Rabbit is very messy

[KieranKD]

Hello! I wasn't sure if this would go in health or behavior. I understand this is not normal and I may be doing something wrong, I'm genuiely trying to learn and improve this rabbit's quality of life. I have a three year old, unfixed male rabbit who within the past couple of months has suddenly become REALLY messy, his bottom is near constantly soaked in urine and liquid poo. I believe the poo is liquid cecotropes, as his actual poos are normal and I never find mushy or liquid poos in the litterpan. When this started I did some googling and realized I was feeding him way too many pellets, he was eating a full cup a day when he was only supposed to be eating 1/4. Reducing pellets and increasing hay has really helped reduce the amount of liquid poop on him, but he's still always covered in urine and does get poo on him, just to a lesser extent.

Recently I made a grate for his litterbox so that he isn't in any contact with urine while in his litterbox, but honestly he doesn't really chill out in there outside of using the toilet and this has not reduced how fast he becomes messy. At the moment I'm having to give him bum baths every 2-3 days just to keep him clean and reduce irritation. He actively chooses to sit in his waste on his hidey box. He will mark & poo on top and lay or sit in it. I clean his cage (a 48 in dog kennel) every other day with a deep clean every week, he does get at least 2 hours of out time (usually more) and otherwise acts normal. He eats, plays, and loves to explore and interact with people. His current diet is oxbow garden select, orchard grass, and a handful of leafy greens (a cup to a cup and a half) a day. He's scheduled to be neutered at the end of this month and obviously I'll bring up this issue with the vet but like.... is there anything I can do to help him not be so messy in the meantime??

I do think he's overweight, he doesn't really groom his bum very well

 

[Preitler]

Hm, I wouldn't think it has much to do with him not being neutered yet, I have my second intact male house bunny now and the only issue related to that is when he tries to spray his cuddlebun.
Too much weight can be an issue, but there shouldn't be liquid poop, and he shouldn't pee himself. If he can't groom his bum he also would have problems to eat his cecotropes right from there, my disabled (intact) male left them on the floor and ate them from there, since they don't consider this "pooping" that was all over the place, and sometimes he forgot one.
When they get dirty from their litter box then this setup isn't optimal, what works perfect for me is what @Blue eyes posted:
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/how-to-get-rid-of-urine-stains.103396/#post-1188445Wood stove pellets covered with hay (the hay rack is at the litterbox so there is always a fresh layer of wasted hay)

If he uses his hidey house as litter box I would remove it and block the spot where it was, and offer another one that is rather low (they like to sit rather upright when pooping or peeing).

I would bring up this issue first, maybe have him checked for things like UTI or parasites. If he is overweight I would further decrease his pellets to treat level.

What is the reason to get him neutered now? (It is a good idea if you're planning to get him a cuddlebun)

 

[KieranKD]

What is the reason to get him neutered now? (It is a good idea if you're planning to get him a cuddlebun)

It's hard to describe, I do truly believe it's cecotropes because all actual poops are normal, it's like he has the cecotropes smeared near his anus/back/legs, but no actual cecotropes or poos are getting matted in his fur. I only ever see him eat cecotropes by reaching down between his legs, but I never see him reaching around to groom his hind legs or the area directly above his tail. He runs and jumps just fine so I truly believe it is due to weight, he has lost a little but reducing pellets more would probably be a good idea.

We recently switched to wood pellets, grate on top of pellets, hay on top of grate in an effort to keep him super dry. I give him cardboard boxes because it's his favorite, he really likes making his own entrances but I do think he needs to not have them because he will just spray the top of the box and lay in it. He doesn't usually straight up pee outside of the litter box besides spraying, I do think a lot of the urine is coming from him spraying and then laying in any that doesn't make it on my wall

I mainly want him neutered to calm down his hormones and help with spraying/humping my dog lol, but also so he can have a bunny friend as I've recently gotten a job that doesn't allow me to spend as much time as I used to with him.

 

[KieranKD]

He's able to pee "properly", he always lifts his tail and pees away from himself like he's supposed to but I'm not sure if he's dribbling after the fact. It's really impossible for me to tell when I find stray droplets if they're from spraying or dribbling. He sprays a LOT

 

[Moonshadow]

I have a two cookie grates on pegs that are elevated over a puppy pad for my bunny’s litter area. The grates rest on the kennel’s tray and stay about 3/4 of an inch above the bottom. I clean his cage about twice a week and do a deep cleaning every 2-4 times depending on how dirty the grates get. Usually soap and warm water with a brush clean it really well.

My rabbit is also intact but thankfully has never sprayed and hasn’t lost his litter training so we aren’t planning on getting him neutered for the foreseeable future. Don’t see a reason to take the risk and don’t have a trusted vet yet.

Don’t know if it would work for you (my rabbit is free roam) but I provided photos in case you wanted to see. He had to come and inspect what I was doing midway through:

During: