Rabbit Bite

Question
Dear Dana

I have a young rabbit (3 weeks old) and he has been bitten by my older female rabbit (about 5 months) on the nose. He isnt bothered by it but when we try to clean the blood off with a tissue he refuses to let us touch it. Its quite deep and is not very large. When he cleans himself, he tends to touch it and Im not too sure if he can.
What can I do to treat the wound?
Thankyou, Emily

Answer
Dear Emily,

A deep bite is cause to get bunny to the vet if not for sutures, then to see if the bunny needs antibiotics.  As my instructions state, it's best to get to the vet for an emergency like this, and not wait for an answer from the internet.  As it happened, I was completely overwhelmed by a middle school ecology outreach program and have only now been able to address my questions!  Sorry for the delay.

If you do encounter anything like this again, then the best thing to do is wash the wound *very* well with dilute povidone iodine.  If the bite is in such a location that the tissue will begin to curl up and heal away from the incision as it dries, then it's best to get bun to a good rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

who can put in a suture or two to hold things in place while they heal.  If the wound has already started to heal wrong, it's not too late to have the vet do a cosmetic repair. Watch for any sign of swelling or abscess, as this will need to be treated by the vet immediately.

I hope this helps, though it's coming late.

Dana