Bunny Eating His Own Poop

[albrst]

 Hi, I am new here.  We are new rabbit owners.  This little guy is our first experience with a rabbit ever.  So, a few weeks ago our Holland Lop, Lego, was eating some of his poop, not the cecotropes, but the hard round pellets. He is almost 4 months old now. Before, he would eat the occasional poop that he did outside the cage on the carpet. The past two mornings we have gotten up and the litter box is empty of poop. Now he has been a bad bunny lately anyway (I realize it’s his age and we plan to neuter when he’s old enough), but he poops on the carpet a ton of the time (he spends hours everyday free in our living room with us) and he has started peeing on the carpet after he was completely litter trained. He has also started peeing on us when we hold him. (any suggestions for that) Again I realize that this is probably his age. In the cage, he only uses the litter box. Okay so, anyway, the past two mornings we have woken up and his litter box is empty of all poop so I can only assume he’s eating it. 



When we first got him (a month ago), the first 2-3 weeks, he would not eat many pellets. But now he eats a ton. His poop yesterday was more sticky than usual and some was not round like normal but not like his cecotropes either. I am wondering if he’s getting too much pellets and hasn’t been eating as much hay and that has changed his diet, poop and desire to eat the poop? What do you think? We are using the Purina Complete Pellets that are alfalfa based and Timothy hay. He has hay at all times in his cage. He gets a few quaker oats each day just as a little treat.  Do you think we should limit the pellets at his age? I have read that in older rabbits you limit but in babies you don’t. He has finally grown a lot too. He was 2 lb 4 oz when we got him and a few days ago he was 3 lb 12 oz. His parents are both right at 4 pounds.



So any thoughts on his new all you can eat litter box buffet? Any suggestions on how to stop all the peeing on us and the carpet? He has also started kind of nipping at us when we hold him or at our clothes. This all started all of a sudden and everything I have read said that it’s like a “puberty” kind of thing and that neutering can help but I also realize that he probably has to be around 6 months (so 2 more months) before we can do that. 

One other question – should the bunny have bad breath? I only smell it when he licks me on the face but it stinks.



Thanks for all your help!

This is Lego with his favorite toy – a toilet paper tube filled with hay.

Kristy and Lego

[Roberta]

He is definitely getting to an age where hormones will be kicking in and peeing, nipping and pooping outside the box are signs of this that will go about two months after fixing. Bit worried about the absence of poop. Are you sure that he is indeed pooping, have you seen any before he eats them ? My concern is that they are absent because he has not pooped at all. I would highly recommend a vet visit immediately, if he is eating them it could be a dietry imbalance or some other issue..Poor health can also disrupt good litter training.

[bpash89]

I agree with Roberta, it seems unlikely that he is eating all of them out of his box so my guess would be he isn’t producing droppings (at the very least not as many as he should be) and that is a sign of a problem. Take him to the vet. The vet should be able to tell you if this is due to a dietary problem/not enough hay ect so you can discuss it with the vet and figure out the best course of action from there.

Since he’s a boy then 4 months should be old enough to get him fixed. Another thing to discuss with the vet. Litter habits won’t improve until after he’s fixed.

[RabbitPam]

Well he’s definitely getting into his teens, which is part of the peeing behavior. I am more concerned about the poops first.
He definitely can have his pellets changed now. You want to wean him off the alfalfa in them, so I would switch to a brand (I like Oxbow Bunny Basics T for adults) to mix with them and eventually take him off the alfalfa ones altogether. You only want to give him a quarter cup daily, either half in am/pm, or one scoop to last the day until the next morning. (I do that.) Bunnies graze, so he will make them last.
Give him much more hay. Unlimited is the best, and instead of actual oats, I would give him oat hay. My bunny loves it, and it’s much better for him. If he has a hay preference for something else, then forget the oats and give him whatever hay he eats best.
The poops that are sticky may still be cecals. You often don’t even see them if he’s eating them right, but eating the other poops is hard to control. I’m thinking, if he doesn’t poop at all within the next 4-6 hours, that you should take him to his vet for an exam and to set up his neuter appointment. It’s more important if he is not pooping at all than if he is chewing on his poops. Chances are he did not eat all his regular poops, but rather he just didn’t make many.

[MoveDiagonally]

Everyone has given great advice! I 3rd everyone else’s advice.

I wanted to add that for litter training (to get him to stop peeing on the carpet and such) he needs a solid floor in his cage. Wire flooring only hinders litter box training . Any pee accidents you will want to soak up with a paper towel and place in the litter box and place any stray poos in there are well. I can’t see the entire litter box but you’ll probably want to get a larger one. One big enough for him to lay down in.

[albrst]

I should clarify that he is pooping. Trust me I spend my day picking it up out of the floor. There was poop in the litter pan when we went to bed and not there when we woke up. He has pooped a ton during the day again today and so far hasn’t eaten any. As far as wire versus solid bottom cage, this has not really hindered his litter training. In his cage he is 100% litter trained and has been since the second week we got him. He never uses any other part of the cage outside the litter box for pee or poop. Just in the past 1-2 weeks, he has started using the carpet outside the cage when he is out. I plan to get a litter box and place outside the cage to see if that will help. I feel like he’s really just marking his territory. I was just worried when he started eating it more.

Also, does he really have to change pellets? The reason I ask is because he was hard to wean onto these from what the breeder had but I couldn’t get the same brand as her anywhere near here. He just started eating these really well and I hate to change his diet again. We have only had him about 6 weeks.

I am hoping that this behavior changes back to what it was. I am going to call around to vets and see when they think I can neuter him. He won’t be 4 months until the end of this month and one vet told me they won’t do small rabbits till 6 months.

Kristy

[Tessie]

I think essentially the answer to your problem is neutering. This will help loads with his litterbox habits, so you can rest assured there.

As for food – If he’s having too much alfalfa then it’s possible that he’s over producing cecals because of all the nutrition. This might be a reason to switch pellets.
If you feel he isn’t eating as much hay as he should then you could consider switching hay – some buns are picky!

Litter training help – As the others said, it’s important that when you get the new litterbox that it’s big enough for him to lie down in and has plenty of hay in it.
It’s also worth mentioning that the wire floor is bad for rabbits’ feet, it can cause sore hocks, so you might want to think about putting another floor on top of the wire anyway.

Best of luck!

[albrst]

I am going to temporarily try decreasing the amount of pellets since it is alfafa and seeing if he goes back to eating more hay.  He was eating a TON of hay and less pellets before so I will limit the pellets.  I will watch him for a few days to see if the poop and behavior changes if he’s eating more hay and less pellets.  

In his cage there is only one small area that has the wire showing.  I have plastic mats on the other part of the cage floor, for the reason you mentioned.  I was very worried about his feet and so I wanted most of it covered.  

I figured most of the problem was that he needs neutering.  

Thanks!

This was the picture i posted earlier nad you can see that very little cage floor is showing.

Posted By Tessie on 09/21/2013 03:12 PM
I think essentially the answer to your problem is neutering. This will help loads with his litterbox habits, so you can rest assured there.

As for food – If he’s having too much alfalfa then it’s possible that he’s over producing cecals because of all the nutrition. This might be a reason to switch pellets.
If you feel he isn’t eating as much hay as he should then you could consider switching hay – some buns are picky!

Litter training help – As the others said, it’s important that when you get the new litterbox that it’s big enough for him to lie down in and has plenty of hay in it.
It’s also worth mentioning that the wire floor is bad for rabbits’ feet, it can cause sore hocks, so you might want to think about putting another floor on top of the wire anyway.

Best of luck!

 

[Tessie]

Let us know how it goes!

[bpash89]

Well it’s still concerning that he is eating his regular poos. Could you use a wire mesh over his litter box so you can clean out his poo without having to dump the whole box? That way you could remove the poo before he has a chance to eat it and somewhat curb that behavior?

Is that the only vet you have available to you? Can you ask about getting it done sooner? A neuter is a much easier procedure than a spay and boys hit puberty much sooner so I feel like it’s pretty common practice to get them fixed by about 4 months. Some vets do stick to a strict age limit though but it can’t hurt to ask or to shop around for a vet.

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