Eating/spitting poop

[daisy406]

Hello. My 9 month old dutch rabbit (spayed, female) just spit up some poop out of her mouth. about 4 minuets later I see her chewing quite thoroughly I put my finger towards her mouth to try and open it up a bit and she spit out some poop and then picked it right back up and began eating it. I understand rabbits do eat their poop sometimes but usually the poop they eat is more soft like, a much different kind of texture whereas this poop looked like her normal regular poops. IS THIS NORMAL!? Should I be worried?

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Rabbits need to eat their soft poops (cecotropes) for essential nutrients, so that’s completely normal. However, it’s also normal for rabbits to “clean up” the hard poops behind them if they were too lazy to use the box. My bun often does this at night, and I’m quite happy about his habit because I can’t vacuum because of my back issue.

Are there any other signs that prompted you to ask this question? Is she eating well, pooping well, and behaving normally?

[Bam]

Some bunnies eat some of their round poops as well as their cecals. It’s not a sign of sth being wrong and you don’t have to try and stop your rabbit from doing it.

Some buns even drink their own urine sometimes. That’s not an observandum either.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Oh yes, forgot about the pee. Breintje used to drink that when he spilled a bit next to his box. Yum!

[kurottabun]

Every now and then I do see some crumbs of poop on the floor that accidentally fell from Kurotta’s mouth when he was chewing the harder poops. They don’t look like the sticky/wet cecotropes that buns usually eat – more like a normal poop that crumbled. So I’d say it’s normal

[LittlePuffyTail]

Man, bunnies sure can be gross. Good thing they are so ridiculously cute

[daisy406]

Thank you everyone for responding!!! She seems to be eating and drinking normally!!! All seems to be good! 

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Excellent ^_^ And it never hurts to ask questions if you wonder if a behaviour is normal. Rabbits are masters at hiding discomfort, it can save a life if you know their habits. If they suddenly change their habits you’ll want to keep a close eye on them. Rabbits will hide illness because they’re a prey species, and will hide it until things are already in an emergency state.
So it’s very good to keep a close eye on a rabbit, and to be suspicious when something is different. Being a bit less enthousiastic about dinner than usual may be a warning sign for upcoming tummy troubles, so an experienced rabbit owner will know to change the litter box, keep a close eye on the output and have the gas meds ready.

[Author]

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