Hi I am a new bunny owner and I have a question. I was out of town for a week and had my husband and children take care of my Mini Rex. Well now I notice that she is dropping big kinda squishy poop. She ususally eats like a pig but she hasn\'t eaten a lot today. She was eating a critter mix while I was gone. it had seeds and dry corn in it. Is that bad? I have only found one site that said corn and seeds are bad. Why are they bad and what do they do. Is this why my bunny\'s poop is funny? it isn\'t all of the poop that big. I just changed her box this morning and only 3 poops were like this since then. about 7 hours ago. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Do the droppings look greenish, soft and are clustered together kind of like grapes?
If so, you are most likely looking at cecotropes. Rabbits have an interesting practice called coprophagy. This means they consume these special droppings directly from the anus. This is the method whereby the rabbit obtains vitamin B12 (which is synthesized in the hindgut).
What I have seen is that if the diet is a bit rich, the rabbit may produce more of these cecotropes than normal and not be inclined to eat them. (I had a Mini Rex doe that this occurred with.)
Though a bit of corn or seeds is OK on occasion, I think it is probably not a very good diet. Try giving your Mini Rex straight grass hay for about 3 days - nothing else, and see if she doesn\'t get back to normal. I would then feed a lower protein pellet (12 - 14%), supplemented with a pinch of old fashioned oatmeal once a day and a bit of fresh greens (but very sparingly). A lot of the smaller breeds are more touchy when it comes to their food. Also, let your bunny out to run a bit. I find exercise does wonders as far as getting the digestive tract and appetite up to speed.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
Thanks for your advice. I do let her out everyday. But she really loves her cage. She used to run the whole house but she has caused too much damage. Now she is limited to the kitchen area but it is quite a big area. But she doesn\'t go running much.
While I am at it can I ask another question? Do I need to trim her nails? they are pretty long and I wonder if that is why she doesn\'t like to run around on the vinyl floor. I am afraid to do it myself. She is supper sweet but she did try to nip at me last time I tried. Any suggestions? will the Vet do this? I appreciate any advice.
A lot of vets will trim nails for you, but it\'s a lot cheaper to do this yourself. Perhaps the vet would demonstrate for you how to hold your rabbit as well as how to trim the nails. There is a bit of technique involved unless the rabbit is extremely docile and used to being handled a lot.
It does sound like your bunny could use a trimming.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
Thank you again. I will check in to it.
Just a quick tip on nail trimming. Our vet just showed us how to do this: He suggested having someone help you by holding the bunny wrapped in a towel (in case your bunny tries to jump like mine). When they have a good hold on the bunny, then you can trim using rabbit clippers. Its always best to take less than too much so as to not get to close to the quick.
Its a challenge to trim Petey\'s nails, but its better when my husband holds him. Hope this helps.
I trim Honey\'s nails myself. I have someone else hold him, usually in their lap with a towel, and one hand gripping his ears and the other hand covering his eyes. The ear gripping seems harsh, but you\'ll find that a rabbit who has his ears held usually won\'t move much-and covering his eyes almost puts him to sleep!! I trim with cat nail scissors, and I do this about once a month.
My Honey also has a few SQUISHY POOPS, and he eats a dry pellet blend with seeds and corn in it. I tried to put him on strictly pellets, but he did not eat it for days. I went back to the \"gormet blend\" and he ate like a pig! He loves the corn, flavored pellets and seeds, and I figure that\'s why he has the poop problem. He also gets timothy hay and some leafy greens, but I still have to scrape the poop out of his cage sometimes. I figure if the food is one of his few preferences, I will submit to it! He\'s a good rabbit otherwise-never goes to the bathroom outside of this cage, chews only a little, and is friendly to everyone he meets. Chinese food has the same effect on me, and I still eat it occasionally! HA!
Our buck Thumper lives in the barn. He doesn\'t get out as much as the house rabbits but has a rather large hutch. I do pet him everyday whne I go out to feed him. When I brought him inside to clip his nails, he layed in my lap while I clipped them. I did one foot, let him run, then the next and so on. Midnight, who gets handled and is out daily, is a mess to clip. One of us holds her while the other clips and my son stands by talking to her to try and calm her. So as usual, it all depends on the rabbit.