Dirty Bum Bum

Hi all, Im new to the forum so please be gentle with me. I have three rabbits all eating the same food. One of them this year has started to get her poo stuck around her rear area that I now regularly have to pull and wash off with varying amounts of success. I've noticed that although it is a normal shape it is quite soft and dark coloured. The diet consists of Excel pellets in the morning and fresh veg in the evening - spring greens, broccoli and celery plus various treats like carrot or apple in moderation. They also have unlimited hay (not sure who eats what, but they don't each that much) and get to eat grass from the lawn all day everyday. One thing to note is that she is probably technically overweight, but again the other two aren't. She is completely fine in herself and shows no sign of illness.
I am aware of the risk of Fly Strike etc, that is not my question but any ideas why this is happening to her and not the other two? Too much fresh grass which i know can be rich? Not enough hay/fibre? Yesterday i took delivery of various high fibre food pellets and mini hay bales etc to try to get more fibre in her. Also, vets booked for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, anyone on here had a similar experience, or know of any solutions? Thanks

Rabbits have 2 types of droppings, the hard round ones and soft vine shaped ones. The latter they redigest as it contains valuable nutrients.
However should a bun get too much food, they won't eat it all hence it's getting stuck to her bum.

I would cut down on the pellets and fresh veg and see how she does.

It's most likely her weight. Even a little bit of extra weight can make the difference between being able to reach her bottom to clean it and not. Can you split their pellet feeding into seperate bowls so she doesn't get as many? And perhaps a separate playtime might help too.

The other thing that could cause it could be the pellets. Excel are good pellets (I feed my 5 on it!) but just like humans what suits one bunny doesn't suit all bunnies. It may just be that that food doesn't agree with her as well as the other two cope with it. Maybe try a different pellet like Science Selective or Wagg Optimum to see if that makes any difference?

any changes to food needs to be made slowly i think possibly too much fruit and veg and maybe a few too many pellets also the type of pellet affects different bunnies too one of my bunnies could not eat excel due to it upsetting his stomach we slowly changed foods and he was fine, the more fibre in the pellets the better for the bunny but like humans some like different tastes to others so findign the right pellets and the right tasting hay can make a huge difference! (ps hello and welcome! )

Thank you all so far for your replies. Just to add to the facts her diet hasn't changed for two years so eating the Excel nuggets is not a new thing although the soft poo is more recent (so something has changed), I'll be taking your advice with me to the vets so keep it coming, it's good to learn! Oh, and I ordered a selection pack of different Hay's to see if there is one out there she'll actually want to eat. Oh, and can rabbits eat too much grass? Mine eat it loads as they have the whole lawn to themselves? Is it 'richer' than hay?

TheRabbitZoo said:

Thank you all so far for your replies. Just to add to the facts her diet hasn't changed for two years so eating the Excel nuggets is not a new thing although the soft poo is more recent (so something has changed), I'll be taking your advice with me to the vets so keep it coming, it's good to learn! Oh, and I ordered a selection pack of different Hay's to see if there is one out there she'll actually want to eat. Oh, and can rabbits eat too much grass? Mine eat it loads as they have the whole lawn to themselves? Is it 'richer' than hay?

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if they arent used to eating grass then it can upset their stomachs but when they are used to it its as good as hay fr them so can be unlimited x

Could she be stealing the other rabbits' pellets? That would mean she's nice and full on pellets and heats less grass/hay and puts on weight?
If they're used to teh grass they can eat as much as they want and as long as they eat lots of that they don't need to eat as much hay (grass and hay is all the same for their diet/gut).

I would cut out any fruit and carrot, things that are high in sugar and limit the greens. However if you can replace the veg with forage they should still get all the nutrients they need. Things like dandelions, bramble, hawthorn, plantain and there are loads more. And free if you pick them yourself.

thanks for all the replies, the Vet thinks it's her morning edible poo's that are sticking to her as she's not eating them. Top of the class if you mentioned that! Anyway, more fibre, less pellets, and less veggie treats is the order of the day as many of you have suggested, and try to get her weight down a bit. She's had a full professional shave and 'valet' downstairs so we'll see how it goes....