Bunny poop

[Paradigm]

So, I never noticed any problems with Mr Roger’s poop – they were all uniform and we’d been feeding him on recommended, high fibre food with unlimited hay and some greens. I assumed his were fine and as long as he didn’t have stasis they always looked the same. Then when Fred and George turned up I noticed their poos were very different. 

They seemed to crumble to dust really easily (as though they’d been put in a mortar and pestle) and I was worried they might be dehydrated. We put out some of Mr Roger’s food to transition them and a bowl of water. Today their poos are the same colour as Mr Roger’s were only smaller. 

I’ve been looking online and can’t help but wondering which of the poos is more healthy:

I know that it could be the stress of moving and maybe I’m being paranoid but what should their poos look like and how can I facilitate them looking that way? 

I can’t find one of the early poops they did, but they were more similar to the lighter one than the darker one. Only very pale.

[Cottontail]

Ideally with bunny poop, you’re looking for the “golden poops” that are higher in fiber. When they get too much protein then the poops get darker. They can also be darker due to being wet. Generally pellets can have a pretty high protein intake in themselves, which is why you want to encourage more hay consumption.

Tillys poops were big and medium brown because she was getting much more salad than she probably needed, because my Pete needed lots of greens… We’ve cut back on the pellets and the size of her salads, much to her dismay, and she’s increased her hay consumption.. so now they are lighter in color and don’t feel as dense.

What kind of pellets are you feeding? Brand? and how much? They may just need a bit more hay to keep the lighter colored poops.

[Cottontail]

In case you haven’t gotten to see it yet: Here is a link to the guide to bunny poops.

http://imgur.com/a/5N4lD

You may need to copy and paste it into your browser.

[Paradigm]

Mr Roger was always fed Burgess Excell Pellets for 2/3rds of his diet and FibaFirst for the other 1/3.

This was because FibaFirst had more crude fibre than Burgess Excel but was also more expensive.

I had 22g of Burgess Excel and 11g FibaFirst because he weighed 1.3kg and the instructions said to feed him 32-33g.

The Burgess Excel had nutrition information of:

Beneficial Fibre: 39%
Crude Protein: 13%
Crude Oils and Fats: 3%
Crude Fibre: 19%
Crude Ash: 5.5%
Sodium: 0.8
Phosphorous: 0.5%

FibraFirst has:
Crude Protein 14%
Crude Fibre: 30%
Crude oils and fats: 3.5%
Crude ash: 7.5%
Phosphorus: 0.4%
Sodium: 0.4%

The store feed has less fibre in it.

We also have Timothy Hay that’s the same brand that Fred, George and Mr Roger we’re all on when we got them. I tried Mr Roger on a more green variant but I was horrendously allergic to it.

Fred and George’s poops looked lighter than the ones on that infographic and also crumbled more initially.

It looks like the middle stage picture might have been where they ought to be.

Fred and George have been on unlimited pellets so far, so I haven’t started measuring theirs out yet but will be putting them on the scales soon.

The infographic suggests they’re eating too much protein. :/

[jerseygirl]

Sometimes you’ll see the excess calcium from their pee cover the poop. So it gets a powdery pale coating.

Could they have been eating litter or bedding where they were before? I wonder if eating straw rather then hay could produce poos like you describe?

ETA:That’s a fantastic guide CT. I was only familiar with the one from medirabbit.
An aside: no way I’ll ever hold cecals in my bare hands. I’m fine with normal poos. Cecals? Nope!

[Paradigm]

Now I’ve been staring at piles of poop and contemplating if Mr Roger’s really were that dark or if they just seemed dark on comparison as some of their poops are really dark.

My wife thinks I’m insane, lol.

[jerseygirl]

Lol.
We never stop learning with rabbits!

[Paradigm]

I don’t think they’ve had any straw although I think they occassionally eat their sawdust litter, so maybe that’s it?

I’m going to transition them over to carefresh but I don’t want to change too much at once.

[Paradigm]

Should I start to restrict their pellets to improve their poop and encourage more hay consumption? They’re 18 weeks. I feel completely out of my depth with two young rabbits. I keep worrying that Fred is food hogging.

I’ve put an extra hay tray out to encourage them to eat more which they think is another litter tray.

[Cottontail]

If you notice that they’re not eating any of their hay, you might cut back on the pellets; but I believe at that age they are still supposed to have lots of food to chow down on since they are still growing? (Someone PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong)

I’m not an expert on young buns diet, as my only young bun was a wildy, so he had slightly different needs and metabolism.

[Paradigm]

I’ve been giving them unlimited pellets during the day and leaving them to eat hay overnight – I’ve noticed that Fred gobbles as many pellets as he can but doesn’t eat much hay and George is the opposite.

I’ve read so much conflicting information about setting good hay eating habits at an early age (restrict at their age) and then different ages at which to begin transitioning them onto adult food or restricted food.

They’re eating mostly Timothy pellets (small amount of alfalfa stalks included) and hay.

I’m not sure whether to buy them alfalfa food for a short period or whether it would be too much change.

[Paradigm]

I’ve decided to ignore most other websites and go by the information on House Rabbit Society. 

• 7 weeks to 7 months–unlimited pellets, unlimited hay (plus see 12 weeks below)
• 12 weeks–introduce vegetables (one at a time, quantities under 1/2 oz.)

Our only real concern is that Fred will literally sit at the bowl and eat and eat and eat pellets. He’s the smaller of the two at present, though. I think I’ll pick up a few different types of hay (Mr Roger was fussy and would fish out only the stalky parts of any hay mix so it seemed pointless to get him variety because he only ever picked the pieces in the cheaper hay). We’ve put some into the toys for them too.

[jerseygirl]

They’re eating mostly Timothy pellets

I think that’s good. They should do well on those.

Could you scatter the pellets so Fred has to forage for them?
Or use a treat dispenser ball?

[Cottontail]

Our Tilly is a piggy when it comes to pellets, so we’ve taken to filling a little bungalow with hay and tossing her pellets in the hay. She has to forage, which slows her down a bit, and she’s also taken to eating some of the hay she’s sifting through–so bonus! Maybe something like that would be good to try if you start to get too concerned about pellet intake when it’s time to start weaning them down a bit. In the meantime, they’re growing boys!

[Paradigm]

We have a treat dispenser that we’re not entirely sure Fred has learnt to use yet (George has) and a puzzle that we’ve topped up twice that they both can use. George will only use the toys if we hide the bowl (which is reasonable, I’m not sure I’d put lots of effort into finding yummy food if there was a continuous source).

We may try scattering the food (we did for Mr Roger), perhaps on their rug? I would scatter it in their hay but at the moment they’re urinating and pooping all over any hay they find so I’m disinclined to put it in there. Perhaps I’ll increase their FibraFirst – it’s designed to take longer to eat.

They still aren’t pooping golden but if that’s not a major concern I’ll allow him to be Sir Chomp-a-Lot for the next couple of months.

[Paradigm]

Well, the poos aren’t yet golden but they do have the right crushability so I think they’re fine.

[Cottontail]

Tilly’s tend not to be golden either, but if I notice consistency get heavier/harder-to-crush or color darkening, I cut back all the food and treats a bit so she increases her hay intake. It’s just a good thing to keep an eye on. I like treat balls because it gets them moving, but anything to slow down them stuffing their mouths is generally a plus. Scattering should be fine as long as they are not rug-eaters.

[Paradigm]

Just as an update for anyone pondering similar poop problems, Charlie was also kept on sawdust bedding, had the same colour poos. He’s come home to no more sawdust and exactly the same diet as he had at the rescue and his are no longer so sandy.

[Author]

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