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Do I need to bathe my rabbit?

22 11:16:06

Question
Should we be bathing our 8 month old female rex? Or do rabbits keep themselves clean enough?

Answer
Dear Mary,

The short answer is:  No.

A healthy rabbit should never be bathed.  They keep themselves very clean without any help from us.  

A sick rabbit with a messy bottom may sometimes need to be locally bathed, and you can find instructions for that here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/buttbath.html

but if your bunny is healthy, then please do not bathe her *ever*.  It can cause enough stress to kill the bunny!  We know of more than one tragic rabbit death that appears to have been caused by nothing more than a bath.  

Hope this helps.

Dana