Eating feces?

[Ana_The_Dreamer]

I've noticed over the past few weeks (more so in the past few days) Nessa has been eating her poop. It's not the cecotropes though, which is why I'm posting this. She eats the hard, round ones. I'm not sure why she's doing this? She's never eaten them before and I've never heard of rabbits eating the round hard ones? She actually eats a lot of them. Not just the occasional dropping but at least dozens a day.
Nothing in her diet has changed at all nor anything in her environment. Is there something wrong with her or is she just being a little weirdo?

 

[Ana_The_Dreamer]

:anyone:

 

[shelley]

She has imbalanced nutrition, rabbits/bunnys will do it when the need extra fibre or that, nothing to worry about just make sure she has plenty hay to eat and shell stop eating it.

 

[JBun]

If this doesn't just seem to be a random thing and is happening fairly consistently, I would agree that a possible reason could be due to your rabbit craving more indigestible fiber. Is your bun a good hay eater and does she eat a pile the size of her body, per day? Does that hay have many stems in it(as opposed to the leafier strands) and does your rabbit tend to eat the stems? Does your rabbit get any tree branches(rabbit safe ones) to chew on? Has your rabbits poop changed at all and is it looking any smaller, darker, or irregularly shaped at all?

 

[BrittsBunny]

I am glad you posted this topic because my bun has been doing the same thing lately...except he doesn't eat the whole poop, he has just been chewing on lots of them! :yuck I understand that it is normal for them to eat their feces on occasion, but I feel like something is not quite right?

He certainly acts fine.

He does beg all the time for food (you'd think I was starving him) but I give him fresh timothy hay at LEAST once if not twice a day and just a little bit of Oxbow timothy pellets for dinner. I have been giving him kale 2-3x a day simply because kale keeps well and he loves it (I love it too). Maybe I'm giving him too much kale? Tonight I went to the grocery store and bought a head of green lettuce and romaine to mix it up.

Another thing I am wondering about is that he has started molting, so may be that has something to do with it?

Or maybe he's just a senior bun that just...well does senior things?! He's approx 7-8 years old.

I just don't understand how he could be deficient when he's on a good diet, unless of course his older body is having a more difficult time absorbing the nutrition than when he was younger?

 

[Ana_The_Dreamer]

If this doesn't just seem to be a random thing and is happening fairly consistently, I would agree that a possible reason could be due to your rabbit craving more indigestible fiber. Is your bun a good hay eater and does she eat a pile the size of her body, per day? Does that hay have many stems in it(as opposed to the leafier strands) and does your rabbit tend to eat the stems? Does your rabbit get any tree branches(rabbit safe ones) to chew on? Has your rabbits poop changed at all and is it looking any smaller, darker, or irregularly shaped at all?

She's a great hay eater, she actually wolfs it down every time I replenish it. She does eat her body size in hay. The hay is moderately balanced between leafy strands and stems. She does get tree branches (apple branches that I dry myself). And her poop hasn't changed at all.
If she is craving more fiber, how can I help her out?

 

[JBun]

It may not be the fiber then. Usually when it is due to lack of sufficient fiber, the poops will also have gotten smaller due to slow motility.

Is your bun shedding at all right now? Does she always have hay available to her?


Brittsbunny, does your rabbit have access to hay all of the time(never runs out)?

And for both of you, are your buns at a healthy weight?

 

[BrittsBunny]

My bun is maintaining his body weight for his size (dwarf) but like you mentioned above he is molting right now so maybe that has something to do with his excessive poop chewing.

& yes he does have unlimited and accessible hay 24/7. He is a free roaming house bun (although he stays in my room during the day where his hay box is).

 

[JBun]

My bun is maintaining his body weight for his size (dwarf) but like you mentioned above he is molting right now so maybe that has something to do with his excessive poop chewing.

& yes he does have unlimited and accessible hay 24/7. He is a free roaming house bun (although he stays in my room during the day where his hay box is).

A few possibilities that I can think of. The molting may be slowing down his digestion, and so he is eating his poop to try and get more indigestible fiber(as this is what their fecal waste mostly is). This especially may be the case if you are seeing smaller than usual poop or lots of poop strung together. The solution would be to brush more(less fur ingested) and you can also offer more of the hard stems in his hay(as opposed to the leafy strands, and if he will actually eat the hard stems). The stems have more indigestible fiber in them, which is what stimulates a rabbits gut motility and helps improve it. You can also offer rabbit safe tree branches like apple(pesticide free) and willow(the small newer growth).

If you try that and it doesn't seem to make a difference after several days, and/or he hasn't had smaller than usual poop or lots strung together, it's also possible it is due to a craving for more protein. When a rabbit sheds, their protein need increases(for the new fur growth). If your rabbit doesn't have kidney or bladder sludge issues(from excess calcium), you can try adding a little bit of leafy alfalfa into the diet. You want to start with a small amount and gradually increase, and keep an eye on your buns urine to make sure it doesn't get sludgy or have too much calcium sediment. Also keep an eye on the poop to make sure it doesn't change.

Then there is the possibility that it has nothing to do with diet and it is just one of those weird things rabbits decide to do. Maybe he's decided he is supposed to clean up after himself

 

[BrittsBunny]

Thank you for your input!

However, his poops are of normal size and they are not strung together.

As for hay, I have been trying to get him less mature timothy just because I felt like he was wasting a lot of hay/eating less. He needs to have his teeth poss floated...he's next on the list once my horse gets his teeth done this month.

Anyway, I can't worry too much because at least he's pooping! It's just a bit odd because he has never done this before to this extent.

 

[JBun]

Thank you for your input!

However, his poops are of normal size and they are not strung together.

As for hay, I have been trying to get him less mature timothy just because I felt like he was wasting a lot of hay/eating less. He needs to have his teeth poss floated...he's next on the list once my horse gets his teeth done this month.

Anyway, I can't worry too much because at least he's pooping! It's just a bit odd because he has never done this before to this extent.

I would suspect that your rabbits issue is dental problems then. If he is having trouble eating hay because of his teeth, then this could very well be the reason your rabbit is eating his poop, to try and get more fiber, or even just more food if you feed limited pellets, as he can't eat the hay well and so is still hungry once the pellets are gone. He's not having trouble eating the pellets too is he?

If you haven't already, take a look at the front incisors to make sure they aren't causing the problem. If they are ok, then it is likely molar spurs or a possible tooth infection. One thing that may help with your rabbits teeth if it is molar spurs, is to try orchard grass hay. It is usually pretty leafy, so may be easier for your bun to eat, and it is high in silica, which can help wear down sharp points on the molars. And if it is molar spurs causing the problem and they aren't too bad, then the orchard grass may help enough that you won't have to get a dental done. If however, your bun still is having problems eating the softer orchard grass and isn't eating much of it, then it would be good to get your rabbit into the vet right away to have his teeth checked, as the lack of hay eating could lead to other issues like weight loss, increased dental issues, slowing gut motility and cecal dysbiosis causing mushy poop, and there is always the risk of GI stasis developing because of it, which will make things much more complicated and difficult to take care of. So if your horses teeth aren't really bad, it may be better to have your bun seen to first.

In the meantime, you need to make sure your rabbit is getting enough food so he doesn't lose weight and have another issue develop. If he won't eat much hay, even the orchard grass, but still eats pellets without a problem, one thing you can try is to buy some plain timothy hay pellets used for horses. You can usually get them at a feed store. The only thing with them though, is that they usually only come in large 40-50 lb bags, but they aren't very expensive. This can help ensure your bun is getting enough fiber from a hay source, and enough food until you can get his teeth taken care of. If he won't eat these and isn't eating enough hay or pellets, the other thing you can try is softening the pellets in warm water, to make them easier for him to eat. The important thing is just making sure he is getting enough food and nutrition that a secondary problem doesn't develop until the teeth are taken care of.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/D_problems1.htm
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

 

[doodlebugger]

We had a bun like this, and we started adding some orchard grass hay to his cage once a day, and that seemed to satisfy him. I don't know if he was just being picky about the Timothy hay that we provided, or if he just likes the softer orchard grass (because he doesn't have any teeth problems), but he was molting at the time and I think that had a lot to do with it.