male rabbit odours

Question
I have 2 male rabbits living together both are at different ages lucky aged 1 and snowy aged 4 months. I put lucky and snowy together as they get on well socially as they are indoors for the winter, over the past couple of weeks ive noticed a horrible scent over my floor and both of them are in the same hutch, both of their bottems are clean and their cage in cleaned regulary and ive been told from my father that snowy might be marking his territory but the smell is a little off putting so what shall i do? i dont want to split them up as lucky loves being with snowy as before he was in a hutch on his own and he was getting down in the dumps and bad tempered but he now is gentle as anything

Answer
Hi Katie...Your father is most likely correct.  Rabbits are territorial.  Males will defend their territory and mark it by spraying urine.  It is a sign of dominance in the "pecking order".  We say that we can smell "boy bunny".  The urine is quite smelly and difficult to clean. Pure white vinegar helps to break down the enzymes so it can be cleaned.  The way to eliminate this behavior is to have both of them neutered.  There are some other health benefits from neutering also.  It helps with the odor and spraying.  It will also help with any aggressive male territorial issues and will eliminate the possibility of testicular cancer...and we have a cancer survivor in our rescue.

Sometimes there are parasites that a rabbit can get.  These can be in the form of worms or other organisms such as protozoa.  These can cause odors.  A urinary tract infection is also a possibility.

I suggest looking into getting your boys neutered as that will most likely take care of the issue.  Be aware that not all vets can properly treat rabbits.  Contrary to what many vets will tell you....treating a rabbit is not the same as treating a cat.  It is also important to properly feed rabbits.  They metabolize things much differently than most other animals.  They should be fed unlimited amounts of high quality grass hays.  Pellets should be limited.  The higher end type pellets also contain a yucca extract that helps control urine odor.  Many of the cheaper and lower quality pellets don't have that additive.  Make sure your rabbits are getting plenty of water.  But from what your posts is telling me...I am agreeing with Dad on this one.

Randy