Guide to Bunny Poop

[LittlePuffyTail]

This is very informative (albeit a bit yucky). Because everybunny poops!

 http://imgur.com/a/5N4lD

[MissGabbster]

Very helpful! Thanks for sharing.

[Nuggets Momma]

That is very helpful for the new bunny owner especially, thank you!

[Deleted User]

Thanks for posting this, I checked it out earlier when you posted it to my thread.

[Chuck]

I have two baby bunnies that I am trying to care for. They are now about two weeks old. Should I start to feed them dry food. I figure the mother had them for about 4-6 day and then we bottle feed them for 7 days. And what about cecotropies. Did the mother get enough in them or not. Do they produce their own at this age? I have so many questions. Please help me!!!

[LBJ10]

Hi Chuck, you posted this as a response to a pinned thread (informational) so I doubt anyone will see it here. I’ll try to make you a new thread.

Here you go: https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/137060/Default.aspx

[Roberta]

Hi Chuck. Going over to the new thread with some answers for you. https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/137060/Default.aspx

[Tana]

200-300 poops PER DAY? I don’t feel like either of my girls produce nearly that much. Maybe 100, tops… they eat hay all day and they’re a little chubby. :/

[Sr. Melangell]

That’s interesting to know, I’ll be taking Olly to the vets soon and take in a few droppings in a clear plastic bottle, just to make sure all is well

[lorree]

I couldn’t get the above link to load. I found another page which I hope has equally good info if anyone else is having the same problem

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm

[Beanie Bunny]

That is really helpful. I think after getting my bunny only 5 days ago we have given him too much ‘other stuff’ such as pellet and veg rather than getting him to eat hay. He doesn’t seem too bothered by the hay though. It isn’t Timothy hay I don’t think and he is use to eating grass. As a result yesterday his poops were huge and not made up on little balls. Literally it was one solid mass -about x3 the size of normal balls. We are trying to cut back on the extras and are going to try him on some Timothy hay. Is this the right thing to do? Many thanks

[LongEaredLions]

That sounds like a good plan, Beanie Bunny. Most bunnies like certain types of hay over others so experiment to see what he likes best.
Feel free to start a thread with your questions.

[Chunk's Mommy]

I have some concerns. I’m reading over all this but I don’t really see my problem. I noticed that my bunny had one or two misshapen poops that are a little bigger than normal and had stuff sticking out of them. They were just barely soft. My bunny plays regularly and drinks water regularly. There have been a day or two here and there where he hasn’t eaten until later in the day and I was concerned, but still ended up eating a normal amount by the end of the day. Should I be concerned?? I love my bunny so much, I want him to be ok

[Bam]

2 misshapen poops is not a big deal, but you should keep an eye. He could’ve eaten sth that he shouldn’t have and that’s what’s sticking out of the bigger poops. Is he a good hay-eater? Hay is the best thing for poop-irregularities.

Will he take a favorite treat from you even when he doesn’t eat his food? Sometimes buns don’t eat much during the day, they lounge and sleep. Then when the evening comes it’s their natural time to become active, and then they will eat their food. But a treat should always be appreciated.

[Chunk's Mommy]

He wasn’t a good hay eater when we first got him, but he is now. Yeah he always takes treats lol. Thanks for the help

[flemishwhite]

I don’t think cecotropes, aka cecum pellets, should be considered as poop.  They are intended to be eaten, in a healthy bunny they will be immediately eaten.  You can own a rabbit for a long time (years?) and never see one.  They are from the bunny’s cecum stomach located at the juncture of the small and large intestine.  It’s the stomach where symbiotic bacteria that transform cellulose to glucose. In humans, it’s a vestigial organ known as the appendix.  In many vegetarian animals, the stomach that contains the symbiotic bacteria is located near the end of the esophagus.  The stomach were the cellulose to glucose transformation takes place needs purging.  Cattle regurgitate their stomach contents into their mouth, chew them, and re-swallow.  Rabbits cannot purge their cecum stomachs into their mouth because the cecum is downstream of the small intestine.  The only way out, to purge the cecum, is out through the large intestine and rectum.  Rabbits purge their cecum stomach via the rectum, rechew the cecotropes, and swallow them again. The cecotropes consist of a mass of the cellulose to glucose transforming bacteria, undigested cellulose, liver enzymes, vitamins, etc.  It’s nutritious and intended to be eaten again. It’s not poop.
If you smoosh a cecotrope in you fingers, it smells vomitous because of the liver enzymes.  If your bunny is not eating it’s cecotropes something is wrong…two common causes can be..bunny is too fat to reach it’s rectum, or it has spinal arthritis and bending to reach it’s rectum is painful.  When our Bunny became elderly we started see cecotropes on the floor (for us to step on in the dark) or smooshed on her butt which we had to clean.  Eventually, a spinal X-ray showed spinal stenosis (arthritis).  We were prescribed Metacam, an analgesic, Bunny’s spinal pain went away and she started immediately eating her cecotropes again.

[flemishwhite]

Once again, a great article and reference .  I have occasionally piled bunny poops on my palm and smelled them. They have a herbal  smell with a slightly onion or sulfur overtone. On my limited experiments, they do not have a fecal smell.  As the principal post mentioned, I don’t think people have any worry about picking up bunny poops. Their principal stomach (cecum) bacteria is a cellulose to glucose transforming bacteria and if for whatever reason you get these bacteria in you mouth it’s to be of no consequence.

My above comments relate to proper bunny poops. To repeat my previous post, they do not relate to the mushy cecum pellets that the bunnies make every day and, for a healthy bunny, they will immediately eat.  I don’t regard these as poop and neither does the bunny since it will immediately eat them when they come out. You can have a rabbit for years and never know that these cecum pellets are coming out each day.  It’s only if bunny is too fat or has spinal authritis and can’t bend around that you will ever see these things.  They also are rich in cellulose to glucose bacteria.  Also vitamins, undigested cellulose matter.   They are nutricious (for the rabbit…don’t know about people!)   They also smell bad if you smooch them in your fingers due to liver enzymes. If they get on carpets or cloth furniture and get smooched, they will make a very bad stain.  (Apologies for some repeat comments!)

 

 

 

[Merjoice]

Hi, I have a question. My bunny’s little bits of poop are stuck with his testicles, and I couldn’t remove it even with water. I don’t wanna stress him by bathing so are there any ways for it to get removed? He still poops normal but sometimes when his poops are wet, the bits stick to the testicles. Hmmm

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Merjoice on 7/16/2016 1:08 AM

Hi, I have a question. My bunny’s little bits of poop are stuck with his testicles, and I couldn’t remove it even with water. I don’t wanna stress him by bathing so are there any ways for it to get removed? He still poops normal but sometimes when his poops are wet, the bits stick to the testicles. Hmmm

You may have to hold a warm wet cloth against it for a while to get it loose enough to pull it away. If that doesn’t work maybe try a little bit of medicinal grade parafin oil on it. Usually easy to find in supermarket of drug store (mineral oil). 

Does he get these sticky wet poops often? You might need to tweak his diet if he it’s too often. 

[Merjoice]

Sometimes his poops are hard round ones and sometimes it’s wet.

A warm wet cloth okay got it thank you!!!!! I’ll definitely try both of your tips!

[Chay]

Hey guys, I’m new here. My bunny is about 12 weeks old, and I noticed this morning he had very very bad runny poop. When I got him out of his cage to clean his bottom his poor tummy was sloshing like it was full of water. Yesterday morning he had his pellets, and he had some broccoli as well as his hay. I had read online mixed reviews about the safety of broccoli but this morning I searched ‘fed my bunny broccoli and he’s sick’ and I found that broccoli isn’t the best option… I’m really really nervous about something happening to him, I have been calling around to vet offices trying to find a vet that sees rabbits in my area but I’m freaking out. Is he going to be ok?

[Bam]

Dear Chay, i have answered you in your other thread. I hope you have managed to find a vet that will see him. Sending many healing-vibes.

[Deleted User]

This is SO helpful. I have a quick question, and figured I’d just try asking here instead of a in a whole post. Basically, our bunny was neutered on July 27th, and we noticed this week that he had been biting and itching himself. When we took a closer look, he had ripped out his incision. We brought him back to the vet, who said he had a small infection and scent him home with a cone (poor bunny) and medicine. Anyway~!!

My question is, bun bun is leaving a LOT of cecotropes (thank you SO much for this guide), which smell horrible and are a mess to clean. Neither of which bother me. What DOES make me worry is that – I am guessing this is stress related, due to the vet and the cone – he cannot eat them as he’s supposed to. In fact, we’ve never even seen these from him before~!!

If he cannot eat them, due to the cone (vet said he has to wear this for 7-10 days), will he be alright~??

[LongEaredLions]

Angie-he should be fine not eating them for a week or so, just make sure he’s getting plenty of his hay, greens, pellets, and water.

[Betsy]

Yet another person interested in Bunny Poops.
It’s shedding season for Thabbit (he’s almost done – no more clouds of hair when I pet him)
I’ve noticed the last few days that maybe 5% of his poops are smaller than the other, more “regular” sized ones.
Lots of poop happening, just some smaller ones mixed in, usually sitting together in a smallish pile (so not just
scattered randomly as the last poop in a series)

Trying not to worry and we’ll probably cut back on putting shredded carrot in his salad (he’s going to HATE me for that!)
But… what’s an “acceptable” level of small poops?

Behavior wise – he’s hanging out in his “man cave” more often, not meditating in the sunlight like he had been doing. But
that could be also linked to seasonal changes, maybe?

*sigh* Such complicated little cuties, aren’t they?

[LittlePuffyTail]

I wouldn’t worry too much. My buns do that too while shedding. Just make sure to groom him well everyday, feed him lots of fresh, wet greens and really push the hay.

[Betsy]

I think we’ll be calling the vet tomorrow. Both “regular” and smaller poops are also pretty wet, not the dry and easily crumbled poop he normally has.

I’m not overly worried – he’s been getting a lot of carrot lately, so it could simply be a need of a diet change. But I think we want to call to be sure. He’s definitely eating and pooping enough, so it’s not stasis at least.

In the blue circle below are his “normal” (but more moist than usual) poops.
In the dark red circle the smaller ones… also moist. 

[LittlePuffyTail]

How did your vet visit go?

[Candle]

Question! My Bunita has had the small/misshapen poops the entire time I’ve had her. She’s supposed to be a flemmish giantX but hasn’t really grown all that big. Maybe 6 pounds? Anyway she doesn’t poop as much as Unibunny and doesn’t eat as much either. She doesn’t seem to have any problem functioning in any way, I figure she just eats less than the average bun her size but should I be concerned?

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Candle on 10/24/2016 8:54 PM

Question! My Bunita has had the small/misshapen poops the entire time I’ve had her. She’s supposed to be a flemmish giantX but hasn’t really grown all that big. Maybe 6 pounds? Anyway she doesn’t poop as much as Unibunny and doesn’t eat as much either. She doesn’t seem to have any problem functioning in any way, I figure she just eats less than the average bun her size but should I be concerned?

Does she eat much hay?

Has she ever had her molar teeth checked?

Please feel free to start a new thread with your question. Sometimes when members ask questions in these older, pinned threads, they don’t always get seen. 

[thats my girl]

Yesterday my bunny had large sloppy poops (I think because I gave it too much cabbage) Luckily they’re are now back to normal

[Space.dorito]

I just got a bunny (yesterday). He was very shy and scared. Today wa picked him up and he was kinda scared. he isnt active as much now. Actually he us just sitting. His poop isnt solid like it used to be. Its kinda stuck togeather. Its sticky.

[Aaron]

Sometimes when rabbits are nervous or scared, they pass small sticky poops called cecotrophes. They go back to normal when they calm down like if a noise startles them, they may pass one or two.

[Bam]

Space.dorito, is she passing any normal poop at all? If a baby bunny gets true diarrhea, it needs to go to a vet asap, because of the big risk of dehydration.

Here’s an article about sticky poop vs true diarrhea:
http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/

[AmyKay]

I just recently got a new bunny for my son. I had her for 4 days now. She has been going fine till last night. She’s been mostly eating pellets & hay. & once a day I give her a vegetable. The first day was a carrot, then I gave her lettuce. Then yesterday I gave her a grape & last night a slice of apple. & she got gritty diarrhea. I here no sloshing sounds when I pick her up & she seems to be doing fine. I read that I shouldn’t give her grapes & not to much sugar. So am I wrong in thinking this is why she got diarrhea & she should be fine? Thank you for any help.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By AmyKay on 5/13/2017 8:22 AM

I just recently got a new bunny for my son. I had her for 4 days now. She has been going fine till last night. She’s been mostly eating pellets & hay. & once a day I give her a vegetable. The first day was a carrot, then I gave her lettuce. Then yesterday I gave her a grape & last night a slice of apple. & she got gritty diarrhea. I here no sloshing sounds when I pick her up & she seems to be doing fine. I read that I shouldn’t give her grapes & not to much sugar. So am I wrong in thinking this is why she got diarrhea & she should be fine? Thank you for any help.

Hi AmyKay

How old is your bunny?

It may not be just grapes but rather, the combination of the fruit and veg that has upset her gut, Keeping then on just hay and reduced pellets can help overcome that, 

The diarrhoea was not watery was it?

[AmyKay]

I don’t know how old she actually is, I got her from rural king & the person I was talking to didn’t know much about them. Her poop had a bit of water in it last night but it has gotten to where her poo’s starting to get back to normal. She wasn’t as active as she has been when I got up this morning but now she is pretty much back to the way she has been over the past few days.

[jerseygirl]

That’s good then. Watery diarrhoea is bad news and really need vet care asap. So do watch out for that.
I would keep her diet super simple for now.
I would also monitor her weight and record it. If she is gaining, that will tell you she is a young growing bunny, It will also help if you see she is losing weight which might indicate there is something else going on rather then reaction to certain foods.

[AmyKay]

Thank you. I ‘m sure she’s no more than 2 or 3 months. They just got them around Easter. & you know most places like that are the best. This is probably the first time she has ever eaten anything other than pellets. I think I just feed her to much to fast. I’m not giving her anything else but hay & pellets today for sure & no more fruit for a while. & then I will give her way less than what I di yesterday.

[Lorraine]

Do all bunnies never stop peeing and pooing on their owners, each and every time they are held? Please help!

[MochiTheBun]

 Hey, I have a question: Is it okay if my bunny usually poops teardrop shaped poops? they are good in stiffness an quantity. Everything is good except for the shape. is this okay? Should I be worried?

[jerseygirl]

Posted By MochiTheBun on 6/14/2017 9:18 PM

 Hey, I have a question: Is it okay if my bunny usually poops teardrop shaped poops? they are good in stiffness an quantity. Everything is good except for the shape. is this okay? Should I be worried?

It may mean his gut mores a bit slower then usual perhaps. Take some photos of them and show to your vet next time you visit. Does your rabbit eat a good amount of hay?

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Lorraine on 5/25/2017 1:15 PM

Do all bunnies never stop peeing and pooing on their owners, each and every time they are held? Please help!

Yes, they should stop. It’s a bit of a hormonal behaviour. How old is your rabbit? 

[MochiTheBun]

Posted By jerseygirl on 6/18/2017 4:33 AM

Posted By MochiTheBun on 6/14/2017 9:18 PM

 Hey, I have a question: Is it okay if my bunny usually poops teardrop shaped poops? they are good in stiffness an quantity. Everything is good except for the shape. is this okay? Should I be worried?

It may mean his gut mores a bit slower then usual perhaps. Take some photos of them and show to your vet next time you visit. Does your rabbit eat a good amount of hay?

Very!  All day he eats about 1 1/2 cups!

[BunzMom]

Thats really interesting and helpful! Thanks!

[Author]

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