All Things Poop

[Tails.of.Bunnicula]

Hello new friends!

I have a 5 month old Rex/Harlequin mix, scheduled for a neuter in one month.  My little guy eats a LOT of poop. Not just his squishy ones which I know is normal, but hard ones as well.  He’ll poop 5 or 6 where he’s sitting then gobble them up. (He doesn’t seem to touch the ones in his litter box that I can tell). Also throughout the day he’s munching on his poops…

His daily diet consists of around 4 tbsp of alfalfa pellets, a small mix of veggies twice a day (when he came to me he was already eating veggies so I continued including them in his diet), he gets parsley, dill, romaine, cilantro mostly.  And he has unlimited access to Timothy hay.

I know poop eating can possibly mean he’s lacking something in his diet, I’m just curious if anyone else’s bun eats the hard poops?  All the time? Or should I bring him into the vet to get checked out before his neuter?  Otherwise he’s a pretty normal bun, binky’s, dramatic flops ect…

Any advice would be appreciated ☺

[Bam]

It’s not really known why some rabbits eat their own round poop. I’ve seen it in my bun when he was coming out of a bout of stasis. There is the theory that the bun needs the fiber thats in the round poop, or the good bacteria the round poop contains. (Some vets suggest feeding a poorly rabbit poop from a healthy rabbit, to help reestablish a healthy gut microbiome).

Puppy dogs often eat their own or other dogs’ poop. Some dogs retain this habit all through their lives. It hasn’t been linked to any nutritional deficiencies. It may be about gut bacteria.

Does your bun eat his hay? Hay is very good food for gut bacteria.

I dont think you need to take your bun to the vet for this, but its of course always a good idea to get a check up before any surgery.

 

[Tails.of.Bunnicula]

He does eat his hay,  I just bought him a nice bag from a local farm and he really loves it.  I keep stashes around the house for him to encourage him to eat it more.

Thank you for the reply! I appreciate all the advice I can get 😀

 

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Oh, that’s interesting about poop transplantations. Science is just starting to learn about gut biome, and it’s very complex.

Breintje once ate a couple of pellets of two other buns. They were in the bedroom during New Year’s Eve: we often have friends over who have buns too. I thought I’d cleaned up after them properly.

[LBJ10]

Poop eating (the regular kind of poop) happens more often than people think it does. I agree with Bam, I wouldn’t be overly concerned. He may grow out of it too.

[DanaNM]

Both of my boys do this. I chalk it up to them being gross boys! Bun Jovi will poop a whole pile and then eat them all (at least he’s cleaning up after himself) and Cooper will leave half chewed up poops all over the place!

But I agree, as long as he’s eating lots of hay then it’s not something to worry about.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Tails.of.Bunnicula]

<p style=”padding-left: 40px;”>Thank you everyone! (Lol Bun Jovi)!</p>
<p style=”padding-left: 40px;”>As much research as I’ve done I find no information on eating “normal” poops, so I’m happy to have this community of bunny owners who can give real world experience</p>

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Our bun does this too when he accidentally dropped something in the wrong place: he eats the hard poop pellets.

Sometimes he lets a couple of poops go when he’s napping, or when he wasn’t fast enough for the litter box. He notices it when he wakes up, or walks back after going to the box.

Rabbits are surprisingly cleanly, even though eating poop sounds very gross to us 🙂

[Author]

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