Rabbits will need their nails trimmed. The rabbit in the cover photo was mini rex doe Ciel when I first brought her home. Her nails were severely neglected. Find a cat nail clipper from your local Dollar Tree or use a small pair of wire clippers. To do this, either put the rabbit on her back in your lap or set her on a table. You can also wrap her in a towel if so desired. Trim each nail to the quik (the pink, fleshy line within the nail). If the rabbit starts thrashing, you can easily cut the quik, causing bleeding. This is okay! Just put on some blood stop and she will be just fine.
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Always check ears of your rabbits on a regular basis. They can become dirty inside and become mite infested, leading to deadly ear infections and painful scabs. We don't generally clean ears until they look dirty, but if so desired, you can use ear cleaner marketed for rabbits or cats. Take a cotton swab and gently clean the ear with the cleaning fluid of choice, being careful to not insert it too deep and damage the ear drum. For mites, drop some liquid Ivermectin into the ear.
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Rabbits may not need water baths, but always brush them on a regular basis. Long haired breeds such as Angoras and Lionheads will need lots of brushing to keep their fur pristine and fluffy, while short haired breeds like Satins and Dutches don't need brushed as often. You can get cheap pin brushes at Dollar Tree in the human hair care and pet isles. Thinning shears, which look like scissors with notches in the top, are good for cutting out mats and tangles without making the hair look messy. These can also be found in the Dollar Tree pet isle! Who knew, am I right? Brushing a bun is like brushing a cat or dog; brush out the fur until it is free of mats and tangles, and also foreign objects like burrs, dirt, and pine needles (you'd be surprised about what our Lionheads pick up in their coats when out grazing!
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If your rabbit doesn't have a wire floor like ours do, or isn't litter trained yet, a clean cage is a must! Clean it every day for best results. I only have time to clean mine every week, which still isn't too bad, but you want to try to clean it at least every other day. For litter pans, scoop several times a day. Every month, take the pan/cage tray out and hose it down with bleach and cleaner and rinse well.
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Yup. These too! Rabbits have scent glands on their chins and on each side of their genitals, but the genital area glands are usually the only ones you need to watch. I recommend checking the glands every time you trim nails. The glands look loike little skin tears by the genitals, near the testicles on unaltered bucks. If you see gunk in these glands, it's time to grab a q-tip! :-D
They smell like a mixture of bad pit odor and skunk. What you need to do is dip your swab in water (gloves are optional) and swab out each gland until they are clean. Some rabbits never need these cleaned, and some always need them cleaned. |