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I am a long time house rabbit owner. I have a older female who has just developed a habit of eating her regular poops- (I know buns eat their cecal matter). At first I thought it was an accident, but…it’s true and so wierd. Will this hurt her? Is she needing something in her diet? Or is she just senile in her old age? I have had many buns, and never seen this before. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Welcome to the boards! I in no way can answer your question, hopefully one of our more experienced members will chime in soon. I just wanted to comment that I’ve seen my rabbit eat her normals poops. I’m not sure why she did it, she did it a lot before she got spayed but I havnt seen her do it in awhile. I also seen her bend down and eat them right of the butt, which i assumed was a cecetrope but isint always (ive tried to peek at what shes doing down there LOL). Again, welcome, and hopefully someone will be able to better help you soon!
Welccome cocobear! LOL about your avatar picture. Are you absolutely sure these are her normal poops? The reason I ask iis because both Bailey and Rucy sometimes have a habit of dropping part of them sometimes while she is consuming them. Usually Rucy gets them right away, while Bailey always will sometimes leave them(she has health issues) and she’ll come back later and pick them up.
As bunnies get older, SOMEtimes, they need a slight diet change. How old is she, and has she lost any weight recently. What is her diet currently?
Welcome cocobear!
I can’t comment on if there is anything wrong, but I have seen Kokanee eat her normal poops every once in a while! Is she eating lots of normal poos or just once in a while?
hey cocobear! my bun does this too. i thought it was new behaviour after she had a surgery a couple months ago but i realize now she could have been doing this under her dresser without my noticing before. she always leaves a couple of droppings under there. and i did a lot more of laying on my tummy to observe her when she was recovering. i mentioned this to my vet who questioned whether it was certainly not a cecal dropping – i was completely sure – and then shrugged it off as possible ‘drugged up’ behaviour since she was on pain meds at the time. while it’s not a daily occurance, she continues to do it. i just saw her do it yesterday. it so happens that at the same time as her surgery i began to restrict her food pellets & i half wonder if she’s trying to supplement her diet even tho she has unlimited hay.
edit to add: my bun is also senior… she’s 7yrs old
Our bunny Benjamin does this on rare occasion. I haven’t been able to figure out why either. It’s very sporadic from what I can tell, so I don’t think it’s diet related. I’m interested to see that he’s not the only one who does this on occasion.
Alex
Thanks for the insights! Clarrisa is between 9-12 years (rescue, not quite sure of age). She has recently dropped in wieght. She has a senior bunny frame(kind of shaky and bony), but eats like horse. She can’t seem to get enough hay lately. She’s still very active and full of life!
Yes, it’s definatly her regular poops. She goes to her bed, poops, eats,poops eats. She doesn’t go after her mates, or any ones that have been sitting. As long as it doesn’t hurt her, I guess we’re ok.
thats a good point… when i notice baby bun doing this they’re always freshly dropped normal poops and not dry ones. i was worried it was indicative of a problem… maybe a dietary deficiency? but i haven’t found any info about it so far. it’s been a while since i first noticed so i assume she’s not in immediate danger. and judging by rabbits quick digestive system i would think that if it was dangerous it would’ve caused problems already. good to know there are a couple other buns out there doing this. we should form a support group ![]()
she’s a very pretty bun! is she your only one?
LOL -poop monsters!!
I thought of something…Sometimes other animals eat their poos too, like horses or even pups/dogs…Usually not the whole poo and not all the time or anything, but maybe it’s an aquired tasty treat *grimace* ? Just kidding, but seriously maybe it’s just a sometimes thing they do?
I’ve seen my bunnies do this once or twice, the thing that really makes me laugh is that my bunny Juli will sniff any poops she encounters sooooooo intently that they are practically up her nose
Bunny poops are mainly digested hay anyways, so I would imagine that if they are only doing it now and then it wouldn’t cause any harm.
She’s a really cute girl! You might talk to your vet about making some diet changes since she’s been dropping weight. They may have you start sprinkling oat groats in her pellets or offer her some critical care daily to get more fiber and calories.
I see my buns eat their regular poop sometimes. rarely tho. it sounds like a lot of rabbits do this. they don’t have health problems, so i’m guessing its some random bunny act only bunnies understand. lol. i hope its not cuz its tasty. ew. im just glad bunny poop is easy to sweep up. =)
I still love the fact that we regularly have long forum posts dedicated solely to poop. Bless the buns.
Yeah, well, I did once pump my fists in the air like an NFL player when Curly Sue was in stasis and finally pooped on her own. Weirdos we are. perhaps we should change the title of this thread to "My bunny is normal, but I am not"
Digmexnow and Osprey – I totally agree LOL :~)
After a GI stasis and I see thoose tiny first poops- I pick them up and run them over to my BF -all excited- “look she’s pooping!!!”
Anyone who’s been though force feedings with a diva rabbit can understand that I think. (That’s my Coco princess as my avatar)
Baby the rabbit- SOOOOO cute. I’ve had 2 b+w lops in my time and they were both so sweet and just MUSHY.
