Can anybody tell me why...

...even though the buns are on a good 80% hay diet (cut down on the greens quite alot) and a little ammount of pellets each day...chewy (smallest one) still leaves lots of excess cecotropes dotted around the floor. they are there when we get up in the morning, and then when we get home from work late afternoon.

I had read that cutting down greens helped with this but it doesnt seem to make much differance with him, and we know its not gracie because if were in during the day and they are downstairs with us, he leaves them on the floor where he's been flopped out.....and we also see him eating them often enough so just wonderd why he seems to produce alot more than gracie and is it a problem for him. :shock:

Jay&Kirsty said:

...even though the buns are on a good 80% hay diet (cut down on the greens quite alot) and a little ammount of pellets each day...chewy (smallest one) still leaves lots of excess cecotropes dotted around the floor. they are there when we get up in the morning, and then when we get home from work late afternoon.

I had read that cutting down greens helped with this but it doesnt seem to make much differance with him, and we know its not gracie because if were in during the day and they are downstairs with us, he leaves them on the floor where he's been flopped out.....and we also see him eating them often enough so just wonderd why he seems to produce alot more than gracie and is it a problem for him. :shock:

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Are they Excel pellets by any chance?

they certainly are....is that the reason?

Rabbits who are on a higher protein diet are more prone to leaving caecals, excel and some of the museli type dried foods are higher in protein than many of the other dried pelleted foods and this is why some rabbits are more prone to getting dirty bottoms as the caecals can stick to them.

Some hays also can cause this but to a lesser extent.

I would consider eitehr cutting the pellets down further of transfer them on to a lower protein dried food.

Jay&Kirsty said:

they certainly are....is that the reason?

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It could well be or the amount you are feeding. An eggcup full between 2 normal sized rabbits per day is enough as they should be eating tonnes of hay. Excel is also known for making some rabbits produce excess caecotrophs. If you are feeding more than an eggcup full a day then I would cut that down first and see if it sorts out the problem. If it doesn't then I would suggest another brand or even the Excel mature.

Perhaps you can gradually change from Excel to Science Selective.

thanks for the suggestions people its much appreciated.

yes they only get a really small ammount of pellets a day between them, if we were to cut down the ammount it would end up being literally nothing at all.

so maybe another type of pellet? or as suggested excel mature? admit, chewy is now around 1.5 years old and gracie coming upto 1 year in feb and the pellets are excel adults. is there another (mature) or should we perhaps change brands.


I thought I kind of knew my stuff, well, I read up plenty to make sure they get the best life and care possible but I guess your always learning new things!!

any suggestions for change of hay? they have timothy and hay from a bale bought from a local farm/pet food supplier

Holly has done it since the day i met her eight months ago... i cut down EVERYTHING and nothing changed.. i finally accepted that its her and i cant prevent it.

ive seen her eat them so its not like shes missing out on anything.

i have also noticed its during the day she leaves them, ive disturbed a very deep sleep several times and when she moves theres a perfectly formed special poop thats cold and she has nothing to do with it :shock:

after speaking with Lou about it she said some buns just dont eat them... she also said it tends to be lops who feel its beneath them to eat poo :lol: <<< this was 8 mnoths ago and still no health issues showing up.

i do not feed the pellets mentioned and i only feed very sparingly because of Alvins tum, infact the vet had to tell me too up pellets due to Alvins worrying weightloss

if its something new and out of character... ignore my post :lol:

Jay&Kirsty said:

thanks for the suggestions people its much appreciated.

yes they only get a really small ammount of pellets a day between them, if we were to cut down the ammount it would end up being literally nothing at all.

so maybe another type of pellet? or as suggested excel mature? admit, chewy is now around 1.5 years old and gracie coming upto 1 year in feb and the pellets are excel adults. is there another (mature) or should we perhaps change brands.


I thought I kind of knew my stuff, well, I read up plenty to make sure they get the best life and care possible but I guess your always learning new things!!

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Mature is normally suggested for rabbits 5 years plus but I have them to my boy from 10 months as his ladies were older with dodgy tums. I have not yet read anything which has suggested to me that you shouldn't feed them to younger rabbits. If anyone is reading this and can tell me I'm talking rubbish please feel free as because as far as I'm aware mature pellets are just lower in calories and other stuff such as calcium which is quite beneficial.

My pellet of choice is Science Selective mature but obviously you need to be realistic about what you can get hold of an how much you have to spend. SS is more expensive than Excel - I think I pay about 5.99 for a 2kg bag but I go through 2 maybe 3 bags a year between my 2. You may be able to get away with Science selective adult, I can't as one of mine has as a seriously damaged gut from neglectful owners in the past so I have to stick with the mature.

As much as all of us here read there is still stuff we don't know. I did exactly the same as you when I first got mine and had exactly the same problem which is why I guessed it was Excel. It wasn't until I experimented with cutting out different foods that I got to the bottom (excuse the pun) of the problem.

I found excel caused messy bums & excess caecs too...I couldnt get large bags of SS at the time so ended up buying Oxbow bunny basics / T - (the hayexperts) - its timithy hay based pellet instead of alfalfa and they have done really well on it as its really high in fibre.
I wouldnt say they have hugely glossy coats at the moment...but maybe molting:?
Its is more exepnsive but it really helped their guts....
If I couldnt buy this I would probably try SS just cause of the RU opinions...

cheers folks were going to look to try some other pellets :wave: