Crabtree and poop questions.

[heynow727]

This just started about 2 days ago but i notice my 7 week old crabtree's poop is no longer dry but is kinda wet and has a shiny/glistening quality to it.

It is still in ball form but is harder to pick up now seeing how it is kinda wet. Im hoping that she might just be getting too much water in her diet and that's why it is coming out wet.

Can anyone help me out with this?

 

[Maureen Las]

I think that what you are seeing is "night dropping" or cecotropes a vitamin rich form of poop that the rabbit actually ingests .
If all the poop is like this it either is not cecotropes or your rabbithas excess cecotropes and is eliminating a lot of excess protein that he doesn't need and isn't eating

Cecotropes are shiny , sticky and look like little bunches of grapes stuck together ; they also smell strong and bad.
Are all the poops soft?

I would give this rabbit a dose of benebac anyway because at this age bad things happen fast

 

[kirbyultra]

Wasn't there a fabulous picture of cecotropes from another thread... it was really very good for showcasing it. Shiny, in a bunch like a blackberry.

 

[Maureen Las]

Yeh there was but I haven't had time to look for it but I think Claire posted the pic

 

[Maureen Las]

here it is

The cecal pellets are on the left. the fecal pellets on the right

 

[tonyshuman]

It's from a flickr group. It does sound like you're finding Crabtree's cecals. How is her diet now?

 

[heynow727]

It is nothing like how the picture shows it. Her poops are normal like the ones in the right side of the picture. They are just shiny and kind of soft but I can still pick them up. Right now she is on a diet of her formula, alfalfa hay, and pellets. I removed lettuce and carrots from her diet because I thought that she was getting too much water in her system.

 

[Maureen Las]

she is realy too young to get lettuce and carrots..good idea

 

[tonyshuman]

Yeah, it's probably best to hold off on veggies and carrots for now. She can probably go off the formula now, gradually.