Small poop (sorry)

[ldoerr]

I have been meaning to post this for a few days now but just kept forgetting until I saw the other poop thread and did not want to hijack that.

I have noticed some REALLY tiny hard poops from my rabbits lately. I do not know who is leaving them for sure but expect that it is Beauty. They are rough shaped, not perfectly round. They are also VERY dry. I only see a few of them (~20) each day so assume that the rabbit is also producing some normal poops. Does anybody know what is going on? I have only noticed this since feeding Oxbow (been feeding oxbow for a couple of months and am switching to purina this weekend). They always have access to hay, but do not eat much if any of it. Thoughts???

 

[JBun]

That's actually not a good sign. It's caused by a gut slowdown and is often the start of GI stasis. I'm aware that your rabbits don't eat a lot of hay, but whoever is having the problem really needs to be. That's what I would usually suggest for a problem like this. To get the poops back to normal and prevent stasis from setting in, pellets should be decreased and hay consumption increased. Giving leafy greens should help out alot. I would definitely avoid all sugary treats or grains for the time being, as giving them could be the thing that causes a full stasis episode. If you absolutely can't get them to eat more hay, still decrease the pellets and feed more greens. You'll want to hold off switching feeds until you get this resolved, as trying to switch feeds while this is going on, could also complicate the digestive problems. Also, if they drink out of a bottle, offer a water dish, because rabbits drink better out of a dish, and the rabbit having this problem needs more moisture in it's diet, and definitely increase the amount of leafy greens as well.

 

[ldoerr]

I am going out of town this weekend for a friends HS graduation and am having someone look after the rabbits for me. I told him to give 1/4c of pellets per rabbit, give a bag of oat hay, and give fresh water. I am leaving Friday (tomorrow) and coming back Sunday. He is only taking care of them on Saturday. I do not think that there is a big problem going on. They have a few of these each day and have been having them for a couple of weeks or more now. I have not been buying greens for them because they go bad before I can use them and my parents are getting mad about me feeding them greens (long story). I do have a little cilantro that I can give them. The rabbits have 4 water bowls in their cage (1 on each level and 1 on each shelf). They attack the binky bunny oat hay that I give them each night (running really low, but just ordered 3 more from binkybunny.com). They are both nibbling on timothy hay as well.

 

[BinkyBunny]

Maybe hold off on any greens until they normalize? I'm not sure, but you are very bunny smart Maybe talk to your friend when you are away and see what happens with the poos?

 

[LakeCondo]

Can you start some grass seed or wheat berries & plant them? Sometimes rabbits will eat grass that way when they won't eat hay.

 

[ldoerr]

I do not think that is a possibility unfortunately.