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Forum DIET & CARE Bunny brushing & cecals questions

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    • Bibi's Mom
      Participant
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        Hi guys, I’m a proud new owner of a wonderful and sweet 3 month old Dwar Lop bun bun.

        I’ve had her for a week almost, and I get anxious with every little thing she does. I have done a lot of research on bunnies prior to adopting her.

        First little background, bunny Bibi is a very sweet, calm happy little bun. When she came home, the very second day she was already doing her binkies and showed no signs of shyness. She eats well, drinks well, poops way more than well, she sleeps on and off during daytime and is quite the little rascal at night when she becomes playful.

        She doesn’t mind being cuddled and loves her pets. Since day one during petting she relaxes and lays down and does her bunny purring. Overall very lovely personality and sweet little bun.

        I have two small questions however.

        She’s a long haired bunny, especially around her neck, ears and bum. She loves being brushed, despite her being here with me for such short time, she loves the attention. BUT. she gets very antsy when the brush reaches her bum, or the area above her tail. I’m using a nice soft brush which she loves, its good at removing loose hair. I want to be a good mommy, and I’m concerned with hairballs. Today she finally layed flat on top of her wooden house and allowed me to brush her, she turned around for me and i brushed her head, back, sides and even her bum for a short while. When she decided that was enough she hopped up, sat and started grooming her paws.

        So I’m wondering, since she made this tiny amount of progress and let me get near her bum finally, is it okay if I let her get comfortable with brushing as I have been, gaining her trust, or is it urgent and needs to be adressed right away?

        How do I succefully get her bum all brushed off without sacrificng her trust and not hurting her? Any advice on how? I noticed that she does like to drink some water and groom herself right after, between or before.

        And now for the poop questions.

        As mentioned, she eats well, lots of hay, she loves her pellets, as well as a bundle of persly or fresh basil leaves each day, few crunches of carrot or ocassional bite of fruit. She poops and pees into her litter box, I find 1-2 cecals every day on top of her bedding.

        Now bunnies are supposedly to consume their cecals. I have never seen her do so. She will even stomp them flat when she plays.

        However, today i was cleaning the top of her house where she sleeps. There was some regula bunny poo on it and i tried to get it off. She jumped up on the roof, sniffed my hand… and ate the poo as if it was a treat… Now I’m wondering if she mistook it for a treat or is this common? Do all bunnies consume their cecals? Do some eat poo and its normal?

        Sorry for the long post and thank you for reading!

        P.S She was the only kit in the litter, no brothers or sisters, I thought it would be worth mentioning.


      • bunnyfriend
        Participant
        2368 posts Send Private Message

          As for the brushing, it’s not urgent. Go slow with her and you will gain her trust. It’s just like how when bunnies are babies you should get them used to having their feet touched to make nail clipping easier later on.

          In theory, rabbits are supposed to eat all their cecals. You most likely won’t even see them or notice her eating them. I have found that once in a while I’ll see one in the litterbox. This is a sign that bunny may have too much protein in her diet. What brand of pellets is she eating and how much? Also what kind of hay? Too much alfalfa hay can cause this “problem”. It is not uncommon for a bunny to eat a normal poo or two once in a while, don’t worry!

          It sounds like your new bunny is adjusting well and she has a caring owner, have fun with her (: I adopted a lop bunny last week too, she’s 11 weeks old (not my first bun though). Welcome to BinkyBunny!


        • Tate
          Participant
          734 posts Send Private Message

            Hi and welcome!
            For the cecals: Bibi’s still young and her digestive tract is still going through minor changes. It’s not uncommon or unhealthy for a 3 month old rabbit to leave a few extra cecals behind. This should clear up soon- perhaps a month or two. If it’s still happening at that time or you notice over the next few weeks that she’s leaving more and more, that’s when you can start assessing her diet or take her to a vet. When I got my Holland Lop at 7 weeks, his cecal production was greater and greater… at it’s worst, he was probably producing about 50% cecals and 50% regular poop! He was cleared by the vet and that’s when I started looking at other pellets. The one he is on now has the lowest protein content of any rabbit food I’ve seen and he’s producing normally now.
            Generally, you will never actually see them eat their cecals. They eat them, uhm… straight out of the “oven”, so to speak. My boys only eat their cecals in the middle of grooming.
            As for eating regular poop, it’s not unheard of and not harmful in any way. Nothing to be concerned about.


          • BinkyBunny
            Moderator
            8776 posts Send Private Message

              You’ve gotten some good advice regarding the cecals. I wanted to add some advice about brushing a bunny’s bum. So far every bunny I have had has not liked you to spend too much time by their bum (near their tail). I think it’s instinctual. Anyway, I have gotten a bunny more comfortable with it over time. When I brush/comb I follow it with my hand, and just gradually spend more time and the moment I cant tell the bunny is started to get upset about it, I start again from their head.   You also have to be careful not to poke their tail with comb or brush prongs as you brush downward.

              There have been times when I just HAD to brush some crazy tuffs that were on the sides and backend —- like a bed skirt! LOL. And the only way to do it was to do a forced combing session. I don’t do those often though. I wouldn’t advise doing that this early on though as you want to gain more trust first if possible. My bunnies will forgive me quickly with such indiscretions, but they’ve had years to trust me and know that regardless of what I do, they won’t get hurt. They may get upset with me for a few minutes after and thump…but a treat makes them come running and all is forgiven and we can go back to snuggling.

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          Forum DIET & CARE Bunny brushing & cecals questions