Length of Digestive System?

[Rainbow-Moon]

I have had many different animals in my life,from dogs and cats to pet rats lately. Unfortunately, I can'thave a dog where we are living now, and I am allergic to cats.

Next week we will be getting our first pet rabbit to live inside withus. I grew up on a farm that had meat rabbits, but I didn'tlike it even then. Rabbits are too cuddly to eat!

I've been reading all the posts I can here on this board, but haven'tseen anything about my question. So here goes!

I don't know how long it takes for a rabbit to digest and xcrete something they have eaten. Anyone know?

Thanks!

Sheri, soon to be owner of a lop.

 

[LittleMija2]

I think it all depends on what they eat. Largerparticles digest more quickly which is why hay is good to feed to abunny in its natural form because it stimulates the digestive system towork quickly.

Heres an article which has a bit of information on it :

Particle Sizes and Transit Times
Indigestible fiber is indigestible whether it's pulled off the bark ofa tree or blended into a feed, yet the size and type of the fiber canaffect the length of time it takes to pass through the GI(gastro-intestinal) tract.
Contrary to what you might expect, the large particles don't get stuckinside the rabbit while the small ones exit easily. It's the other wayaround.
Transit times of particles moving through the GI tract have beenmeasured, in several scientific studies, by placing markers in thefeed. High-fiber alfalfa meal, pelleted into large particles (up to3mm) moved through the digestive system in 14.1 hours in one study.When same high-fiber feed was ground to a finer size (1mm), it took15.9 hours to pass through the digestive tract.
Markers in a pelleted low-fiber high-starch feed passed in 20.1 hours(Gidenne 1992). Why are smaller fibers and high-starch feeds slower ingetting through? Because small particles and excess starch are sent tothe cecum for fermentation, and this takes extra time. Fluids and smallparticles are separated in the colon and moved backwards into the cecum(Cheeke 1987), while large particles are passed quickly through thecolon.
One study used particles up to 5mm in marked feed, which passed in 5hours (Sakaguchi 1992). This may closely approximate the size of chewedhay. I can say with strong certainty--from caring for disabled,diapered rabbits on a monitored diet with strictly scheduled feedingtimes--that the oat hay I give my rabbits in the morning is passed bythe afternoon (4-5 hours).
Fast and Slow
So which is more desirable, fast moving or slow moving particles? Someof both are needed: a sizable quantity of coarse indigestible organicmaterial to keep the gut working at an optimum rate and enough (but nottoo much) digestible material to be absorbed in the small intestine andcecum.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Welcome to the forum Rainbow-Moon,

I thought it would pass through quicker, the way they poop all the time.

Pebbles' poop during the day is large dusty brown and almost crumbly. Around 7 - 9 cm in size.

In the evening, after her vegs they turn outsmaller, darker, and hard. Around 6 cm insize.

Rainbows!

 

[Rainbow-Moon]

Thanks Much! That's a lot of info...

So we can expect anything we feed them to take from 5 hours up to 20hours. That's good to know. If they eatsomething new, we can watch and know when it should beout oftheir system, so we can know if it caused upset or not.

Thanks Again for the info!

Sheri

 

[pamnock]

Excellent post Littlemija2!

The total length of the rabbit's digestive system is approx. 272cm (over 8 feet).

Here's more info on the actualsizes of individualpartsof the rabbit digestive systemhttp://www.fao.org/docrep/t1690E/t1690e04.htm



Pam

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

Littlemija2 That issome of the most interesting information I have read in a long, longtime! I sure wish we had more cool stuff like that around! GREATpost!

Raspberry

 

[LittleMija2]

Glad to be helpful. I actualy researched this awhile ago back when mija was getting her spay. It took a while findingthe article the first time round. Here's another good link with adetailed picture as well.

http://www.nixonandmarshall.co.uk/rabbitdigestiontract.html

 

[pamnock]

Great link! I'm adding that one to my favorites list!

Pam