Can You Bathe Rabbits? Know It All

Bunnies can be cute and playful. They use their noses to perceive their environment. But, can you bathe rabbits?

Is it safe to wash your bunny friend after a long day of playing in the dirt? How do you clean their fur without causing any harm to them? Do rabbits clean themselves always or do you need to help them get clean once in a while?

These are some fundamental questions that we’ll be tackling in this article.

Let’s get right straight to it then.

Can You Bathe Rabbits?

Rabbits have been known to be self-cleaning pets. They groom themselves regularly and do quite a great job on that. Bathing them can be quite harmful. They tend to freak out in the water and may end up breaking either their limbs or their spine as they try to break free and out of the water. Wet rabbits may also experience hypothermia, pneumonia, and other life-threatening conditions.

Being prey animals rabbits (especially outdoor rabbits) they avoid water or getting wet as much as they can since they are most vulnerable in such conditions.

Wet rabbit fur may take longer to dry. They may easily catch a chill and suffer from respiratory infections.

When your bunny friend gets dirty, there may be a need to clean them up.

There are, however, certain situations that may warrant the need to wash your bun friend. It’s important to clean them while taking great care of them.

Bathing them, in this case, might prevent them from certain illnesses and infections that could be a result of poor hygiene behaviors.

Do Rabbits Really Need a Bathe?

Most rabbits do a fantastic job keeping themselves clean, dry, and smelling fresh every day. The best solution would be for rabbit owners to wash them as little as possible since they easily get shocked by unfamiliar settings.

There are, however, certain situations when bathing your bunny friend may be necessary. These includes:

• Excess Weight – If you have an overweight rabbit, she may not be able to clean her rear end. Helping to clean such rabbits will go along way in keeping them clean and healthy.
• Dental Problems – Dental problems may prevent rabbits from cleaning their fur. Rabbits use their tongue to clean themselves, if they are facing any sort of dental issues this would come as a challenge to cleaning themselves – hence the need to bathe them.
• Arthritis in Rabbits – Also known as osteoarthritis, this is caused mostly by wear and tear of the joint. This mostly affects older rabbits. As they grow older (six years or older) they end up experiencing pains that prevents them from giving better grooming to themselves. Hence the need to bathe them gently and carefully less you cause further harm to them.
• Bladder Stones / sludge – Rabbits with bladder stones are often in pain and don’t move that much. They also experience frequent urination, wetness and skin irritation around their genital areas due to scalding. This therefore would warrant the need to bathe them to keep them clean around these areas.
• Flea Infestation – Flea infestation can be a major menace in your household if not taken care of. Although some prefer other options such as using baby powder to treat this, giving them a clean bathe can really help this situation. It’s also recommended to take your bun to your vet and get the best alternative to treating the flea infestation.
• Dry Mud on their Fur – If your bunny has been out the entire day having the best of her time playing on mud, the mud might dry on them. This might require cleaning them after.
• Lack of enough space to allow for sanitation. Enough space also allows for enough space for litterbox that will prevent your bunny friend from having a messy bottoms.

Now that we know the different situations that might require you to wash your rabbit we need to now look at the best way to clean them.

So, how exactly should you bathe rabbits?

How to Bathe Rabbits?

If it does get to a point where you need to bathe your rabbit for whatever reason, then implement the following 4 key cleaning techniques.

Dry Bath

When your rabbit is only mildly dirty, then a dry bath is exactly what it needs. This involves giving them a thorough brushing to help remove all the dirt on their fur coat.

Special rabbit combs are recommended as they have much finer teeth than those used on cats and dogs.

If there is a dirty wet spot, the dry bathe should work just fine. Just sprinkle a little bit of cornstarch and brush away the dirt. You should avoid getting them wet as this might cause them to get into shock from the wetness.

Spot Cleaning

Spot cleaning involves cleaning using some sort of wet material. It involves a little bit of water to help clean them and avoid having a smelly bunny.

Using a wet towel is the best way to spot clean your dirty and smelly rabbit. Rabbit skins are delicate and take sometimes to dry. Using a wet towel keeps the dampness as close to the surface of their coat as possible.

You could also consider using a blow dryer to help with the drying of their skin coat from your spot cleaning.

Sink or Tub Bath

This should be your last resort. The other two options are recommended if the situation isn’t that messy. This is the option most dogs and cats owners prefer but should be your last resort when it comes to cleaning rabbits.

Rabbits tend to get into shock when they get into contact with water. For this option to work for you follow the following process.

1. Work with warm water on the tab – not hot not cold just warm water.
2. Use a fully wet towel using warm water at the base of the sink/tub. This will give your rabbit some traction and give you a head start.
3. Only use shampoos specifically made for rabbits and only use the directed amount each and every-time
4. Avoid cleaning the rabbits head or ears as much as you can – unless absolutely necessary.

Using a towel to first dry your pet rabbit will help with drying him. You could then blow-dry them to help completely dry their coat.

Blow Dry

Blow drying helps with drying any wet coat on your rabbits. Be sure to work with the lowest heat and airflow settings possible and avoid using the blow dryer closer to the face of your rabbit.

Do Rabbits Die When You Bathe Them?

Rabbits are delicate pets. Unlike dogs and cats who love bath time, rabbits don’t like this at all. In fact, a wet bath could easily lead your bunny friend into shock and could easily lead to some serious medical conditions that could be fatal. The stress and shock from bathing them can easily kill them by triggering fatal gastrointestinal stasis. It could also lead to a heart attack.

The shock also comes with other injuries such as breaking their bones or spinal codes as they try to break free from the wet conditions.

Dry baths are mostly recommended when it comes to cleaning your rabbits. Spot cleaning affected areas help prevent any injuries to your bun friend while maintaining a clean and healthy pet bunny.

Final Thoughts

Keeping a clean and healthy rabbit is every pet owner’s dream. As much as there might be situations where they do get dirty – a wet bathe should never be offered to a pet rabbit.

This has been known to cause so many issues including causing the death of your bunny pet friend.

A dry bath is recommended if you really have to clean them. You should use a dedicated rabbit’s comb and gently brush the rabbit’s fur.