Eating Dry poops and Cecotropes

[Aph10]

I’ve caught my lions head rabbit eating what I thought were Cecotropes buy them I can see the dry fecal pellets crumble out of his mouth or stuck in his beard.
He’s a little large and not super nimble (he’s about 4-5) but not old. He’s just not spry.
has anyone ever seen this type of behavior or is it something I should be a little worried about?

 

[John Wick]

Some rabbits for reasons unknown will eat their normal poop. In my experience, it usually is during a time they are expecting a cecotrope and so they appear to eat the poops directly before and after the cecotrope. In other situations, it looks like an intentional "clean up" of a stray poop.

Unless it is happening frequently, I wouldn't be too concerned. I know of one case where frequent normal-poop consumption appeared linked to stress, but since the behavior itself is not common nor consistent, I'm unsure how strong that association is in general.

 

[Aph10]

Some rabbits for reasons unknown will eat their normal poop. In my experience, it usually is during a time they are expecting a cecotrope and so they appear to eat the poops directly before and after the cecotrope. In other situations, it looks like an intentional "clean up" of a stray poop.

Unless it is happening frequently, I wouldn't be too concerned. I know of one case where frequent normal-poop consumption appeared linked to stress, but since the behavior itself is not common nor consistent, I'm unsure how strong that association is in general.

He’s still doing it. I don’t know if he just can’t tell the difference sometimes or if sometimes they can have A bunch of the dry pellets that come out around the same time. I’m attaching a pic of the ones he recently tried to eat. As you can see he started to eat it and then maybe stopped cus he realized it wasn’t the “good stuff”.

I’m pretty sure I just saw him eat a cecotrope about 5-10 mins after he made these. Im not 100% sure but his breath stunk a little like when they normally eat those.

His poops are healthy and I’m not finding any of the Cecotropes left uneaten. He’s not exhibiting any signs of illness and this has been happening for months. As far as I’ve noticed. He’s eating and peeing fine. Although he is a slow eater. Probably because his brother is a little hog and so he doesn’t want to be aggressive and work harder. Lol.

do you think this is worth talking to a vet about?

 

[JBun]

They can have some fecal balls that precede the cecotropes. So as the cecotropes are on their way out, this signals their brain to reach down to eat the cecotropes, so they may get a few fecal balls first, before the cecotropes emerge, and some rabbits will start to munch on them, but then spit them out when they realize they aren't the right ones. I've found this to be pretty normal behavior that has happened with a few of my rabbits.

 

[4 bunny Mom]

My first bunny did this all the time. When she was out for her exercise any poop dropped she automatically ate. At that time I was hopelessly unaware that it was not "normal" behavior. She lived to the age of 12, healthy right up until the very end.
I would not be concerned at all unless she starts showing signs of an illness.

 

[healersheart]

Mine does this frequently as well, and I had been wondering why. Glad to know it’s somewhat normal!

 

[Aph10]

They can have some fecal balls that precede the cecotropes. So as the cecotropes are on their way out, this signals their brain to reach down to eat the cecotropes, so they may get a few fecal balls first, before the cecotropes emerge, and some rabbits will start to munch on them, but then spit them out when they realize they aren't the right ones. I've found this to be pretty normal behavior that has happened with a few of my rabbits.

Thank you! I just didnt want to miss any warning signs since it’s so hard to tell with rabbits.

 

[DelawareRunner]

I've had two female turd eaters in a row--first one lived to be twelve. She was really into any poop, even caught her trying to eat a bird turd on our back deck on time and had to stop her. My current bunny likes to drop turds and chase them around her pen and eat them.