Cleaning Your Rabbit's Scent Glands

This is an essential part of your rabbit’s grooming which is probably overlooked by most. Your rabbit has scent glands under their chins and genital scent glands, both produce a waxy substance, however the genital scent gland should be cleaned as often as you trim their nails. Hopefully, that’s once a month!

The genital scent gland may sometimes get plugged up with a waxy substance and may cause an odor. If you believe your rabbit’s room smells a bit musky, it’s because your rabbit hasn’t cleaned their genital scent glands. The wax is a dark brown substance with a very pungent smell once removed. You can easily clean their genital scent glands if they require it, some rabbits do not produce a lot of wax and will not require your assistance. If your rabbit produces a lot of wax and it is not properly clean, it may get infected.

You’ll have to turn your rabbit on their backs, firmly place your hand on their tummy in order to prevent them from flipping. With your fingers you’ll need to separate the area directly adjacent to the genitals, separate the overlapping skin and the waxy substance will be visible. Once the waxy substance is visible, it is easily removed with a damp cotton swab. You’ll have to gently dampen the waxy substance and try to work it out until the scent gland is clean.

Hope all this information is educational and useful to all!