cleaning my rabbits bottom

Question
my rabbit escaped and was lost for about 3 weeks, he was found yesterday and returned to me thankfully.
The problem is he has come back to me with the most dreadful dirty bottom ,so bad i cant see his tail for dried in mud,grass ect and i wondered if i could sit him in a basin of luke warm water to soak it all off. thank you i look forward to your reply. denise

Answer
Dear Denise,

I am glad your bunny was lucky enough to be found!  I hope he'll be able to stay inside the house from now on, where he won't be at risk.

You can gently bathe the bunny by following the directions here:

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

but it is vital to find out *why* he has a messy bottom.   He may have picked up parasites (e.g., worms and/or coccidia) while he was lost, and those should be treated to permanently solve this problem.  

Also, stress can cause cecal dysbiosis:

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

You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Please get him to the vet for a complete check up to be sure he's fully healthy and will recover completely from his ordeal.

I hope this helps.

Dana