Tiny poops...beginning of stasis???

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This topic has 4sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by Deleted User.

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- 07/10/2017 at 7:48 AM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  I picked up an 8 week old mini lop buck on Friday to be a companion for my 6 month female dutch. When we first got home, he didn’t eat for several hours and I wasn’t worried because I’m sure he was terrified from the car ride and it was absolutely storming outside, thunder rattling the windows and all.. I kept checking on him about every hour and noticed that around 6 hours he started nibbling at his pellets, then I noticed he was munching some hay as well and drinking water. I was happy he was eating and drinking, but I noticed that his poops are very small. For comparison, about the size of an uncooked lentil, but round of course. There are a decent amount of the poops I suppose.. I know he is a small bun but I have also heard that small poops can be the beginning of stasis… He is eating some hay, but not that much. He eats all the pellets I give him so I have given him extra just because I want him to eat. It’s been 2 days and I’m just wondering if there’s something I should be doing? Could this be developing stasis? What preventative measures can you take to prevent full blown stasis? Would giving baby gas medication be beneficial to see if poops get more normal or is that regimen only to be used when fecal output totally ceases? Are poops that small normal for a small bunny? I am so sorry for all of the questions but I don’t want to end up with a stasis bun! My husband and I both work full time and I am also a full time student on top of that, so having a stasis bunny to take care of would be very, very difficult!
  
  Also, I have him eating timothy hay. I gave Ophelia alfalfa when she was a baby and it was SO HARD to transition her to timothy. She just picked out all of the alfalfa and that’s all she would eat, which just stressed me out because I didn’t want her getting stasis because she refused to eat the timothy. So I decided I was going to try not introducing him to alfalfa, since I’ve been told you are supposed to start to phase out of alfalfa at about 6 months, so why even let him fall in love with alfalfa just to take it away? Is it essential that they have alfalfa as young buns? I just didn’t want to go through the transition process again and I thought that just sticking with timothy and not introducing the alfalfa would be fine.
- 07/10/2017 at 8:15 AM
  Muchelle
  Participant
  1141 posts
  My bun behaved similarly when I received him, it turned out he hadn’t been treated for coccidiosis and had a pretty bad infestation. Was your baby checked for coccidium? If not, all it takes is a few fresh poops to be given to the vet to do the test. In case he does have coccidium, the treatment is easy and fast, so no worry!
  
  In case he’s already been checked or he’s negative, do you hear noises from his belly? If he lets you touch him, how does his belly feel?
  In the meanwhile make sure he’s alone in a quiet room, so if this is a case of bad stress he can settle down and recover. As long as he eats and poops he’s potentially fine. It can be he ate less due to stress and so his poops are smaller cause there’s not enough “material” to make bigger poops. If this is the case, he should start producing good poops any time now, since he’s been eating
- 07/10/2017 at 8:48 AM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  I don’t think he was tested for coccidiosis. I will have to get with a vet then to make sure that is not the issue! I held him when I first picked him up and I also had to hold him to take him out of the carrier and get him in the cage (he wouldn’t come out of the carrier for hours so eventually I had to kick him out lol) His tummy felt fine to me, warm and firm. What would it be like with coccidium infection? Hard? Squishy? Are there any other signs of this I can look out for? He seems to be acting as normal as he can be for a new bun. For the first day he pretty much sat in the same spot and didn’t move much. Yesterday he hopped around the cage and I saw him flop down a few times. He could be very stressed…my resident bun made it into the room on the first day (a friend was over and left my bedroom door open after visiting him)… She went over and sniffed around the cage, I was trying to call her out of the room as she dropped a few poops but then she stood up and SAW the new bun and freaked! She bolted around the room like she was terrified then ran out and hid behind the couch. He did not seem at all bothered… but could it be that he is stressed by her scent?
- 07/10/2017 at 11:10 AM
  Moo <3
  Participant
  35 posts
  If it was stasis, his belly would feel more hard. What is his activity like? Bunnies in stasis often move as little as possible. It’s a great sign that your bun is eating/drinking and at least passing stool. Because he is only 8 weeks, I think it’s normal for his poops to be on the small side, considering how small buns are when they’re only months old. I would continue feeding alfalfa, since especially growing babies need their fiber and nutrition. Hope this helps!!
- 07/10/2017 at 12:32 PM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  His belly didn’t feel hard to me, I only handled him twice but it felt firm and normal, not especially hard or bloated. I’m going to keep an eye on him and hopefully this all is just him getting settled in! He does move around the cage and he has flopped around. When I open up the cage and put my hand in he comes jumping over to inspect what is coming into his space. I have been charged at a few times when having my hand directly in front of him lol. So I suppose if he is well enough to hop around and inspect what I am doing that he is ok for the time being. I sure do hope he starts eating more hay though! I will be on alert for decreased activity and try to get a good feel of his tummy. Thanks!
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