My buns are both 8.5 months old. Asriel has never had stomach issues, and Bombur has a very sensitive tummy. I think it really depends on the bun.

Indeed it does! My buck has had a lot of episodes when he was younger so what I did to try and reduce them was work on his diet. Less sugars and pellets, and more hay! He is 5 pounds and gets only 1/4 good quality pellets a day. I also give him a papaya supplement about once a week, (look for ones with ginger). And my secret is bramble leaves; I have a raspberry bush in my garden and at the end of the season I cut just the leaves, dry them in the sun and give both my rabbits some mixed into their hay. It’s a natural remedy that helps them work out gas. I also noticed my Buck loves his food and eats VERY quickly, so I break it up through out the day. Try what you can but yes, some animals are particularly sensitive in one area more than others.

I’ve had 4 bunnies- one had gas only a couple times in his 7+ years with me but was prone to poopy butt, one had gas maybe 4-5 times over her 8+ years with me, my currently living bunny has had gas twice but once while he was already going through stasis, and one of my bunnies had gas probably 15+ times in the 14 months that I had her. I believe that some rabbits are just prone to gas like some are prone to bladder sludge and others to molar spurs. Just the way they’re built, I suppose.

Just be careful not to make the mistake I did- I got so used to treating my bunny for gas that I didn’t rush her to the vet when I should have. I didn’t realize at the time that what started out as gas turned into to GI stasis, and ultimately blockage. It sometimes seems ridiculous- and ridiculously expensive- to see the vet, but better safe than sorry.

Gas is a symptom of gastrointestinal statis (GI), which is know as the silent killer for rabbits.  You’ve got to get on top of this quick.  If the rabbit is not eating, or eating very little, and correspondingly there are no or few bunnie poops, this is an emergency.  I think a rabbit can only live for perhaps three days after GI sets in.  Unfortunately, when you discover this problem, one or two days on the GI clock may have already ran.  So once you realize what may be happening, you may have only one day or less to get to a rabbit vet.  

GI is usually caused by hairballs, or caused by dental problems.  Rabbits teeth are constantly growing.  If the rear grinding are allowed to grow too much, chewing becomes painful for the rabbit and it doesn’t completely chew it’s food very well. These dental problems is why your rabbit doctor needs to inspect the rabbit’s teeth every 6 months. The inadequately chewed food clogs up the rabbits first stomach.  The first stomach is the stomach the esophagus first directs food to. With the first stomach clogged, the Cecum stomach…the stomach between the small intestine and large intestine…will become full of gas.  Hence a gassy rabbit..and a rabbit that will soon die without treatment.

You should have a rabbit vet that periodically performs your checkups…….and you should have a back up rabbit vet.  When you have an emergency to see a rabbit doctor, you need an alternate vet to take the rabbit too if your primary vet is not in the office that day.

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Just wanted to add some things since some of the information here isn’t entirely accurate.

– Stasis is not caused by “hairballs”. Instead, it’s much more likely that stasis is the cause of the so-called hairball because less movement means hair will begin to accumulate in the digestive tract.
– Gas is not necessarily the result of stasis. If there is a true obstruction, then yes. But stasis if often not associated with an obstruction. More commonly, gas causes stasis to occur. This is because gas can be very painful. Bunnies in pain do not want to eat. No food moving through = stasis.

Here’s a good article on the topic that explains this in detail:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

And to answer the question, yes some rabbits are more prone to gas. My Leopold will get tummy aches on a fairly regular basis. Nothing serious. A little Simethicone usually snaps him out of it. Wooly, on the other hand, doesn’t really have that problem. He has lots of other problems, but gas is normally not one of them. Hopefully that helps.

Absolutely, some buns are more prone. 2 of my buns (one who has sadly passed on) kept getting gas/stasis frequently. Sometimes every couple of months. Was getting really expensive as it always seemed to happen during emerg hours. And almost lost them both several times. What worked, especially for my little lop Bindi was drastically reducing the pellets. I don’t remember what he was getting before but now only gets about 1 TBSP per day. “Knocking on Wood” it’s been a long time since he’s had the problem. So I def suggest taking a good look at her diet.

I think some buns are more sensitive than others, definitely. My Buttercup has had 3 episodes of stasis between October 2016 (when I got her) and May 2017. None since then *touch wood* She has never eaten anything she shouldn’t, she’s just reacted to new veggies badly. Peanut on the other hand, who has eaten plastic and part of the silicone grooming mitt, has a tummy of steel.

Are you very sure it couldn’t be something she is eating? Since you’ve only had her 4 months you might not want to assume it isn’t the diet.

What veggies are you giving? Some bunnies cannot tolerate anything in the brassica (cabbage) family. This includes: kale, arugula, cabbage (obviously), bok choy, mustard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi… and prob some others I’m missing!

Fennel can be helpful for bunnies prone to gas:
http://www.disabledrabbits.com/herbs.html

The string of pearls poo (poo with fur) can look deceiving, in terms of looking like large carpet fibers, but in reality it could be fur that clumped and braided together during digestion, so don’t rule out that it’s not fur as readily. Some of Wick’s fur poos come out looking like there’s a small plant stem shooting out, but it’s just a bunch of fur stuck together and encased in poo….

What exactly is her diet? Sorry if you mentioned earlier, but I can’t find it on this post so far. Maybe we can identify something that’s giving her gas!

The veggies seem OK, but 3/4 of the ones you listed are on the high-oxalate list, so they shouldn’t make up too much of the diet. Check out this list to be sure you feed a good balance: http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/

Kale can cause gas in some bunnies. I’ve had two buns with no problems with it, but one that did get gassy from it occasionally, especially if I fed too much.

Since she is having some issues, I would do some detective work. First I would cut out all treats (seems cruel, I know!), and go down to only carrot tops for a week or two (assuming they are readily available) and see how she does.

Other veggies that are usually very well tolerated and not high in oxalates are cilantro, dandelion, fennel, romaine lettuce. You can try re-introducing things she’s had before one at a time very gradually, to try to hone in on which ones are a problem. I would also try gradually introducing some more variety from the low-oxalate group, very gradually of course.

As other’s have said, some bunnies are more sensitive, but that often means they are more sensitive to what’s in their diet.