Not eating cecals?

[Napoleon]

Hopefully this belongs in the “Diet” section, if not please move this thread to where it needs to be! Thanks!

Anyway, my 3.5 month old bunny Napoleon isn’t eating his cecals. In fact, I don’t think i’ve ever seen him eat his cecals, unless he does it at night when no one is around. I usually find a solid bunch in the morning in his pen, maybe partially smashed from him stepping on it. He usually makes 2-3 bunches throughout the day (and he prefers to do them on the carpet, not in his box). Do bunnies just KNOW to eat them? I did buy him at a store where they had the bunnies in wire cages (I think with the tray underneath… and I know, I should have ADOPTED.), so all his life he’s been pooing and peeing wherever, and probably hasn’t had access to his cecals. I recently moved him into a pen, and i’ve almost litter trained him completely, but I noticed he wasn’t eating his cecals.

I feed him juvenile rabbit pellets mixed with Russel Rabbit Food mix (he generally doesn’t like to eat the pellets… idk if they don’t taste good to him or what, but they’ve got good benefits for young bunnies), alfalfa hay cubes, and lots of timothy hay with fresh water always. The only “treats” I give him are his preferred choices from the mix. He eats a good amount of hay, and almost all of his food (only half of the pellets usually).

I’m thinking maybe he doesn’t KNOW to eat his cecals? I tried to have him sniff it but he seemed more interested in hay. Is this a problem, or is this normal?

[Tate]

Well, your going to want to change the pellets asap (following the switching guidelines) as the pellets your feeding now are really really awful. You also want to stop giving him alfalfa cubes.
Rabbits are instinctual. They know what to do. He is getting a poor diet and that’s probably causing him to not eat the cecals, and that’s common but not healthy… Believe me, I think at least 80% of the people on this board have had this issue… including me.  Try Oxbow Adult Rabbit food.

[Napoleon]

Oh, i’m so sad! I thought I was doing right by my poor bun!

Okay, i’m out of alfalfa cubes anyway, so i’ll stop that (they make a mess anyway). The pellets i’m giving him are Kaytee FortiDiet Pro Health Juvenile Rabbit food. Those are bad? Also, not just the pellets, but is the Russel Rabbit Mix bad as well? And the Oxbow Adult Rabbit food is okay for a young bun?

Do you know of any chains that sell the Oxbow stuff? It’s hard to find good rabbit stuff in Hawaii.

EDIT: Darn. I must have read the Diet FAQ on the HRS website a million times, and yet I mistook weeks for months! I thought I couldn’t introduce fresh veggies until 12 MONTHS! Oh my eyes, you fail me so much.

That explains the alfalfa too. He’s much too old for that already. I found a place that sells the Oxbow products, so i’ll make a trip out there soon.

[Tate]

Haha, we ALL make mistakes! It’s the thought that counts.
I think you can keep him on the Kaytee… Personally, I like the Oxbow food, but the Kaytee is fine as long as it doesn’t have anything colorful/fun looking pieces in it. It should only be pellets!
Introduce one veggie a week… too much too soon can also cause stomach upset.
This should take care of the problem… too much sugar, protein, etc., can cause some problems. The only excessive thing rabbits can get is hay!
Also, how much are you feeding Napoleon? At 3.5 months he SHOULD be getting unlimited pellets, but if these changes don’t work it could be that he’s getting too many pellets and he just can’t handle it. My lop stopped getting unlimited pellets at around 10 weeks, simply because he couldn’t handle that much stuff going through his system.

[Stickerbunny]

Alfalfa cubes are really more of a treat, bunnies want the hay long strands to help their digestion. Timothy hay is good and you can even try mixing it up if he likes other grass hays – oat, orchard, etc for variety for him. My male gets a mix of timothy and oat, he likes the oat hay’s texture.

Petsmart usually carries oxbow – at least here. If yours doesn’t maybe you could ask them to order some and it might cost less than shipping to Hawaii.

The russel rabbit mix is dried veggies – carrots a rabbit shouldn’t have too many of due to high sugar content and corn is not good for rabbits at all. So I would cut that out and just feed fresh veggies (lots of greens, occasional carrot as a treat, herbs, etc) instead.

Remember to introduce veggies slowly so you don’t upset your buns tummy – I usually give a tiny amount just to make sure they don’t get an upset stomach for it and if they are fine the next day, they get a little bit more, then wait a few days and give them a little more (for new veggies that is, they get a salad of their old ones daily).

[Napoleon]

Okay. I know a place where they have oxbow, so i might give it a try. He doesn’t seem to like the Kaytee all that much, but i’ll try to feed him that alone. It’s a shame the Russel Rabbit Mix isn’t a good choice, because he loves those (i’m sure it tastes good). He’s only had timothy and alfalfa hay, so i may try a few others.

One step at a time! Thanks for all the help!

[Silly Sungura]

When I took my bunny to the vet at that age they recommended alfalfa hay (not cubes) in addition to the timothy and oat hay I was already giving her. They said alfalfa should be given unlimited until she is seven months old (which she will be in another couple of weeks, but I’ve already reduced how much I’m giving her in anticipation of cutting it out of her diet altogether when she reaches a year.) I also had to do what Tate mentioned and limit her pellets early on, mainly to ensure that she was eating enough hay. It’s really, really good that your bunny likes his timothy! And, yeah, veggies should be introduced now, but slowly, one at a time. I did what Stickerbunny has suggested with regards to veggies and it worked out very well.

I was worried about cecals, too, but the vet assured me that it’s normal for them to sometimes leave some. It is a sign of too much protein in the diet if they’re producing a whole lot. Other people on here will know much more about that than I do, though. All I know is that my bunny has always left some cecotropes – albeit very few  – and I was told not to be too concerned. It’s entirely possible that Napoleon does eat some of them at night. They are often produced at that time. And most bunnies are discreet about eating them in front of you.  Good luck to you and Napoleon!

 

[Napoleon]

Yeah, i’m hoping he eats some at night when i’m not watching. Napple is really shy, he doesn’t like me watching him unless i’m actively engaging with him, playing or petting.

I usually feed him about a quarter cup of pellets twice daily.

[Stickerbunny]

At his age, HRS recommends free-fed pellets but I usually kept it to one small ceramic crock for my girl because she inhaled them and wouldn’t eat anything else lol, when he gets older (7 months or so) you’ll want to reduce that so doesn’t get overweight. Didn’t even pay attention to his age in my first post – yeah alfalfa hay is fine until he is older, as long as it’s the strands not the cubes.

[Monkeybun]

For my almost 4 month old lop, Squirrel, I have been feeding him 1/4 cup pellets before bed, then 1/8 cup in the morning, and he is fine with that for hte whole day. I measure it so I know exactly how much he is eating. I had been giving him more, but he hadn’t been finishing them, so why waste?

[Napoleon]

Cool. About to step out and grab some Oxbow pellets, along with some alfalfa hay strands and maybe another type of hay if they have a variety. Oat maybe. Once he’s used to it (if he likes it) what first veggie should I begin slowly introducing? Or maybe there’s another thread for that

[Tate]

Keep in mind that if you feed alfalfa and Napoleon has a sensitivity to excess protein, the problem will stay the same and you won’t see results. I had to cut out both alfalfa and timothy in order for Fievel to not have to process too much protein. It’s probably too early to tell with Napoleon and I think that Fievel’s case isn’t TYPICAL, but it’s also not uncommon.

[Stickerbunny]

I would start with something easy to digest, like romaine. Typically well taken to and pretty easy on their stomachs.

[Napoleon]

Okay. I got the Oxbow bunny basics pellets (mixing with current pellets tonight to see how he likes it) and also some oat hay and alfalfa hay to have him pick his preferences. So far I gave him a little bit of each, and he goes nuts over the alfalfa. He was alright with the oat, didn’t care too much. Hopefully this rectifies his diet a little more!

Edit: Today I decreased the kaytee pellets a little more for his first feeding of the day, and he doesn’t seem particularly interested in the pellets. I know it will take some getting used to, particularly because he was eating the Russel Rabbit mix which tasted delicious, but I just hope he eats a portion of it, at least. I also mixed timothy hay, oat hay, and a llittle alfalfa hay in his hay feeder, so he can get a good blend of everything. He did poop a bunch last night, with a few wet pellets here and there, but nothing serious. I didn’t find many cecals this morning, and I think I spotted him eating one, so hooray for that!

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