Messy Poop Outside of Cage?

[LJ]

Hi Everyone!

I’m new to the community, and new to being a bunny momma too.  Our “family” bunny is an approximately 5 year old Holland Lop Doe named Pongo, who was originally adopted by my brother when he was in college.  When he moved to a new place that didn’t allow pets, Pongo was taken in by my mom.  I recently finished graduate school and decided to make the frugal move and live with my mom while I looked for a job.  I’ve been living with her and the bunny (and two cats) since January, and I’ve enjoyed hanging out with Pongo so much that when I get a job, she may be coming with me!

Anyways, before I moved in, Pongo didn’t get a lot of out of the cage playtime, and I’ve been trying to change that by letting her out whenever I am home and upstairs in my room (across a small hall from where she is).  She mostly hops around, and in the beginning, didn’t leave a lot of mess while exploring, chewing on, and pushing around boxes.  Lately, she will spend a lot of time just lying on the floor outside of her cage.  She has also been leaving a lot of softer poop outside of her cage, which smears and gets stuck to the floor when she hops over it.   Since her play area is in the laundry room with a tile floor, it’s not too hard to clean up, but it does get annoying to have to spend so much time cleaning up after her every time I let her out.  Mostly, the poop in her litterpan in her cage is “well-formed” – uniform, hard balls, with the occasional cecal pellets.  She gets unlimited Timothy Hay and water, a small dish of pellets at night, and an occasional alfalfa cube (About once a week – recommended by the Vet when we asked about her frequent poopy butt).  She occasionally gets leafy greens (cilantro, parsley, small amounts of kale, etc.) and some fruit treats (strawberry tops, kiwi peel).

Does anyone have any clue why my bunny is leaving such a mess outside the cage?  I’d love to hear any diet recommendations, too!  She has mostly been raised with Hay and pellets and not a lot of fresh vegetables, but I’ve been trying to incorporate them into her diet without upsetting her stomach.  Thanks!!   

[Mocha]

For the loose stools, she might be a little dehydrated. Some rabbits can only handle a certain amount of veggies, so don’t give her too much.

I feed my bunnies (2 bunnies),

Morning and Evening

3 cups of mixed veggies
1/4 cup of Oxbow T Pellets
A fresh pile of hay
Sometimes a carrot or strawberry top

[jerseygirl]

Welcome : )

She gets unlimited Timothy Hay and water, a small dish of pellets at night, and an occasional alfalfa cube (About once a week – recommended by the Vet when we asked about her frequent poopy butt).

Not sure if im reading this right. The vet recommend all this or the alfalfa cube for poopy but issues?
I’d actually cut the alfalfa out of diet. It’s more a cause then cure for messy poo. Its good for really young rabbits and sometimes elderly rabbits. The Timothy and pellets are fine. How much is her bowl of pellets? 1/2 cup, full cup etc

Hopefully you can remedy this with diet modifications but at age 5, the onset of some dental problems can lead to poopy butt too. Keep that in mind.

[jerseygirl]

Just wondering if its when she’s on tile it more difficult for her to reach cecals in the normal way?

Also, I have a 2+ yr old bun that would mark with cecal pellets quite a bit for a while. Not so much now. I don’t know why that was…
He’s had intermittent bouts of overproducing cecals but this was definitely marking behaviour when he was hopping around in shared territory.

[Author]

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