Is it normal for this much poop?!

[lauratunes12]

So I know she as a high fiber diet, but Faith poops. a lot. All over her cage. We usually need to change all the bedding in her cage every day, though we don't, because that would get expensive. We just scoop as much as we can get, because she poops everywhere, then buries it. Then when we take her out and have her on our couch with us, (we've gotten smart and put a towel down) she poops like crazy. Every time we turn around there is at least 10 new pellets.

I just picked them up before I started this post, and now there are 8 new pellets.

She's a Holland Lop, so she is on a high fiber diet. But still, is it normal for a bunny to poop THIS MUCH?! :rollseyes

She's also peed on the couch 4 times in the past hour.

EDIT: She's only 7 weeks old, so very small. She was apparently weaned at 5 weeks, because her mom had to go to the county fair. She poops more than she is big.

Also, she eats pellets(not sure what kind at the moment..) and gets an apple wood treat every once in a while.

 

[Imbrium]

first up, set up a litterbox in the cage if you don't already have one. keep her confined to the cage for a few days so it really sinks in that the cage is "her space"... after that, try giving her a little more space, but not a ton.

when I got my bunns at 7 and 8 weeks old, I kept them caged the first few days other than taking them outside in a playpen. then I used a big playpen set up around the cage (leaving the side door open 24/7) with an 8'x10' tarp folded in half underneath and later went to two playpens (well, 1 1/2) so that they had the whole half the tarp to run on. now they're 12.5-13.5 weeks with a whole 8'x10' tarp sized pen to run in. their habits in the cage have always been bad - they'll have at least one pee corner in addition to the box and will leave a ton of poops both in and beside the box while eating hay (which I think is partially because they can't both sit in the litterbox at the same time any more).

they really do poop obscene amounts for such tiny little bunnies! it was very easy for me to get my babies to establish their cage as the place where 95% of the poop ends up, though. there's always a few stray poops around the pen but it's easy to find a non-poopy corner to sit in and then just sweep it all every 2-3 days. they've also been great about only ever peeing in the cage except for a few incidents in the last week that may be due to hormones starting to kick in.

(my holland lop was 8 weeks when I brought her home and my lionhead was 7 weeks)

impeccable litter habits generally won't happen until after bunnies have been spayed/neutered, but you can still make a LOT of progress with them as babies.

oh, and prepare to be amazed at how your tiny bunny will grow in the next month! I got mine on 7/21... remembered I had a kitchen scale and started weighing them on august first.

Gaz (my holland lop)'s weights:
8/1 - 10 oz (9.5 weeks)
8/11 - 15.5 oz (11 weeks)
8/13 - 16.5 oz
8/14 - 17 oz
8/19 - 22 oz (12 weeks)
8/28 - 26.5 oz (13.5 weeks)

btw, tiny little holland lop nomming veggies = SUPER cute! I was so excited when mine hit 12 weeks and I could start introducing veggies to her diet

 

[agnesthelion]

A baby does poop more (for their size) than an adult, I think. Also, they are more apt to just poop anywhere at that age.

Also, since she is new, it is her way of claiming territory and marking that it's hers. This will stop or at least improve with time. And yes, especially if you get her spayed.

First of all, don't use bedding. It is a mess, expensive, and confusing for a bunny to learn litter habits.

I use baby blankets in Agnes's cage. Then, she has a small cat litter box where she goes. Rarely do I find a stray poop outside the box. And if so, I can just shake out the baby blankets. Pee is 100% in the box.

For litter, you can't use cat clay litter as it's not safe for a bunny. There are lots of options. In fact, do a search on here and there are several threads on what people use. Me, I use wood stove pellets (natural with no accelerants) which costs $5 for a 40 lb bag.

Most likely she will pick a corner she prefers to go pee. Poop might be everywhere yet, but she'll get there. Put some urine soaked bedding in her litterbox so she smells that's where she should go.

Agnes was trained in a couple weeks. And especially since getting spayed.
good luck!

 

[Imbrium]

I do use bedding in the cage for now 'cause the litter box in it is a bit small for them and they haven't figured out the bigger litter-box outside the cage. honestly, I stick with it now only 'cause it's what they're used to and is working ok - I had no clue when I got my bunnies that most people didn't give theirs bedding. I'm also kinda worried that, since some of the corners of the cage have been peed in excessively, that they might continue to pee outside the box even if I took the bedding away. however, I use a different kind of litter in the litterbox than I do in the cage (I use paper pellet stuff for rabbits).

and yeah, definitely stay away from kitty litter - the clumping stuff can cause GI blockages if ingested and the non-clumping stuff is still very dusty, which is bad for bunnies.

I've tried putting soiled bedding in the litter-box, putting it in whatever corner they've been peeing in, etc. but they still always pick a second corner in addition to the box (we're down from 4-6 pee spots, though, which is awesome!). but... they keep it in the cage, which is all I really care about for the moment.

 

[Ellie]

Good luck with the litter training!
I know when I brought Buster home (my first bunny) I was FREAKING out at the amount of poop... I STILL don't understand how something that small can poop so much. The funniest thing is when he binkies he can't help himself but poop while in the air. :confused2:

You'll get used to it. It seems a lot less when they start to use their litter box properly. Buster still leaves 5 or 6 poops around his cage every day, but those are easy to pick up with a kleenex. I throw them into his litter box to make him know that that's where they're supposed to be.

 

[MiniLopHop]

LOL lots of poop is good. You will learn to be a poop expert now that you have rabbits. I have six buns and if you gave me a row of samples I could tell you which poo came from which bun bum.

It's when they stop making mounds of poo you need to worry.

 

[agnesthelion]

MiniLopHop wrote:

LOL lots of poop is good. You will learn to be a poop expert now that you have rabbits. I have six buns and if you gave me a row of samples I could tell you which poo came from which bun bum.

It's when they stop making mounds of poo you need to worry.

Oh gosh brandy that cracked me up AND I find it quite awesome that you can identify which poop to which bun :biggrin2:

 

[MiniLopHop]

agnesthelion wrote:

MiniLopHop wrote:

LOL lots of poop is good. You will learn to be a poop expert now that you have rabbits. I have six buns and if you gave me a row of samples I could tell you which poo came from which bun bum.

It's when they stop making mounds of poo you need to worry.

Oh gosh brandy that cracked me up AND I find it quite awesome that you can identify which poop to which bun :biggrin2:

You should have seen my husbnad's face when I tried to explain how to tell the difference. He thought I was totally off my rocker! However, with everybun sharing space it is important because Panda tends towards tummy troubles. If I can't pick out who's poo is who's then I wouldn't know if someone stopped going.

Apparently this argument was not impressive. I was dubbed the poo police. :big wink:

 

[ldoerr]

I can tell Beauty and Shiny Things poo apart. Shiny Things poo is about 2x the size of Beautys. I have found it very interesting to know the difference. They get to run around out of their cage together most days (unless I am SUPPER BISSY). It has been interesting when I go to clean the kitchen up after I put them up. I can tell who has pooped and who has not. It used to be Shiny Things pooping up a storm but now it is Beauty.

It is easier to clean Shiny Things litter box than Beautys. Shiny Things's poo does not fall through the scoop when I clean the boxes. Beauties does.

O and pooping up a storm is normal.

 

[Blue eyes]

Rabbits are not at all like dogs who only poo once per day. A rabbit can have over 200 poos in one day!
As minilop hop said, it's lack of poos that are the worry.

 

[lauratunes12]

Thanks guys, we will get a litter box ASAP. She also poops on me, but not on Kiley, although she's pee'd on her. Random or marking?