Poopy Bum

[Bun8]

Hi! My rabbit has a poopy bum. He is my first rabbit and 8 weeks old. He has a lot of cecotropes stuck in his fur. I read on the internet that you can use baby cornstarch powder to loosen the debris and comb it out. I tried putting him on his back today to try and keep him still but he kept struggling. How long can rabbits stay in a trance and how do you get them to calm down in one? Do you have any tips for loosening and combing his bum? Thanks in advance 🙂

[Bam]

It can be very stressful for a bun to be tranced, so its best avoided.

Its better if you can sit him in your lap and massage cornstarch into the poopy fur with one hand. Some of the poop can be picked out when it has absorbed the starch, the rest you can probably brush out. You can also cut off pieces of poop fur, but take care not to cut too close to the skin.

If there are normal poops as well as sticky poop, this is to be considered a tummy microbial disturbance. If you see reslly runny poop and no normsl poop, or mucus-y/ liquid poop, its a vet emergency in a young bun.

[DanaNM]

Agree with Bam, try not to trance if you can.

What is his diet like? Just asking in case he’s getting something that’s causing too many cecotropes.

. . . 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.  

[Bun8]

Thank you both! I actually just got the poop out a few minutes ago by holding him with one hand. The poop isn’t melty or anything, it’s just sticky. He eats baby pellets and a mix of alfalfa and timothy hay.

[DanaNM]

Ok great! 🙂 It’s normal for babies to have some extra cecotropes but just wanted to double check. Sometimes new bunny owners get very excited and overdo it on the treats 😉

. . . 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.  

[Bun8]

Thanks 🙂 The breeder suggested we waited until 6 months to feed veggies and treats.

[LBJ10]

If he is getting baby pellets, I assume that means they are alfalfa-based. You could try cutting out the alfalfa in the hay mix and just stick with grass hay. If he’s getting alfalfa-based pellets, that should be enough.

[Bun8]

Thank you, I’ll add less alfalfa to his mix 🙂

[Bun8]

A small update: Everyday I wake up to a lot of poop stuck on his butt. Maybe the change of diet hasn’t really sunk in yet. His breeder suggested we used a wire bottom cage, but I don’t really want to buy another crate or risk him hurting his paws. What do you think I should do?

[Bam]

Wire bottom cages are harmful for rabbit feet.

A very young bun, like your bun, doesnt yet have a mature gastro intestinal microbiome. A diverse and sturdy GI microbiome needs time to establish itself. The best food for a rabbit’s gut microbial balance is grass hay.

As LBJ said, you could try and cut out the alfalfa hay, since he has junior pellets. Alfalfa and junior pellets are both rich in protein. Rich food often causes poopy butt.

In order to get your bun to eat more grass hay, you can serve it in smaller piles and replenish several time per day. Newly served hay is yummier than “old” hay, even if its the same hay. You can also serve hay in several places in his area -“found” hay is yummier than given hay. Rabbits also tend to eat more hay if its served on the floor and in/very near the litterbox. Theae ways of serving hay mimick the way wild rabbits forage for their food. They like to poop when they eat. They often forage over larger areas, they eat a little bit here and a little bit there.

You can give a rabbit appropriate probiotic such as Benebac to help strengthen the gut microbiome.

Poopy but in a young bun is not a serious health problem. Here is a good article from the HRS on intermittent soft cecotropes. The article also has info on true diarrhoea, which is NOT what your bun has now. It can still be useful to read through that segment, because its good to know the difference between true diarrhoea and the relatively harmless condition known as intermittent soft cecotropes, ISC:

https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/

 

[Bun8]

Thanks for the information! I actually do have separate piles of hay for him. He has one in a big bowl at the center of his home and one in a feeder above his litter box.

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