Rabbit's Smell?

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MCatCar

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, Kentucky, USA
Hello!



As many of you may know, my Dad and I are trying to convince my mom to let us get a rabbit. She says one of the reasons she doesn't want to get one is because they smell.



So, I would love testimonial from you all, saying that they don't smell, and some ways to make sure they are odorless!



Thanks!
 
Rabbits keep themselves very clean. Shadow doesn't smell AT ALL. The only thing, in my experience, that has ever smelled with her is the litter box. And that's only if I don't change it often enough. I just dump it out every other day and toss some new litter in, and wash it out once a week. I guess the hay smells, too, but that's not an offensive smell.
 
Rabbits have no body odor, unlike dogs, for example.

Their urine is the problem but it is easy to manage with the correct litter, and with cleaning often enough.

I love Feline Pine litter, it smells great and absorbs very well leaving no stink. It is a pelleted wood litter that is kiln-dried so any harmful oils from the pine are no longer a problem. Other pelleted wood litters work well, too, or even wood stove pellets.

I really do not recommend wood shavings, on the other hand. Cedar shavings are harmful to the rabbits health, and wood shavings of any kind do not work very well at absorbing and preventing smell, in my experience.

I also had less than great experiences with paper-based litters like Carefresh or Yesterday's News. In conclusion, I think pelleted wood litter is the way to go.

And of course, get your rabbit spayed or neutered for a variety of health and behavioral reasons, including easier litterbox training. On that note, spaying and neutering is expensive, and adopting a rabbit from a shelter that is already spayed or neutered saves a lot of money.
 
I'm a little older then you but I still live at home. When I told my dad I was getting a rabbit he was not impressed and thought he would smell. I explained that I would litter train him and there would be no smell. He was skeptical but once I got the rabbit and he saw there was no smell it was fine.

My room has a kind of hay/woody smell because of the hay/wood litter I use but its not bad and usually only smell that way when I change the litter or mess with the hay.

But my parents are pretty good with me getting and having multiple kind of pets. If your parents are really strict it might be harder. I'm not sure how you can convince them. Just wear them down by nagging, lol. But on a serious note, show them that you have thoroughly researched it and just keep telling them that the rabbit will be litter trained and it won't smell.
 
My rabbits smell like fresh washing lol, I swear to God. It's because they spend so many hours a day outside, so smell gorgeous.

Rabbits are very clean animals- they can easily be litter-trained, and wash themselves, keeping their fur etc. clean.
They smell much better than both cats and dogs, and their droppings are fairly odourless. As for the urine (which doesn't smell as bad as cat or dog urine, again) use an absorbant litter (safe. Mine use a cellulose-based cat litter, which is suitable for rabbits specifically), and mine is compostible! So straight in the compost bin, and then onto the flowers a few weeks later :)
If you use a good litter, you shouldn't smell anything.

If your mum stuck her face in the rabbit's litter tray, yes, she wouldn't love the smell, but otherwise, if anything, they smell quite pleasant :)

How is that going anyway? What is your Mum's view now? :)

Jen
 
Compared to a cat litter box (at least in my experience), a rabbit's litter box hardly smells! I use the wood stove pellets too, and it takes a good 4-5 days without cleaning before it starts to smell bad. For the first 2, itdoesn't smell at all. By the 3rd day it's just beginning to smell like stinky pee. Then after that, phew! (Not that I usually go longer than 3 days without cleaning, but it has happened... :p)

And cleaning a rabbit's litter box literally takes 5-10 minutes. Regularly rinsing with vinegar prevents the white, scaly calcium build-up which can also contribute to a smelly litter box.

Rabbits themselves just don't smell bad. Not unless they're having some sort of health problem. Their fur and breath always smell sweet to me. In fact, Ilove the way rabbits smell! :)

Hope that helps!

Rue
 
The only problem would be if your rabbit is a sprayer, rabbits that spray are NOT fun lol! It is really hard to clean and smell pretty bad too. Spaying/neuteuring is said to help some.
 
I've had rabbits, cats, dogs, hampsters, guinea pigs and gerbils and the rabbits smell the best when you nuzzle them and smell the least in terms of household odor. :)

sas :bunnydance:
 
I second what others have said - combination of litter types, frequency of changing and general keeping tidy keeps things smelling fine. My buns house just smells like sweet hay and herbs. I will admit (probably with less shame than I should) that I am an unrepentant bunny sniffer actually. Cinnamon will snuggle under my chin when I'm on the floor and I bury my nose in her fur... ah, bliss!
 
i dont find butsy smells at all . i change the cage every 2 - 3 days . but its easy, i put puppy pads on the bottom of the cage, so i just pick it up, throw it out and put more on . its as simple as that ;)
 
Here's another question.

Is your rabbit litter-trained? If so, what do you use on the liner of your cage? & How's the smell?
 
MCatCar wrote:
Here's another question.

Is your rabbit litter-trained? If so, what do you use on the liner of your cage? & How's the smell?
Click to expand...

Rabbits can be easily litter-trained (I say 'easily' but I am sure there are few who take a while to learn :p ). All you need is a corner litter tray, or a rectangular litter tray, and a rabbit-safe litter.

Set it up in a corner they seem to like going in (if that is a convenient spot for you), and if they 'go' out of it, then just place their poops in the litter tray (to encourage them to use it), and soak up any urine outside the litter tray with kitchen towell and then place it in the litter tray.

They should learn quick enough ;). And it makes them SO easy to clean out too.

Jen
 
Litter training my rabbit was pretty easy. I watched which corner he was peeing in and then put the litter box there. That pretty much was it. Hes peed on the floor the odd time or sometimes leaves stray poops around but I just soak it up/pick it up and put it in the litter box. Thankfully he's never had an accident(pee or poop) when I've let him out of the cage to run around my room.

The bottom of my cage is just Coroplast, that plastic cardboard stuff. Its easy to wipe clean if he has an accident.
 
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