Eating Poop

[Pipper]

Pipper recently starting eating her own poop. I promptly clean it up when she makes mistakes on the carpet or couch, but sometimes she's sneaky - she'll poop while sitting down next to me and slyly bend down and pick up a poop pellet and start chowing down. I read somewhere that wild rabbits do this to recycle nutrients, but are there any adverse health affects that I should be worried about? I haven't seen her do it in her cage, only when out, but I wouldn't know how to prevent it when no one's around.

 

[tamsin]

What sort of poop is it? Rabbits produce two types, a dark squidgy poop that looks a bit like a squished blackberry, and round hard poops. The first type they eat, usually as they are produced without touching the floor. The second are what you usually find in a litter tray.

 

[jujub793]

eating the berry shaped poop is normal....not so sure on the dry pellets??

 

[Pipper]

It looks like the round hard poops. Yep, that's them, she just did it again.

 

[jujub793]

well i suppose she could eat worse things...my rabbits sneak cat food lol. i wouldn't think their own poop pellets would do much harm...silly wabbit!!

 

[LindyS]

I know dogs eat their own poop. My whippet eats hers it's gross!!!!

 

[Pipper]

I think she knows I don't want her doing it, so she's so sneaky about it when she's around me! And yes, silly wabbit!

 

[tamsin]

It won't do her any harm but it's not really normal for her to do it either. Does she have plenty of fibre (hay) to eat? Can she access it easily when she's out of the cage?

 

[Tweetiepy]

Mine eat theirs too - just a bit. I asked the vet and she said that sometimes they'll eat them cuz there's still goodies in them. But yeah, they could eat worse.

 

[Pipper]

tasmin - I think you hit it spot on. When I let her out to play (which is always for hours and hours), I bring her litter box, pellets, and water out - but not the hay. She started eating her poop again, and at the same time I was reading your reply. I put down a bunch of hay and bam - she didn't eat her poop for the rest of the time. We'll see if this continues, or if she just has a nasty palate and idea of what yummy is. So thanks for throwing that out there! I feel silly for not having thought about it before.

 

[tamsin]

That's great! Bunnies do have a funny idea of yummy sometimes, lol.

 

[MILU]

I saw an article saying there are vitamins and stuff in bunny stuff... I guess you shouldn't worry about it, unless your bun eats more of that than real food.. What do you feed your bunny? Do you feed her with lots of fresh veggies and hay? Maybe she misses something in her diet! Make sure she has lots of hay, fresh dark green leaves (llke broccoli leaves, carrot tops, etc), something hard for her to chew (bunny teeth grow like our nails = always! So they need to chew a lot to "file" their teeth - make sure you give her hard things like pieces of wood, etc). You can also give her some banana chips or fruit as treats, bunnies LOVE them! I learned here on RO how to give strawberry tops to my bun.. it's a way to make buns less bored with their food - to have a good variety for them, not only pellets.

 

[Pipper]

Thanks for the advice! Pip is 14 weeks old, and from what I know, I'm not supposed to start feeding her veggies/fruits until she's about 6 months, but I will definitely do so when the time comes! She has Kaytee Timothy Pellets, Kaytee Timothy Hay, fresh water, and Kaytee Timothy Cubes (as a treat). She also has cardboard tubes and wood to chew on. Does this diet sound about right for a young bunny? Or is there something I should add?

 

[tamsin]

It's fine to feed fresh foods to a young bun. It's a bit of a myth you need to wait. It comes from the fact some breeders don't feed fresh foods, then someone buys a bun (often much too young) and feeds them loads (cos rabbits just eat carrots you know ) and the stress of the move plus being separated too early and having a big diet change triggers bloat/stasis. If a mummy bun gets greens then the babies will start eating them (and be just fine) as soon as they start on solids.

If you don't know whether your baby has eaten them before then give them a week or two to settle and then start with small amounts and build up gradually monitoring poop as you go.

 

[Pipper]

Awesome, then I will start gradually introducing her to greens. I should've gotten the hint that she was yearning for something else, since she literally hopped in my bowl of yogurt and blueberries! Thanks again, tasmin.

 

[Sweetie]

Tasmin knows about rabbits.

 

[Halucinate]

ewww my rabbit just did this to D:

bunnys sure do have a funny idea of nutrition.....