BleachedJam
New Member
I'll include some backstory but its long, so if you don't care just jump to the TL;DR.
About three years ago my mom adopted a bunny from the pound. She was there for something else, they also have a used pet store built in, and the workers guilt tripped her saying this bunny was about to be put to sleep, ect. It was almost Easter and he's missing a piece of his ear, he had been there for about two months.
Anyway she adopted him, even though none of us had any idea about rabbits.
We built him a nice cage, about 4×4. She fed him unlimited hay but also pellets. That was pretty much it. Very little out of cage time and no greens. About 4-5 months ago we noticed a huge mat on his bottom, it was a lot of poop and fur. We had to shave him.
I looked into why and realized all the things we had been doing wrong.
Since then he gets about 3-4 hours a day out of his cage, a custom salad everyday, unlimited hay, far less pellets, and I'm working on building him a bigger/better cage. His poopy butt has gotten a LOT better, but still not completely gone. He's gotten more muscle tone and gained weight, got a lot of energy, and he's a whole new bunny. Plus, I learned apparently I'm a bunny person! (Despite being allergic. I have to use a ventilator to clean his cage)
Okay so problem time, last week I noticed a huge slowdown in poops. I'm used to how much he poops during out of cage time, and it was about half. Otherwise he had great energy, was eating really well, and seemed normal. He had a bale of hay in his cage as a gift, and I thought maybe it was stale so he wasn't eating it. So I switched it out with his usual hay. Next day he was better so I thought he was fine. Today's out of cage time I noticed his poops are really small. Again, he's eating fine and has good energy. I gave him a little tummy massage, I looked up a video on YouTube, not sure if it helped or not. He's staring at me asking for more pets.
What should I do?
TL;DR
Bunny with history of poopy butt has small poops. Eating and drinking normal, has good energy. Welcoming all suggestions, still new to bunny care.
Also, he seems to be heading into a molt, not sure if that matters.
Thanks for reading this! Sorry it was so long. I know backstory is usually helpful when figuring out health problems.
About three years ago my mom adopted a bunny from the pound. She was there for something else, they also have a used pet store built in, and the workers guilt tripped her saying this bunny was about to be put to sleep, ect. It was almost Easter and he's missing a piece of his ear, he had been there for about two months.
Anyway she adopted him, even though none of us had any idea about rabbits.
We built him a nice cage, about 4×4. She fed him unlimited hay but also pellets. That was pretty much it. Very little out of cage time and no greens. About 4-5 months ago we noticed a huge mat on his bottom, it was a lot of poop and fur. We had to shave him.
I looked into why and realized all the things we had been doing wrong.
Since then he gets about 3-4 hours a day out of his cage, a custom salad everyday, unlimited hay, far less pellets, and I'm working on building him a bigger/better cage. His poopy butt has gotten a LOT better, but still not completely gone. He's gotten more muscle tone and gained weight, got a lot of energy, and he's a whole new bunny. Plus, I learned apparently I'm a bunny person! (Despite being allergic. I have to use a ventilator to clean his cage)
Okay so problem time, last week I noticed a huge slowdown in poops. I'm used to how much he poops during out of cage time, and it was about half. Otherwise he had great energy, was eating really well, and seemed normal. He had a bale of hay in his cage as a gift, and I thought maybe it was stale so he wasn't eating it. So I switched it out with his usual hay. Next day he was better so I thought he was fine. Today's out of cage time I noticed his poops are really small. Again, he's eating fine and has good energy. I gave him a little tummy massage, I looked up a video on YouTube, not sure if it helped or not. He's staring at me asking for more pets.
What should I do?
TL;DR
Bunny with history of poopy butt has small poops. Eating and drinking normal, has good energy. Welcoming all suggestions, still new to bunny care.
Also, he seems to be heading into a molt, not sure if that matters.
Thanks for reading this! Sorry it was so long. I know backstory is usually helpful when figuring out health problems.