Baby wipes are the easiest method of cleaning your rabbit without bathing it. Use baby wipes that are fragrance-free, alcohol-free and hypo-allergenic for best results. You want a wipe that is strong enough to clean your bunny without tearing, and which is soft so that it won't hurt your bunny's skin.
The answer is simply: NO. Human wet wipes and baby wipes are not suitable for use on pets. In fact, Human wipes can be up to 200 times too acidic for your pet's skin. This is because the pH balance of your pet's skin is very different to that of a human's.
We recommend using baby wipes for spot cleaning. We use Huggies Natural Care Baby Wipes. These wipes are fragrance-free, alcohol-free and hypo-allergenic. They are fortified with aloe and vitamin E, so they won't irritate your rabbit's skin.
For spot cleaning a rabbit, all you need is some kind of rag or washcloth. You could also use a small amount of soap to help, but it's best to only use that if you can't get the mess out with water alone. You can also use a towel to quickly dry the damp fur, but often it's not necessary for minor stains.
Fill a bathroom sink to about 2.5″ depth with lukewarm water. Mix in about a tablespoon of shampoo, and mix well. Being firm and gentle so that the bunny cannot jump and injure himself, lower his rear end into the lukewarm shampoo/water, and gently lave the solution onto the soiled areas until they are clean.
Regardless, if your rabbit gets a little wet, it's best to observe them for a day or two just to make sure there are no health concerns that pop up. But, if your rabbit is only wet on the surface of their fur, or only a small portion of their body is wet, then you probably have nothing to worry about.
First things first – if your rabbit has a messy behind, you'll need to clean the area as soon as possible. A soiled bottom could invite fly strike, a very unpleasant and potentially deadly situation in which flies lay their eggs on your bunny, and the hatched larvae feast on your bunny's flesh.
You don't need to fill the box, a small layer of litter on the bottom works just fine. If you have some available, scoop up a few of your rabbit's poops and add them to the box.
Diet. A poor diet may be the single, most common problem in causing a rabbit to have a dirty bottom. Rabbits who are fed too much concentrated mix and therefore dont eat enough hay or are too full to eat their caecotrophs are likely to get a mucky bottom from the uneaten caecotrophs as they build up around their bottom ...
If your rabbit's feet are very dirty or muddy, then you can simply clean them off with a damp cloth and some kitchen towel. Rabbits, like many other animals, shouldn't be bathed like humans or dogs. Instead, spot cleaning is the method of choice by most owners - it's a lot safer and less stressful for the rabbit.
Grooming can be a self-comforting behavior for rabbits. If they are stressed, anxious, bored, or even a little sick, a rabbit might try to feel better by self-grooming more often.
Rabbits will develop a condition called poopy butt if they are overweight or do not have the mobility to bend over and clean themselves. The result is a large, smelly ball of poop stuck onto the rabbit's bottom that will need to be removed in a bath.
The whole bonding process can take as little as one day or up to several months – it all depends on your rabbits. Usually, it's a few weeks before your bunnies will be living happily together but it is well worth the wait.
While rabbits can carry parasites like tapeworm and roundworm, their waste is not known to transmit any diseases to humans.
Rabbit fur can take a really long time to dry. Wet rabbits can be susceptible to hypothermia. But as long as the towel isn't soaking wet and it's not wrapped around them they should be fine. I think most likely they will avoid the towel because they don't enjoy being wet.
Drying your rabbit
You can towel dry the rabbit, gently rubbing the fur to remove as much of the excess water as possible. Be very careful as rabbit skin tears very easily. Use a hair dryer on a warm, but not hot and on a gentle setting to carefully dry the rabbit.
Spritz water
Rabbits lose heat through their ears, so misting them might help to keep your bunnies cooler. Fill up a spray bottle with cool (not icy) water, and then gently spritz the fleshy parts of your rabbits' ears – making sure not to get water into the ear canal itself.
Rabbits should be protected from bad weather as well as strong sunlight or changes in temperature. This includes your rabbit's living area and run. Outdoors, a cover, blanket or piece of old carpet or other insulation material could offer added protection on cold nights provided there is enough ventilation.
Dampen your rabbit's ears
Since rabbits lose heat through their ears, you can lightly dampen them to speed up the cooling process. If your rabbit is comfortable with it, you can use a spray bottle to mist their skin, or simply use a wet cloth or your hands to dab their ears.
How often do I need to clean my rabbit hutch? For the ideal rabbit environment, the hutch should be cleaned at least once a day, by removing any shavings or bedding that are wet and dirty, removing any uneaten fresh food and cleaning the food and water containers before refilling them.