Help! My Bunny Smells - What To Do With A Stinky Rabbit
85One Way Of Dealing With It..
Here at Bunniez, we're always on about how you should keep your rabbit indoors. "Oh, they're so smart and so friendly," you read in practically every article, including the ones detailing how not to get shredded by your angry bunny's teeth and claws. But there is a practical problem to keeping your rabbit indoors, and that is that rabbits, or more correctly their pee and soft fecal matter, well, it stinks.
The good news about the soft fecal matter is that the rabbit should take care of that particular problem by consuming it itself. This is a normal part of the rabbit's digestive process, and though it may be a little odd to observe, and perhaps a little off putting, it is essential to your rabbit's health that you allow him or her to consume it. This wet matter contains partially digested nutrients that the rabbit needs.
As to the rest of it, well you're on your own there, the bunny has helped as much as possible, and most people don't enjoy having their home smell like a poorly run pet store, so here are a few tips to keeping your bunny smelling nice.
The Obvious
Clean the cage. Clean it twice daily if need be. Cleaning the cage can be a meditative experience, and it will ensure that droppings and odor do not build up in your home.
Use a Deodorizing Litter
This is generally only recommended if you have a wire rack keeping your rabbit away from the litter. Most litters, and especially the deodorizing ones, are poisonous to Rabbits, so be careful. Find out all about litters HERE
Use A Litter Tray
If you train your rabbit to go in a litter tray, rather than its entire cage, you can change the tray several times daily. This can be an absolute godsend if you are in a hurry or like to keep things super clean, so it is highly recommended. Find out about litter training your bunny HERE
Sprays and Deodorizers
These can help, and there are a multitude on the market. These are especially recommended if your fuzzy little darling has had an accident on the carpet or upholstery. This shouldn't be too much of a problem if they have been litter trained, but sudden changes in bunny's routine or lifestyle can cause accidents, so be prepared.
Proper housing, litter, training, and cleaning habits should be all you need to keep your bunny in good stead with your olfactory organs. It can be hard work, but the rewards of having a happy house bunny are well worth it.
NOTE: You may also have odor problems if your bunny is not passing its 'night droppings', (the soft fecal matter), properly. If your bunny does not have enough fiber in its diet, these droppings can cake and matt onto the rabbit's fur, creating a stinky, disgusting mess. This is just one of the reasons that feeding your rabbit as much hay as it wants is of paramount importance. Learn the other reasons HERE
vote upvote downshareprintflag
- Useful (10)
- Funny (4)
- Awesome (3)
- Beautiful (4)
- Interesting (3)
CommentsLoading...
Hi Irene, I would reccomend just cutting back to hay. If it is a good quality hay it is all your rabbit really needs, and greens are infamous for causing runny droppings which stick to the fur.
Hi,
My 6month rex bunny has been experiencing soft poop!
it is really gross and she does not go in her litter box when she has it!
i dont want to give her away- but i cant stand cleaning it,
its mushy and smells like a skunk!- plus her cage smells, but i clean it everyday!
i need some advice!
thanks
jay
p.s. are their heating pads for your bunnys cage?
my bunnie is pooping over and over she likes to poop on people and never poops in her litter box HELP
Irene-
The food you are feeding your rabbits is not good for them. Any kind of pellet mix with seeds and fruit is extremely bad. The fact that they're picking out the parts they like is even worse. It's the equivalent of rabbit fast food. It'd be like giving your kids a happy meal with a salad and letting them just eat the fries and the dessert. Seeds are very hard for a rabbit to digest, and the fruit pieces are loaded with sugar.
Rabbits should be fed mostly timothy hay, with a small amount of timothy hay-based pellets (oxbow brand is best). Cut down to just this, and see if your poopy bun improves.
Irene-
The food you are feeding your rabbits is not good for them. Any kind of pellet mix with seeds and fruit is extremely bad. The fact that they're picking out the parts they like is even worse. It's the equivalent of rabbit fast food. It'd be like giving your kids a happy meal with a salad and letting them just eat the fries and the dessert. Seeds are very hard for a rabbit to digest, and the fruit pieces are loaded with sugar.
Rabbits should be fed mostly timothy hay, with a small amount of timothy hay-based pellets (oxbow brand is best). Cut down to just this, and see if your poopy bun improves.
it does not smell bad soo no promblem ok
just a reminder - usually bunny smell that isnt poop related means its time to clean their anal glands. both males and females, fixed or not need to be cleaned out.
When we play with Goma - she sometimes smells like a skunk. It is only for a minute or so that the smell lingers - I understand that it is probably her anal gland - but why does she "do/spray/let-er-rip/stink" when we play? Is she in pain? Scared? Angry?
I have researched this - the answer is always - "clean the cage"...that would be the stupidest answer ever - as her cage is cleaned twice daily and when we play it is not in/near her cage...
I have a now rabbir and i hope that she will not smel how do i do that I live in a apt and i do not need the nabber saying someing help me.
Have your rabbit neutered. That few minutes of skunky smell is a certain kind of poop. The one they eat to eatract potassium and such. Fixing really helps with odor.
A way to make the cage not smell is to sprinkle some baking soda on the litter in the litter tray.
Hi I was just wondering well I'm getting a bunny tomorrow it's 3yrs. Old so what is the most important tip u can give me for bunnies?
Thanks,
Abbie
my 2 month mini lop has some poop stuck to his feet.what should i do?should i wet some paper and try to clean it?
have you all got skunks? i have two abbits that live in the house and they don't smell at all. maybe its because they are both litter trained. the best cage to get for your rabbit is a play pen, which comes with a nylon bottom, its alot bigger then a pokey cage- its not nice to have your rabbit locked up in a small cage all day! if you take the time to train your rabbits they can live in your house like a cat or dog would. maybe the key to having non-smelling rabbits is to give them more freedom!
Hi i just bought a rabbit 4 weeks ago and it keeps escaping from its cage, pooping everywhere 24/7 and stinking up my house. Also whenever i pick it up it will either stay still or scratch me to death. So i was thinking of putting the cage on the floor and surrounding it with a play pen so it has more room and can go in and out as he pleases. is that ok?
My bunnies both smell like fresh laundry! Best smell ever!
I call my girlfriend bunny and she gets smelly too. What should i do? I dont want to upset her but shes a stinky bunny.
Our male bunny does not smell but the female reeks! It's just horrible. He is fixed and I am hoping that getting her done will help. The cage is cleaned, they run around the house, they play outside and are very lucky bunnies. Being happy and cared for however does not ensure they will be smell free! Plus, the female poops everywhere whereas the male goes in his litterbox. It costs a lot but I think we have to get her fixed too.
My Bunny is a very bad bad bunny, She smelly and naughty, I dont think she loves me. When i cry she doesnt huggle me and kiss me.
Bad Bad Bunny
my bunny's not eating his poop as much as he used to, but he does eat it, is there something wrong with him?
My mom says she wants to get rid of my bunny because she smells bad. We thought about getting her an outdoor bunny hutch, but it gets really cold in the winter and hot in the summer here. Is there heating or AC for the hutches?
Um, it's not the cage that smells like it's been in sitting in the trash can for three days, it's the rabbit itself.
OMG, My Lionhead SMELLS so bad! He isn't litter trained, but I have the pull out tray that I clean at least weekly of not more. But his poop gets stuck to the bottom of his cage (and on his little private parts, yuck) and it takes me forever to clean his cage out. Any suggestions???
Can bunnies just eat timothy hay?? I see that the stuff I give my little guy appears to be bad...... Boo.
Hey, I was thinking about getting a Bunny for my 11 year old mature daughter. She has some room in her room, but we think it will stink up her room. We found some rabbits she likes, but we have never had anything like that. How big should the cage be?? I don't want to have a stinky house ethier, do you think I should get one. Help me out!!
Well, that is just riduculous. None of my rabbits smell and the only ones that do belong to lazy dirty owners who don't clean up after the rabbits daily. I have two indoor rabbits who are house trained to do their biz on newspaper which I remove regularly. On a night they go into a cage with a sawdust floor covered with fresh meadow hay and cleaned daily. The cleaning is easy as the buns go to the same corner to poop etc. Not havin a bun in your home because you say they smell is like leaving a baby in dirty nappies and sayin IT smells. Daft.
My rabbit is male intact, he does not smell. We clean cage often. and he is semi toilet trained. Being intact means he will never be really toilet trained but he much prefers going in his litter tray. He smells nice. Only time he smells is if he has a slight upset tummy or been eating too many greens. but its not repugnant its kind of sickly sweet. He did once when much much younger have a smell and caked poop problem that was back when we didnt know that hamster food crap was bad for them. so i bet most people who say they smell feed them hamster food so many people still think they can eat the same as hamsters it makes me angry. But what else makes me angry is people, vets, behaviourists saying hay is 99% of their diet. We have always given my rabbit who is now almost 8 hay. lots of different kinds and loads of it and always make sure its fresh. He has ZERO interest in swallowing hay. He does not see it as food. he likes to sort it and squish it and when he was younger in spring he used to carry it and move around alot and make nests but never ever has he swallowed it. Yes he has teeth problems its awful drives me to tears but he never has and never will it. how do you force feed a rabbit. he also is not interested in chew toys, bark etc. he will eat grass but he only started doing that in his late age and now we have him on grass alot to get him to eat. serious hay isn't lying about in the wild but grass does so how is that not as good but serious my rabbit does not believe hay to be food. yes we have tried blending veg and coating the hay in it. yes we have tried making toys out of it. do you know how many things i eat that i shouldnt to show him its food. jesus . rose, willow and apple trees and meant to be good wood for them to chew but hes not interested and I'm not sure humans are meant to ingest that but there i am eating it to convince him to and he just looks at me like I'm insane
ettaariane -- thats an aweful comment, my rabbit is poorely just now so she is producing soft smelly poop, i scrub her hutch everyday but the smell is staying, its got NOTHING to do with laziness!
Bunnies are cute
Krista - "Our male bunny does not smell but the female reeks!"
The same thing happened to me. I had a male bunny for many months. He is litter trained. He doesn't smell. The basement (where he lives) doesn't smell. I just got two does/girls. And now our basement smells. Yes, I clean their area daily. We never had a "bunny" smell until those girls got here.....
Ettaariane - "Well, that is just riduculous. None of my rabbits smell and the only ones that do belong to lazy dirty owners who don't clean up after the rabbits daily."
Ettaariane - Don't blame the owners too quickly. One of my does is stinky compared to the other. I am hoping that it is because she has only been with us for a couple weeks and that she will adjust.
I have a rabbit and what I did was I got a large cardboard and covered it in plastic and used that as the bunny bottom of cage and I have Care Fresh in her litter box, which I line with those cat liner bags, so there is no clean up, just a drop in the trash, lasts 3 to 4 days NO SMELL!....then I put a fencing around her, very easy clean up...
Hi, my bunny is almost 4 years old. up until recently she was never a smelly rabbit but im now cleaning her daily and she is still smelling. she has a very large cageand i use cage dissinfectant. she is allowed to run around the house as she has been litter trained and would always return to her cage for the toilet, but.iver the last few month she no longer does so. is this just a coincidence or are they connected? ive been worried something is wrong or maybe if its old age. thanks xxxx
Irene 3 years ago
I'm a little worried about my 7m/o doe. Not spayed YET, but will be soon. Anyhoo, question is about the grand ol' cecal whoop-de-doo. If it's a little runny suddenly and stuck, EVEN though I feed my rabbits LOTS of Timothy Hay, a good mix food with pellets, dried fruit and other goodies (they pick out what they like and need and go to town on the hay) and I occasionally give them baby spinach or carrots for a treat. I got freaked out and cleaned it off for her twice... should I just let it be and let her take care of it on her own and take her off everything but the hay for a while? I've done that before when she was acting sluggish as a baby and it helped. I'm at a toss up between minimizing her diet and taking her to the vet in the morning...