Rabbit has reddish brown on top of tail

Question
My rabbit has this reddish brown (saliva?) on his tail.  I bathed him a week ago and it's back.  It looks the same as when your dog keeps licking the same spot and it gets a reddish brown tint to is and looks "sticky".  There is no odor to it.  I'm not sure he may have slowed on his eating, although he did eat a piece of Honey dew this morning.  His eating may have to do with the new cage I moved him into.  I'm not sure, I'll watch it for another day.  As far as the tail, I cannot find any info on it anywhere, Internet or Merck Vet manual.  Hopefully you can help.

Answer
Hi Linda,

That is interesting.  Is he neutered?  My first thought would be urine spray.  We just had a pair of abused rabbits come in that were colored reddish-orange due to spraying each other with urine.  You would think you would have an odor but that is not always the case.  Urine on the fur in that area would appear to be sticky and would make the fur stiff.  I would take a good look at his belly and see if he has any signs of urine (usually wetness or a red rash like diaper rash in human babies).

It is possible this is an excretion from the gut.  If there is an irritant in the gut....parasites or pathanogenic bacteria due to improper diet or illness....the gut will attempt to protect itself by producing a thick mucous....and that may be excreted with fecal material.

And you might be on the right track regarding this being related to moving to a new cage.  Since they are prey animals, they will mark their territory not only to claim it as their own but also to mark a way back to safety in case they are attacked.

I would agree with what you are doing....watch him closely for the next day or so.  Monitor fecal and urine output as much as possible.  Make sure the poops are properly shaped (shows a good gut) and watch the urine to see how thick it is.  If this rabbit isn't neutered and is at least 3 months old, watch for urine spray...it's usually on the sides of the cage...or even your walls.  Make sure he is eating a proper basic diet.....unlimited high quality grass hays and limited high quality pellets.  I would probrably remove greens, fruits or treats until you get a handle on this just in case it is a GI issue.  Watch him eat to make sure he isn't having difficulty in chewing or swallowing.  

This is an odd problem and may require some research and observations.  By making the observations I mentioned above, we might can eliminate a gut problem...which can quickly turn bad on you.  Watch him a day or two and get back to me and we will see if we can diagnose this issue further.