Not eating night poop (Cecotropes)

[lostrabbitfound]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section folks. My husband bought me a mini lop as a surprise a couple of weeks ago. He bought him from a farmer who apparently has lots of rabbits that he breeds (not an ideal person to buy off). I am guessing he is anywhere from 8-10 weeks old. I have noticed that he has not been eating his night poop, which he poops also through out the day. He has no mobility issues such as leg problems to stop him from eating them. Any ideas as to why he isn't eating them? I find at least 4 or 5 in his cage per day. Could he be pooping out more than this, eating them & leaving these leftovers that i'm seeing?

 

[MyBabyHasPaws]

He could be eating what he needs and leaving what he doesnt. I believe too many night droppings is an indication of too rich of a diet. What are you feeding the little guy?

 

[LakeCondo]

Maria is right. He should be eating nothing but hay & alfalfa [not timothy] pellets, both in unlimited quantities. If he were a little older you could cut back some of the pellets, but rather too many cecals than not enough nutrition.

It's possible though that he doesn't know how to eat them, or that he's supposed to. If you're there right after he leaves 1 or 2, could you pick them up in a paper towel & hand feed them to him?

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Most babies don't eat them at first. Fraggles used to leave them and the vet explained that babies are to busy with other things to be worried about them. As long there properly formed then its fine.

 

[Imbrium]

thanks for putting the "(Cecotropes)" part, that let me google the term to find out exactly what you were talking about because it sounded like it might be the same issue I've been encountering with my 11-12 week holland lop (aka mini lop outside the US). now that I've seen the pictures, I'm sure that it is. I've been a little worried about it, but they were in for a vet check-up a week and a half ago and I mentioned that a lot of her poops seemed moister than they should be but that she didn't actually have diarrhea and he gave her a clean bill of health.

I got her at 8 weeks old and I definitely would've noticed if it had happened in the first few days I had her... they were on the pellets the breeder had been feeding (she gave me a big bag of them, no clue if they are timothy or alfalfa) and timothy hay (because the breeder had been feeding timothy) - it seems like this problem started right after I switched them over from timothy hay to alfalfa hay (they are still eating the same pellets) and has continued ever since. could that be the problem and if so, should I switch them back? I currently offer some timothy alongside the alfalfa (both types available 24/7) but they mostly just eat the alfalfa. I also limit their pellet intake slightly even though they're babies - the vet suggested I do so because my lop was getting pretty chubby. (the lop's almost 12 weeks old and the lionhead is almost 11 so they don't get any fresh foods yet - only pellets and hay)

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html#babies says after 12 weeks I can start introducing veggies one at a time in small quantities but because of the poop issues, I've been hesitant to make any changes to my lop's diet - should I go ahead try to slowly introduce her to veggies once she hits 12 weeks, since it sounds like her poop issues are nothing to worry about?

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

I noticed the cocotrophes around some of my bunnies' cages when they were little but as they got older, they stopped leaving them. So yeah, I agree with Katie-it won't last forever.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Some of ours never leave any behind while it seems like the rest either don't eat them or don't consume all.

 

[Mariah]

My fuzzy holland lop did the exact same thing for a couple of weeks after I first brought him home. I freaked out and took a fecal sample to my
vet. Turns out he had pinworms and coccidia. If your bunny came
from a farm, I would also have his stool tested just in case. I treated for
both parasites (two different medications) and the cecotrophs
stopped. He is now eating them over night. The odd time
I'll find a tiny bit left over though. I had his stool tested again, and he's I'm the clear now.

Just a thought!