How Many People Bunnies Can’t have Bananas?

[Dee]

I have posted recently about Bun’s ongoing poop problems. He is fine all night, then starts to stink at about 6AM- about 6 hours after he eats his evening meal, which includes a very small amount of banana and apple. I have cut the banana down to almost nothing, but hate stopping it altogether because not only does Bun love them, Nelli won’t eat apples and she just lives for her bananas at night. It’s so sad when  I leave them out . They get all their meals in a big bowl, so Nelli keep snuffling all over the bowl, running in circles around it and rooting through the greens in search of her bananas. Then she hops off, all dejected, and comes back maybe two minutes later full of renewed hope. This situation repeats until BunBun has devoured most of the greens himself- it’s pretty pitiful to watch.

But I have reached the conclusion that it must be the bananas causing Bun’s poopy butt. It’s not apples, and he gets PB no matter what greens we give him.  I guess the bananas must take several hours to cause the imbalance in his gut, and then it kicks in early morning. I though maybe it had to do with too many greens or a 2nd helping of greens in the morning, but it doesn’t seem to matter.

So now I’m wondering how many other bunnies have to deal with a banana-free life, since it looks like that’s where Bunbun and Nelli are headed.

[RabbitPam]

First, let me suggest that you break them of the habit of finding the bananas in the food bowl, so it becomes a treat from you not a routine food.
If you just put greens in the bowl, they will quickly learn to only expect that. I have a greens dish, a pellet dish, and water bowls plus a hay basket.

Apples are very sugary, as are bananas, and with bananas a little goes a long way. So actually, you could cut very small pieces of banana and hand feed it to Nellie. I mean, cut off a 1/2 inch slice, then cut that in half, and give her each half. Then once that’s gone, that’s it for the day. If you want to, make it a thinner slice and do that twice a day. It will become your ritual treat. For BunBun, you could give him about 1/4 of that amount, letting him have a small treat of it but limiting the quantity. By doing it separately and different quantities, you will be able to see if his poopy butt continues due to the bananas.

The apples should really just be treat food anyway. For poopy butt a steady diet of hay, pellets, gentle greens (green leaf rather than the broccoli family like kale) and water with few treats is better to get it under control. A bunny can get excited over many different treats, so finding healthy substitutes is always possible.

[Beka27]

I agree with Pam…. Giving fruit with salad is like giving a child spaghetti with a side of snickers… They will go for the treat first. :o)

How do you know he is the stinky one?

[Jenna, Chubs & Comet]

I just read the comment about the “gentle greens” not including Kale. Is Kale a bad thing? My boys LOVE Kale! They seem to eat it just fine but maybe I should be choosing other things?

[Monkeybun]

Kale is one of those veggies that can cause gas, but depends on bunny. If your boys are fine with it, should be okay to continue with it

[RabbitPam]

Exactly, MB. Yes, Kale is only hard on some bunnies, ie. gas, but fine for others. It’s one of the causes to look for, but if your bunny eats it without any problem, give it to him. Sammy loves her kale. However, just to be easy on her, I tend to give her a small bunch of kale with her handful of other greens. The greens are the main course but the kale is a side dish. Think of it as the difference between having beans on the side with your hot dogs or eating the whole can at once. Pew!

And Beka, I’ll be over for a dinner at your house of Snickers and Spaghetti.

[MimzMum]

I have one bunny who can eat just about anything and not have it cause tummy trouble. That includes bananas, but I just don’t give him these very often to be safe. Recently though, I can’t give him lettuce because it gives him gas. It wasn’t always this way. He’s getting older, so I guess his digestive system is getting less tolerant as he ages.
My other two bunnies can’t have any pellets, treats or greens at all without getting poopy butt. They are hay-only bunnies. They were also not always this way, but developed a problem with these things over time. And some bunnies are just too sensitive to some foods. Yes, it is heart wrenching to have to see the bun beg for that sugary stuff and be disappointed, but they eventually learn to anticipate other things that are healthier for them. If a bunny gets too much sugar in it’s bowels, it can cause harmful bacteria to breed in the gut and that can lead to some serious gastric illnesses.

[Dee]

Mimz, thank you for telling me about your hay-only bunnies. I think my BunBun may be one of them… and like yours, he wasn’t always so sensitive. I have wracked my brains trying to figure out when he got so bad- I do remember that when we first got him, he never had poopy butt (PB for short- I’m too lazy to spell it out). So I can only think that it began as I starting giving him more greens and treats. At first I just gave him hay and pellets, until I started to learn more and get adventurous with his diet. Of course, the bananas became a factor when we got nElli, who hates apples but loves bananas. Nell is one of those rabbits who can eat anything- the only time she’s had mushy poopy is when BunBun was sick, because she got so nervous .
RabbitPam and Beka, I feel better leaving out the bananas/apples when I look at it like those should be an occasional treat, not a staple. Nelli has already adapted to the loss of her bananas- it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be for her to get over. Oh yeah- Beka, I know Bun’s the stinker cuz I’ve investigated and found poop all over his bum. EW.
Tonight is gonna be hard- I am completely skipping their nightly greens. I really need to find out if Bunny is sensitive to all greens/fruits. I’ve been messing around with his diet for weeks now, and every day he still gets PB. Today was the last straw- he stunk horribly and when I went to give him his butt bath, his privates were completely covered in mushy poop and mashed cecals. It was awful- I felt so bad for him. And I’m worried about him getting a UTI due to all the bacteria. Today he left a bunch of bladder sludge in the litter box, and it had a faint swirl of reddish-pink on top if it- I hope it’s not blood. His ears feel warm too- I’m praying he doesn’t have a fever and infection. I’m keeping a close watch on him.
So I’m finally gonna get tough and completely leave out everything except the hay. They will be miserable, but this will finally give me the answer I need. If BunBun is PB free tomorrow, he can’t have greens/fruit anymore. If he still has it, I must take a poop sample to the vet and find out what’s going on. I will let you all know what happens. Thanks !

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