Hello! I’ve been reading this forum for a while now, and I’ve gotten some excellent advice from old topics regarding my new rabbit’s care. I have a 13-week-old New Zealand Red boy, who I’ve had for a little over a month now and who is my dearest little friend. I’ll admit, I’ve become a bit neurotic regarding his care. I just want him to be healthy and his life to be perfect, so I worry way too much!
I have noticed something really weird, which is worrying me. My bunny is completely litter trained, he never does any business anywhere other than in his litter box. He’s a free-range bunny, and lives in our rabbit-proofed living room and kitchen with his own enclosure in the corner of the living room, that includes his litter box, food, etc. I always empty the poop out of his litter box daily in the mornings, and change all the litter every three to four days.
The past few days, I’ve noticed that after I empty his litter box in the morning he doesn’t poop again until the evening. For example, today, I cleaned out his litter box around 10AM (when I woke up) and his first poops appeared at 6:30PMish. This is quite a common “rhythm”. Based on my previous rabbits and my knowledge of them in general, I’ve been led to believe that they should be pooping all around the clock. When his poop does come out, it looks normal and he has fully formed regular cecotopes (the few I’ve seen when I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and happened to glance in his litter box before he gets around to eating them). But he just doesn’t poop during the day! Over the course of the day, he mostly sleeps, but he intermittently gets up and eats his hay, drinks water, chews on his willow toys, and eats any fresh greens I give him (usually cucumber and arugula, with the occasional carrot or apple slice as a treat). He’s quite passive during the day, but in the morning and evening he runs around and binkies and seems like a happy little baby bunny in general. He eats the bulk of his food at night and in the evenings, so I do think he eats enough in general, especially since he loves his hay. He’s never refused a treat, or even declined to eat hay when I’ve put it in front of him.
So.. please help me with my paranoia! Can it be normal for a bunny to only poop at night, or should I be booking some time with his veterinarian? I have a really great vet who specializes in exotics.
EDIT // Oh, his feed schedule is as follows: lots of timothy hay available around the clock, with a small handful of dried dandelion crushed into it whenever I refill his hay manger to encourage him to eat more hay. He gets a deciliter of Rabbit Royale herb mix in the evenings. Every morning and sometimes during the day, I give him some fresh, watery greens. He drinks from a ceramic water crock, which I wash and refill once a day and change the water once more before I go to bed every evening.