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Clipping back paws?

GBNI

Warren Scout
Joey is a bit disgusting and tends to hop through his poo and caecotrophs (sp) so the flat bit of his back feet are a bit icky! :oops: I was thinking of giving them a little tidy up with my grooming scissors that I have? Would this be a bad idea?

Or can anyone recommend a way of getting them clean?
 
Do not clip away the fur because it is protection for the feet. If there is no protection, the rabbit could get a condition called sore hocks.

You could just try washing it in water.
 
Joey is a bit disgusting and tends to hop through his poo and caecotrophs (sp) so the flat bit of his back feet are a bit icky! :oops: I was thinking of giving them a little tidy up with my grooming scissors that I have? Would this be a bad idea?

Or can anyone recommend a way of getting them clean?

If you keep him on a thick layer of bedding, and don't go mad when cutting it should be fine, unless your rabbit is a Rex, or Giant.
 
It was more the matted bits I wanted to take off. He is a bit of a furry fott monster! :lol:
 
I'd say it's more important to work out why your bunny is producing so much sticky poo that it gets stuck to him, that way the problem is solved without the need for cutting and of course it's healthier for bunny too!

Excess caecatrophs is often a sign of a dietary imbalance, often just cutting down on the pellets or changing to a food like Science selective, can solve it in conjunction with increasing hay. It can also be a sign of a medical problem such as arthritis, obesity or dental problems, so it may be worth getting this checked out too.

I would have thought the caecatrophs are the thing causing the problem, as 'normal' poos are quite dry, so with regular cleaning out, there's no reason they should get in a state as to get stuck to a bun's feet. If you solve the caecatroph issue I suspect you will solve this problem :)
 
I was starting to wonder if he might have an issue with the caecotrophs. He is always on the go, he seems to eat them better if he does them outside on the grass than inside his hutch?

I shall try cutting down his pellets. He always has a full manger of hay to much on?
 
What's his normal brand of food, and what's his normal feeding routine? You shouldn't really see any caecatrophs at all so it sounds as if there's something definitely needs tweaking :) Hopefully it won't be too hard!
 
I forgot to say, any of the caecotrophs he doesn' eat (and hasn't mushed into the wood) I put into his food bowl with his pellets so he'll eat them. Am I doing the right thing?
 
I forgot to say, any of the caecotrophs he doesn' eat (and hasn't mushed into the wood) I put into his food bowl with his pellets so he'll eat them. Am I doing the right thing?

There should be no excess caecotrophs at all, if there are, then his diet is wrong.
 
He gets Burgress for dwarf bunnies (he is a dwarf lop) gets an egg cup in the morning and one at night. He was skinny when he came to me a couple of months ago.

Then ad lib hay and fruit and veg sometimes during the week.
 
I forgot to say, any of the caecotrophs he doesn' eat (and hasn't mushed into the wood) I put into his food bowl with his pellets so he'll eat them. Am I doing the right thing?

He's probably rejecting them for a reason - i'd remove them personally as they will only attract flies etc. If there is caecal imbalance - overgrowth of the wrong bacteria will make the caecotrophs smell or taste wrong - and they will be discarded, or bun will produce too many and won't eat them anyway.
 
:oops: I thought you were supposed to try and get them to eat any they haven't eaten:oops:

They shouldn't ideally leave any around uneaten - if they do there is something wrong somewhere be it dietary, medical or behavioural even....but this is unlikely as being a reflex response there is little conscious control.
 
Anecdotally, lots of people find that their bunnies have excess caecatrophs when fed on burgess - and the dwarf version probably even more so, because it's even higher in protein than the standard one.

Personally I would suggest you swap onto something like science selective, and I'd lay money on the fact that the problem resolves itself...
 
He gets Burgress for dwarf bunnies (he is a dwarf lop) gets an egg cup in the morning and one at night. He was skinny when he came to me a couple of months ago.

Then ad lib hay and fruit and veg sometimes during the week.

My neighbours nethie is on that food, and is very messy. Adults don't need all that protein.

Also, I'm positive Dwarf Lops don't actually have the dwarf gene, but I know mini's do. :?
 
I have never found Science Selective over here? Do you know what stores sell it?

I won't be going back to P@H anytime soon :? They were incredibly rude to me earlier so I have just written a letter of complaint!

What levels of protein should they be given?
 
Where's "over here", sorry I don't know where you live :oops:

I mostly buy SS online as it's not as easy to find in petshops. My vet has ordered it in for me before so you may be able to do the same? PAH don't sell it sadly as I think burgess make their own brand food so presumably they have come to a single-supplier arrangement.

Burgess was probably a good choice to start off with if he was skinny, so if he's the right weight now I would definitely swap :) It seems to be the ratio between protein and fibre that makes the difference - SS is 14% protein and 19% fibre (5% difference), burgess dwarf is 16% protein 17% fibre (only 1% difference).

They've just recently changed the recipe of normal burgess and that is now 13% and 19% so don't know if even just changing to the normal will help - but I've had a foster here recently on that and even with the new one he still had a few excess caecatrophs - swapping to SS stopped them completely. Might be worth a go with the normal or even the lite burgess though if you find SS a complete pain to get hold of, it will probably at least help a bit.
 
Where are you? I've seen Science Selective for sale in The Range, Seapets, and Wyevales. You can also get it online.
 
Sorry, should have said I'm in Northern Ireland :oops: I might check Jollyes see if they sell if. Or is Jollyes own brand any good?

If not, I shall purchase SS online now as I have half a bag of Burgess left so I can start doing the whole mixing so he gets used to SS?

I feel bad I've been feeding him something causing issues :cry:
 
Might be worth starting a thread to ask whether anyone in Northern Ireland can recommend where you can buy SS.
 
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