Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE Long soft poop?

Viewing 16 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • BayleyBunny
      Participant
      17 posts Send Private Message

        My mini lop is almost 9 weeks old, she’s only eating hay (Timothy hay) and pellet mix (with hard corn, seeds ect).

        Lately her poop has been stinky and it’s long and soft. It’s like those cecotrope but longer and she’s done about 6.

        Yesterday she did 3 long ones then pooped normal. Today she’s had about 5, her bottom doesn’t seem to be dirty though.

        Not sure if this is normal, or what I can do to help her?


      • tobyluv
        Participant
        3310 posts Send Private Message

          The pellets that you feed your rabbit should only be plain pellets. They should not contain corn, nuts, seeds or colored bits. Some rabbits do produce excess cecotopes that they don’t eat. That may be what you are seeing or it could be that your rabbit’s diet, specifically the pellet mix, is causing the smelly soft droppings. Change to a good plain pellet, such as Oxbow and see it that makes a difference. Otherwise, you may need your vet to perform a fecal test to make sure that there aren’t any problems.


        • drwil
          Participant
          191 posts Send Private Message

            Tobyluv is right. Fancy rabbit food messed up my bunny and gave her the same problem your bunny has. Switched to greens and hay and the problem disappeared.


          • BayleyBunny
            Participant
            17 posts Send Private Message

              She’s had it for weeks it’s only started recently. Isn’t she too young for greens? I keep getting told 12 weeks for greens?


            • BayleyBunny
              Participant
              17 posts Send Private Message

                There aren’t a lot of pellets in the mix, the breeders gave me the mix. Her parents had it and ect ect


              • Bam
                Moderator
                16838 posts Send Private Message

                  You can ease out the mix and introduce a healthier pellet, like f ex Oxbow or Science Selective. Here’s a list of rabbit feed, you can make comparisons and find one you like. The http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp.
                  Don’t do a rapid change, but change slowly. 3 weeks is recommended for horses, horses are hind gut fermenters just like rabbits. First week you substitute 1/4 of the old food for new food, 2nd week you do 50/50, 3rd week you do 3/4 new food, 1/4 old. 4th week – well, obviously, just new food. You can do this even slower, but you should not do it faster. A young bun doesn’t have a fully matured GI bacterial flora, and gut bacteria are essential for good digestion, so you should go slow.

                  It’s often the case with mixes, the bun picks out the tastiest bits, especially if she’s on unlimited feed. “Cherry-picking” like that often causes a gut imbalance, because the bun picks out the bits that are the highest in simple sugars. When you fill up her food-bowl, has she finished all of it or has she left f ex whole oats and the pellets or other healthy bits? Rabbits have very little feeling for what will be good for them in the long run.

                  As long as her butt doesn’t get dirty, a few extra cecals are not a big issue. But you want to give her the healthiest eating habits you can. Lots of hay + good quality junior pellets.


                • BayleyBunny
                  Participant
                  17 posts Send Private Message

                    No she eats it all and it’s not an unlimited supply. I’ll see those on the link don’t know what’s available in Australia.


                  • Bam
                    Moderator
                    16838 posts Send Private Message

                      Oh, ok, I don’t have a list for Australia. Oxbow is available in Australia though, but perhaps you need to order it online. You can use the figures (nutritional values) stated in the article if you go and try to find a pellet. If she doesn’t get unlimited feed, I’d suggest you cut back a little on the feed and add more hay for a more beneficial carbs to fiber ratio. (Grass hay should always be unlimited of course).

                      Generally, anyway. excess cecals in a young bun isn’t really worrisome unless it gets to poopy butt – that requires butt baths and careful drying or brushing with starch powder to get the poop out and that’s bothersome. A diet too high in starch and/or too low in indigestible fiber is often the cause. You often have to experiment some until you get it right. You can also use a probiotic for small pets to help balance the gut flora.

                      Here’s some info from the House Rabbit Society on the subject of intermittent soft cecotropes. Long leftover cecals is NOT diarrhea, I want to stress that so even if the article has info on diarrhea, never-mind that. No need to scare you! The info on ISC could however be of value to you, I think.

                      http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/


                    • LBJ10
                      Moderator
                      16870 posts Send Private Message

                        I agree. While extra cecals are common in young rabbits, the pellet/seed mix is not good for bunnies at any age. It’s better to switch to a healthy food so you can avoid problems down the road.


                      • BayleyBunny
                        Participant
                        17 posts Send Private Message

                          She always has unlimited hay in her cage, should we use the saw dust for bedding? Sorry my first time as a bunny owner so I just haven’t any idea about a few things.

                          Only one long soft poop today, otherwise it’s all been good!

                          I really appreciate all the help and advice!


                        • BayleyBunny
                          Participant
                          17 posts Send Private Message

                            I’ve stopped the other food today and from what I can see she’s only done the soft smelly poops. It isn’t runny, it’s quite sticky and it’s given her a dirty bottom because she sits in it and it’s so difficult to come off! Not sure what to do, she’s had her hay today and not any of the other food since this morning. What do I do? I’m so worried! I can’t afford a Vet right now either


                          • BayleyBunny
                            Participant
                            17 posts Send Private Message

                              She’s done two normal little poop’s and is urinating a lot. I’m confused …


                            • Azerane
                              Moderator
                              4688 posts Send Private Message

                                There is only one Australian brand of pellet that I would class as good, the other two good ones are from overseas. Vetafarm is a good quality Australian brand, available from most pet stores and online. Oxbow is a very good brand from the USA, you can buy it from selected vet clinics, if you look at the Oxbow Australia website it has a list of clinics that stock Oxbow products and just ring the one closest to you. If they don’t have it in stock they will usually order it. I have seen Oxbow in a single pet store, you can also order it online. Burgess Excel is from the UK, it’s also a very good brand, and the most expensive of the three. Pet Barn stocks it and you can buy it online as well. Online sites are My Pet Warehouse, Pet Barn and Guinea Pigs Australia.

                                Another important reason for phasing out the pellets with the mix, is that corn doesn’t actually digest well and is well known for causing blockages in rabbits. The excess cecals could also be from the hay that you are feeding. If you are feeding a different hay to the breeder that is a bit more rich, it can cause excess cecals. Once when I got a new bale of hay for Bandit, it was very fresh, just cut the day before and very green. For a few days after having that new hay he had excess cecals but he adjusted with time. Sometimes young rabbits also seem like they produce a lot because they simply don’t eat them, so that may be the case too that she’s simply not eating them when she’s supposed to be. She’s still pooping formed poops and eating well so I don’t think you need to worry about a vet visit at this stage. Young rabbits just have more sensitive guts.

                                In regards to the saw dust as bedding, it’s not a good choice. You can use kiln dried pine shavings, but they MUST be kiln dried. Do you have a litter tray for her? Many people only use bedding or litter in a litter tray. I use wood pellets, Oz Pet brand but there’s a couple of others that I can’t remember the name of. You can also used pelleted recycled newspaper, Back 2 Nature or Breeder’s Choice. If you want to have bedding in the rest of the cage you can use straw or hay as bedding as well, you can also use fleece blankets providing she doesn’t chew heavily on them. A little nibble here and there is ok, but if it’s a lot of chewing and ingesting you must take it away, don’t use towels or other similar items because the long fibers can cause gut problems.

                                Also, generally rabbits do pee a lot, they’re eating very dry food all day so drink a lot of water, and it has to go somewhere!

                                Hope that helps


                              • BayleyBunny
                                Participant
                                17 posts Send Private Message

                                  I didn’t think to ask what hay the breeders used, she’s always had Timothy hay here. I got a new batch two days ago as it had run out. It looked pretty much the same, and she’s been here three and a half weeks. I have only seen two little formed poops today the rest were soft and sticky. She did nibble some of it, but she got a lot of it stuck to her bum and pass from laying in it and stepping in it.

                                  She’s been drinking as usual but her pee seems better it’s how it’s meant to look. I’m thinking the feed stuff was making her wee orange and stuff, she seems to be doing more wee and clear.

                                  I haven’t seen her do more normal poops this evening though.


                                • BayleyBunny
                                  Participant
                                  17 posts Send Private Message

                                    Forgot to add we are just using hay for bedding and in her litter tray.


                                  • BayleyBunny
                                    Participant
                                    17 posts Send Private Message

                                      Maybe I am stressing too much we just checked and there’s lots of normal looking poops in her cage.


                                    • Azerane
                                      Moderator
                                      4688 posts Send Private Message

                                        That’s good to hear that you’re starting to see normal poops. It sounds like it could have been the muesli mix pellets causing it. It’s not uncommon for rabbit urine to turn different colours from foods that they’re eating, some leafy greens can also change the colour of the urine and it can sometimes be orange, red, or even purple!

                                        It sounds like things are coming under control though Whatever brand of pellets that you decide to go with from here, introduce them slowly when you give them too her. A couple of pellets the first couple of days, if things are well, a teaspoon the next day and so on. Gradual changes are the best changes when it comes to rabbit diets

                                    Viewing 16 reply threads
                                    • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                                    Forum DIET & CARE Long soft poop?