indoors are so uncommon). It never hurts to check his bootie daily, either - if caught early, fly-strike IS treatable.

As far as cleaning him goes, Blue eyes gave great advice. Rabbits should NEVER be bathed, as it can cause them to go into (fatal) shock... but a plastic shoe-box or dishpan with half an inch to an inch of warm soapy water (Dawn or other similarly animal-friendly soap is a good choice) to soak just their bottom can loosen up the poop. If you have to resort to cutting some of it out with scissors, rabbits have extremely thin and sensitive skin so it's extra important not to cut close to the skin!

A question about his bum - does the poop stuck to him smell at all? If it doesn't, then he's having runnyish fecal poops (ie diarrhea)... in that case, it's potentially from the stress of going to a new home and I would recommend small animal probiotics (like Bene-bac; available at some feed stores/pet stores and from some vets) and keeping a close eye on things as he may well require a vet visit. If it DOES smell (especially if it seriously stinks!), then it's cecal poops (ie cecotrophs).

Fecal poop is normally hard, round, odorless balls... up to 500 a day per rabbit, heh. Cecal poop is smeary, sticky and stinky but under normal conditions, you'd never know it exists because healthy adult rabbits ingest it directly from their anus so that it can pass through their digestive tract and get more nutrients sucked out of it. The two most common causes of cecal poop NOT being eaten are a) age - very young bunnies sometimes just ADD and don't bother eating it for whatever reason; this tends to remedy itself as they get a little older and b) too many pellets - too rich a diet (usually because of too many pellets) causes them to produce more cecal poop than they actually need to eat... hence, they leave the extras lying around. In your case, it's possible that he's leaving extras around and then sitting on them.

While the general rule of thumb is to let very young bunnies have unlimited pellets in addition to unlimited hay, if extra cecal poop is causing issues for your bunny then you should gradually cut back on pellets until the problem subsides. If you're still having issues, you could always try transitioning to an adult (timothy-based) pellet.
 
You get use to talking about poop when you've got rabbits, lol - their poops can tell you SO much about their health. Changes to fecal poops (size, shape) or suddenly seeing cecals around is often the first sign something may be wrong or their diet might need to be adjusted.
 
Its good to be concerned about our baby's health!! Rabbits are known for hiding their sicknesses and diseases. I am just happy that the poopy butt is over with.
 
So glad your bunny's feeling better, that you were able to get him cleaned up and the poopy butt isn't recurring! I take it the diet changes you had planned to try did the trick? :)
 

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