droppings

Can anyone advise, is there an average number of droppings in a day that a rabbit should be producing? Should they constantly be producing them over a 24 hour period? Or will there be periods in the day when there are lots, and other periods when there are not any?

Or does it just depend on the rabbit?

Thanks, sorry, this is probably a really stupid question

Hi there.
Personally I believe that the normal quantity & timing of main poops depends on the individual bunny, their diet, & their eating routine. However they poop regularly throughout the day & night.
If Thumper goes 6 hrs. without a poop I'm concerned. 12 hrs. I'm worried & contacting the vet. 24 hrs I'm .
A rough estimate of daily out put is perhaps 300 - 350. Wonder where it all comes from?:shock:

Equally important they should be round, dry but not rock hard, on a grass based diet they are quite dark whereas on hay they are lighter. It's just knowing your bunnies really.

You will know about the "recycled poops" - caecotrophs - which we shouldn't be seeing?

I'm pleased you asked this question, because changed poops can give us early warning that bunny's tummy needs attention.

Just to add that with both my buns (despite being on a purely hay and veg diet - no commercial rabbit food) they do have a short gap in the middle of the day where they don't usually produce any waste droppings - commonly between 11am - 3pm when they are sleeping, buns are crepuscular. However, this varies, and sometimes if they wake up in these hours for a snack droppings will be produced. Situation slightly altered by my male bun who tends to poo whilst he sleeps - he's a bun with an odd digestive timing. However, it is whatever is normal for your bun! So as Thumps says...get to know your bun and then you'll know that anything out of the norm is the time to be concerned. It's actually very important to be 'droppings aware' so not a stupid question at all.
I find that a 'routine' means bun will settle for siesta at the same times each day - hence the same times when little or no droppings produced.

I would be seeking vet attention if at any point in this 'sleepy time' that I woke my buns up and offered them food and it was refused....both my buns will normally respond to fresh food regardless of the time of day. Nino will often continue to produce droppings even though he is in acute bloat - so here we go on 'food interest' rather than droppings - but these do in most buns give a clear indication as Thumps says of issues to think about. :wave:

prettylupin said:

Just to add that with both my buns (despite being on a purely hay and veg diet - no commercial rabbit food) they do have a short gap in the middle of the day where they don't usually produce any waste droppings - commonly between 11am - 3pm when they are sleeping, buns are crepuscular. However, this varies, and sometimes if they wake up in these hours for a snack droppings will be produced. Situation slightly altered by my male bun who tends to poo whilst he sleeps - he's a bun with an odd digestive timing. However, it is whatever is normal for your bun! So as Thumps says...get to know your bun and then you'll know that anything out of the norm is the time to be concerned. It's actually very important to be 'droppings aware' so not a stupid question at all.
I find that a 'routine' means bun will settle for siesta at the same times each day - hence the same times when little or no droppings produced.

I would be seeking vet attention if at any point in this 'sleepy time' that I woke my buns up and offered them food and it was refused....both my buns will normally respond to fresh food regardless of the time of day. Nino will often continue to produce droppings even though he is in acute bloat - so here we go on 'food interest' rather than droppings - but these do in most buns give a clear indication as Thumps says of issues to think about. :wave:

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Thanks both - this is really helpful. I've noticed that there is very little droppings from either of my rabbits in the middle of the day (similar timing to yours prettylupin) but this seems to be consistent so I think that's fine. They both produce the rest of the time so that's good. However, neither of them produce anywhere near 300 a day. BUT they are only fourteen weeks old, so I'm assuming that their droppings output will increase as they get bigger?

However, I'm a bit worried about one of my rabbits - Ebony. She's very small - we think she may have been the runt of her litter. About a week ago she stopped eating her burgess excel pellets. But was happily eating hay and muesli food that I offered her. I don't normally feed her the muesli but I had some left over from when we first got her and I was trying to tempt her to eat. She took that quite happily. I also mashed up her pellets and she was eating that.

I took her to the vet who gave her some gut motility stuff. I asked about pain relief but she said no. She seemed okay though other than not eating pellets, she was lively, she was eating and she was producing droppings. The vet I saw last week told me that I needed to increase her pellets a bit. I had previoulsy cut her pellet intake down and tried to increase hay intake due to an increase of caecotrophs. I did as the vet advised and this has now resulted in her producing far too many caecotrophs again. The vet also told me that I should try getting her to eat some banana baby food. I did this for a day or two until her appetite picked up but I was worried about giving her banana food with her having a delicate tummy and with the high sugar content. She seemed to pick up through the week last week so that was fine and started eating the burgess pellets again.

HOWEVER, on Friday just passed, she again went off her pellets again. She's still eating (muesli and hay), drinking and producing droppings. But I just feel that she's not 100% right. Also her coat doesn't feel in very good condition. The vet that I saw the second time gave me some selective recovery food to syringe feed her with. We did that for a couple of days in addition to her eating bits by herself. She checked her teeth and said it wasn't that that would be causing her problems. She's been bright enough over the weekend but is still refusing the pellets and I'm just not sure what to do next. And I'm finding I get so much conflicting information from different vets.

I don't know whether to take her back to the vets today just for another check up - or just to keep an eye on her provided she is eating and drinking and producing droppings. Should I be overly concerned that she's refusing her normal food but is eating another kind?

Hi there. 1st. my bun has a very high fiber "wildie" diet to keep his lower gut moving, so he'll probably poop more than most buns. I've never counted them before - just look at the tray & know it's right for him!

Buns are such creatures of habit, I'm unhappy about the feeding difficulties you are finding with Ebony. Just feel something's not right here.

Although we've been in a similar situation with Thumper's tiny molar spurs - so many other things can cause these symptoms, I feel that you need a rabbit specialist vet - "exotics trained". A bit more expensive per consult. but save a bomb in getting the condition sorted out quickly. Members of this forum can help you to find 1 in your area.

Please let us know how you get on & all the best. Judy & Thumper.