Crazy leaping and cecotropes

[Nina S]

Hi again!! I’m a new bunny owner, we just adopted a 9 week old Holland lop. I’m probably a little more nervous about little things since he’s my first bunny lol so I had a couple questions for you all, figured I’d put them together in one post.

1. So my bunny is getting really energetic and he will do these crazy leaps sometimes like from his cage out (when we open it) and back into his cage he’ll do a huge leap straight into his litter box or onto something else and his feet will hit ledges or walls in the process. Nothing violent, I can tell he is just being energetic and playful, but I’m worried he is going to hurt himself! He doesn’t seem bothered when his feet smack things or whatever, but is this something I should be concerned about? Will he get hurt or does he know his limits?

2. Does anyone know approximately how many cecotropes bunnies produce in a day? I feel like my bunny is eating cecotropes from his behind quite often, like sometimes multiple times in a sitting. Sometimes I even find a few in his cage. It could be from the pellets we give him (we’ve cut back on how much we give him) or the fact that we give him small amounts of alfalfa hay in addition to his Timothy hay. These are things that the breeder who I got him from fed him as well and she mentioned that they could cause a lot of cecotropes. Curious to hear how many cecotropes you think your bunny produces a day and what’s “normal”

Thank you!!! Sorry for the long post!

[Hazel]

I agree, it’s most likely because of the rich food. If he’s getting alfalfa pellets he doesn’t need alfalfa hay. In fact I would recommend not getting him used to eating alfalfa hay at all, it’s very hard to get them off of it later. 😉

[Nina S]

Oh really? That’s interesting. Maybe I will cut out the alfalfa hay then since it’s in his pellets (he lovessss his pellets). Can I still give him the pellets that have alfalfa in them when he gets older though? Main part of his diet would obviously be Timothy hay..

[Hazel]

Alfalfa is for young rabbits that are still growing, as an adult he should be on timothy pellets and timothy hay (other grass hay like orchard is fine too). Alfalfa is too rich for adults, unless it’s a pregnant or nursing female.

[LBJ10]

If you’re feeding alfalfa-based pellets, it’s OK to feed a young bunny grass hay. They need the extra protein, etc. that alfalfa provides but doubling up isn’t necessary. A rich diet can create an excess of cecotropes, so it isn’t unusual to witness this in young bunnies.

[prince dorian the bun]

@Nina S – first of congrats on getting a bunny! Is that him in your profile pic? So cute! & alfalfa is fine given he is just 9 week old, around 5 – 6 months is about when you should start slowly switching over to Timothy hay and adult pellets. That said as LBJ10 mentioned if he does have a lot cecotropes mixing in timothy with his alfalfa and slowly switching to just timothy/grass hay should be fine. (That way you can use up what ever hay you have left too) This site has some good basic advice: https://rabbit.org/FAQ-diet/

and this is a good more detailed break down for a baby/young bunny: https://bunnylady.com/young-rabbit-diet/

 

[talesOfTybalt]

Don’t worry about his energy levels, Tybalt was the exact same! He used to run and smack parts of his bodies into my furniture which worried me too and when it made a loud sound he would pause abruptly and look at me as if I was the one making the racket?! He should calm down as he gets older 🙂

Ditto the others regarding his pellet/hay consumption but I noticed with Tybalt he just ate way too fast even though he was on grass hay and only alfalfa pellets so when I started seeing cecotropes I kinda just spaced the pellets out and it worked 🙂 Also I think younger bunnies do sometimes leave/forget them so he’ll outgrow that as his diet changes with age.

[Nina S]

@talesOfTybalt that sounds just like my bunny! Thank you! This was all helpful!!

[Nina S]

@prince Dorian the bun – yes that is my skippy in the pic! He is so loving, he’s started climbing all over me and licking/nibbling at me. I think it’s affection? Lol he’s been fun! Yes I actually feed him Timothy hay now, just his pellets (which he loves) are alfalfa-based.

[Nina S]

While on the topic of poop…

I read somewhere that bunny poops should always be consistent in size. Since we got our 8 week old bunny (a week ago) he has been eating well, drinking, pooping and peeing a ton, and very playful . His poops mostly seem very healthy and normal in color, consistency, and frequency but the pellets are not always the same size. Picture example attached, let me know if this is a concern.

Also in addition to his cecotropes and regular hay-like poops, some of his poops are sometimes more dark and moist, they may be excess cecotropes but they are more the shape of his regular poops. Could be from his pellets which he loves, trying to cut back on them but any other advice on that would be appreciated too. Majority of his poops (there are hundreds lol) are the normal cocoa-puff type of rabbit poop lol just in varying sizes. Also sometimes see tiny black little hard pieces amongst his poop pellets (smaller than the balls, like broken hard dark bits) but again the vast majority seem to be normal and he seems to be eating and drinking just fine and seems happy

[Nina S]

It’s not letting me attach photos maybe I’ll start a new thread

[DanaNM]

If you add the picture to your profile, you should be able to insert it into the post (sorry, the forum is still being worked on and photos aren’t working for everyone).

What you describe sounds like it might be some uneaten cecotropes. It’s normal for babies to not eat them all.

Here’s my favorite bunny poop guide (welcome to being a bunny parent and obsessing over poop!): https://imgur.com/a/5N4lD#ra2RfjI

. . . 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.  

[Nina S]

Here’s the photo of the different sizes of poop

[LBJ10]

Looks like a normal poop and a fur poop.

[Nina S]

A bunch of the poops have little pieces of fur in them. Haven’t gotten the “string of pearls” yet though lol. I brush him but I guess he still ingests some fur but I figure it’s good that he’s pooping it out

[Bam]

Rabbits will ingest some hair when they clean themselves, and since they cant vomit, the hair has to go out the other way. This is normal and won’t cause trouble in a healthy rabbit, if there is sufficient fiber in the diet. It is very good to brush (and lint roll) your bun, but its not possible to catch all hairs.

 

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