The poops squashing Bunny!

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 16sd replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 10 months ago by Sarita.

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- 01/04/2008 at 4:44 AM
  Chase
  Participant
  4 posts
  I finally decided to make Sweetie a house bunny after I arrange some furnitures in my room, I fenced up a corner just for her. But too my astonishment, her habit of stomping on her soft poops did’nt change.
  
  I thought she only does that because it was dark outside, despite the fact that she have a 4ft double layer hutch all to herself. The poops would get encrusted onto the flooring, and it take a little elbow grease to clean it up and also regular foots baths.
  
  If this carry on, I would have no choice but to move her back outside, which I don’t want to, because I wanted to further my bond with Sweetie.
  
  Can anyone advise me on this strange behavior?
- 01/04/2008 at 5:42 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  It sounds to me like she is overproducing her cecals.
  
  Can you tell us what her diet is?
- 01/04/2008 at 6:09 AM
  MooBunnay
  Participant
  3087 posts
  Welcome Chase !
  
  Yes – it sounds like there is a diet issue because a bunny normally does not produce soft poops at all. Can you let us know what she is eating, and what type of hay you are feeding her?
- 01/04/2008 at 6:21 AM
  babybunsmum
  Participant
  3896 posts
  sarita & moobunnay aren’t kidding… a dietary change wold quitely likely turn that around for you. my baby bun did the same thing for years & it wasn’t until i found this forum & a great vet that i realized i needed to change her diet a bit. i was free-feeding pellets and hay but she was not eating a whole lot of hay (she was too full of pellets!) and giving her only a bit of greens here & there. maybe 1/2 to 1 cup a day.
  
  now she’s eating 1/4 cup pellets, 2 cups of greens and unlimited hay daily. she’s eating lots of hay since i limited her pellets, although it took about a month to get to this point. it also took some experimenting which greens were best for her, but now… low & behold… NO cecal poo schmears!
  
  post what sweetie’s diet is & her weight & you’ll get great advice on what changes you might make to help your situation.
- 01/04/2008 at 7:29 AM
  Chase
  Participant
  4 posts
  Thank You for the welcome.
  
  Well, I got Sweetie in late November and the lady who sold it to me said she is about 4 months old, now 5 months old. Before I got her, her diet consisted of those multi colored flaked vegs, standard in pet shop. She was leaving some hard green pellets out. So to prevent selective feeding, over the month I slowly replaced her standard flakes with those blended together pellets.
  
  According to the feeding guide on the back of the pellet brand that I feed her, a young rabbit 8 weeks to 8 months old should be fed unlimited pellets, so I did.
  
  The nutrional value of her pellets are:
  
  Protein 13% Fat 5% Fibre 13% Calcium (not sure but does contain some orange kibble with 4% real carrot)
  
  As for the hay, it unlimited too. The only type of hay I could find in my local mall is meadow hay. I feed her about half to a cup of green daily, mostly it’s broccoli. I’m not sure about her weight though, don’t have a scale…but she look like a fully grown rabbit to me, I was shocked when I was told that she is only 4 months old despite being so big.
- 01/04/2008 at 7:46 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  Well, I think you should measure out her pellets instead of feeding her unlimited. What brand of pellets are these? Do they have extra’s in them besides the pellets – I wonder because of the extra kibbles you mention. I’m not entirely sure how much pellets to tell you to feed her since you don’t have an idea of her weight – is there some way you can weigh her or make an educated guess?
  
  As for greens – if you will look at the link on top where it says bunny info and click on the diet link there should be a listing of appropriate vegetables. There are much more appropriate greens to feed her other than the broccoli – broccoli probably should not be fed daily and it should be in small amounts.
  
  Is Meadow Hay a blend of grass hays? It sounds like it which should be fine.
- 01/04/2008 at 8:14 AM
  Chase
  Participant
  4 posts
  The name of the pellet is called "Modern Diet", produced by a company call Fold Hill. I’m a Londoner(GB) so, I’m not sure if you have heard of it. Not sure if meadow hay is a mixture of different hay, no more information is given apart from usage instructions.
  
  As for her weight, I’ll get back to you tomorrow once I do a little shopping for fresh vegs, new pellets brand and a bathroom scale.
- 01/04/2008 at 8:19 AM
  MooBunnay
  Participant
  3087 posts
  It sounds like the brocolli could be part of the problem – try some more mild greens like romaine lettuce, or parsley. Broccoli is OK for buns from time to time, but can be harsh on some bunnies stomachs, and so I’d recommend cutting the broccoli out of her diet for awhile and using the more mild greens.
  
  For the pellets, pretty much everyone I know uses Oxbow pellets (www.oxbowhay.com). Try to find a brand of pellets made from just TIMOTHY hay, many many brands of pellets are all alfalfa hay, and that can cause a rabbit to produce the soft poops, so switching over to timothy based pellets can also help.
  
  It is good that you are giving her unlimited hay, definitely continue to do so
- 01/04/2008 at 8:22 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  I looked those pellets up on-line and their analysis and they seem low in fiber.
  
  Here is a good article on pellets:
  
  http://www.carrotcafe.com/f/pellets.html
  
  It did not have listed the ingredients – it’s probably alfalfa based.
  
  I know we have some other UK’ers on the forum – maybe they can recommend what brand pellets they use.
  
  Let us know her weight once you get her weighed and we can help you figure out how much pellets to feed her.
- 01/04/2008 at 8:28 AM
  babybunsmum
  Participant
  3896 posts
  i was told unlimited pellets too. unfortunately pet stores and pellet manufacturers will recommend that to sell you more. wasn’t until i found this site & my great vet that i learned otherwise. the guidelines for feeding that my vet gave me match what binky bunny reccommends on the bunny info> diet page. my vet stressed to give limited pellets & very limited snack foods, and that unlimited hay and fresh wet greens were very important. too many pellets & snack foods can cause unbalances and lead to over production of the soft cecal poops as well as long term health issues i believe. unfortunately the amounts are all based on body weight, so you will have to approximate sweetie’s weight some how. you could compare her to household / grocery items. for instance, is she lighter than a 10lb sack of potatoes? enough to figure which weight range you think she’d fall into…
  
  2-4 lbs = 1/8 cup pellets
  
  5-7 lbs = 1/4 cup pellets
  
  8-10 lbs = 1/2 cup pellets
- 01/04/2008 at 8:32 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  You can also split up the amount of pellets you give her so that you can give her a portion in the morning and a portion in the evening so she doesn’t feel deprived of her pellets.
- 01/04/2008 at 8:49 AM
  babybunsmum
  Participant
  3896 posts
  thats a good idea sarita. i cut baby’s pellets down after her surgery so it took a few days for her to notice she was getting less. still she thumped for a few minutes when she’d run out. ‘the nerve of my slave!! where are my pellets!?!’
- 01/04/2008 at 11:47 AM
  (dig)x(me)x(now)
  Participant
  2517 posts
  It would prob be a good idea to start a forum section for international (esp. UK) users on BB. It seems like we’re getting more and more members from overseas who need helpful info for their region!
- 01/04/2008 at 2:56 PM
  Lisa_43
  Participant
  1499 posts
  It is very hard to measure pellets when you have mum and 6 babies eating, I don’t know how much each one is getting because they look like sharks at a feeding frenzy. lol
- 01/05/2008 at 2:44 AM
  DustBunneh'sMama
  Participant
  77 posts
  My big flemish giant baby (4 months now) has unlimited pellets, 17% protein, unlimited oat and pasture grass hay, and about 4 cups of fresh greens a day. He doesn’t go through his pellets very fast, I think because he eats so much fresh food. The only thing about soft poops that I have heard is if the bunny has a protein rich diet he is less likey to eat all of his cecals because he doesn’t need the nutrition from them. Thankfully, my bunny doesn’t have any poop problems so I’m going to just stick with this program.
- 01/05/2008 at 5:25 AM
  Chase
  Participant
  4 posts
  Ok..her weight is 4.8 lbs….so I think Sweetie need 1/4 cups of pellets. I feed her twice a day, is this portion suppose to last her for 2 meals?
  
  I just boughts a variety of greens, romaine lettuce, brussel sprouts, flat beans, parsley, celery and basil. Currently I gave her 8 b.sprouts…..I will feed her b.sprouts today and tomorrow to monitor any changes/improvement in her overproduction of cecal pills..Then I will introduce the other green one by one….and note down any possible changes.
  
  I could’nt find a new brand of pellets for Sweetie, all the so called premium brand rabbit food are high in fat and low in both fibre and protein, the only brand of rabbit food that I found are the supermarket own brand which have 14% fiber, 2.5% fat and 13% protein, the fiber and protein increased slightly and the fat is reduced from 5% to 2.5% compared to the previous brand I fed her. I may need to order some higher quality brand online which meet the full spec. The only problems though is that the supermarket brand is those flaked version found in standard pet shop.
  
  I wish Sweetie would guzzle down her food, I love a healthy slightly chubby bunny. She a bit nervous though, she always thump her feets..that would explain the poop squashing.
- 01/05/2008 at 8:29 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  Hi Chase,
  
  The 1/4 cup is the portion for the day – so I would split that up for her feedings.
  
  I know we have some more UKer’s on the forum so I hope they can recommend to you what they use.
  
  She probably is a nervous bun which could explain the foot stomping too.
  
  Keep us updated on how her new diet is working and if you are able to find more suitable pellets – I’m not familiar with the flaked versions myself.
  
  How is she eating her hay?
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