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Too Many Cecotropes, What Am I Doing Wrong?

PepsiBunny

PepsiBunny

New Kit
My rabbit has been leaving a lot of cecotropes around lately, and when he stands in them it makes a huge mess. I am concerned that I am feeding him all the wrong stuff, I am a first time owner so would really like some advice
I feed him Excel Burgess Pellets, on the back of the pack it says I should be feeding 60g-80g, so I have been following this instruction
He has a small handful of veg a day, followed by some herbs
And he has unlimited meadow hay and the Excel chamomile herbage hay
He is about 11 weeks old
Where am I going wrong? Am I giving him too many pellets?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Hi,

A lot of people on here (including me) didn't start to feed our rabbits veggies until they were a little bit older, as their digestive systems aren't always ready and it can make them have an upset tummy. I wonder if the veggies, combined with herbs, could be a little bit much?

Personally I would cut out the veggies and just stick to a tiny bit of herbs, if anything at all. What veggies are you feeding? Some stuff - carrots, for example - are high in sugar and should be treated like chocolate with children - not giving them it every day, and restricting what they have when they do have it.

I can't visualise what 60 - 80g worth of pellets look like, but young bunnies are meant to have more pellets than older ones as they are still growing, so I would definitely try cutting out any extras before reducing the pellets.
 
JemimaH said:
Hi,

A lot of people on here (including me) didn't start to feed our rabbits veggies until they were a little bit older, as their digestive systems aren't always ready and it can make them have an upset tummy. I wonder if the veggies, combined with herbs, could be a little bit much?

Personally I would cut out the veggies and just stick to a tiny bit of herbs, if anything at all. What veggies are you feeding? Some stuff - carrots, for example - are high in sugar and should be treated like chocolate with children - not giving them it every day, and restricting what they have when they do have it.

I can't visualise what 60 - 80g worth of pellets look like, but young bunnies are meant to have more pellets than older ones as they are still growing, so I would definitely try cutting out any extras before reducing the pellets.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much, I only feed him a tiny bit of carrot now and again, and he does love his cabbage but I give that in very small amounts as I heard it causes gas. I will take your advice and cut out the veg for now
I honestly think 60-80g of pellets (in my personal opinion) is a lot for a mini lop so might look at reducing this too in time, I have noticed he isn't eating as much hay since I've been giving him this amount of pellets.
 
What JemimaH said! :)

Also what they say on the bags is always over the top, more than likely because the quicker you finish the bag the quicker you need to buy more of their product! Good for their pockets, not so good for your rabbits digestive system.. Mine are all adults and the pair get a small handful between them once a day and the singles get about an eggcup worth :) I don't think I've ever paid attention to what the bag said, even when I had babies, they got about half a bowl full in the morning then an eggcup in the evening until 5 months of age :) I never left it with them either, I'd leave it 10 minutes then take it off them. :p
 
Last edited:
Aly&Poppy<3 said:
What JemimaH said! :)

Also what they say on the bags is always over the top, more than likely because the quicker you finish the bag the quicker you need to buy more of their product! Good for their pockets, not so good for your rabbits digestive system.. Mine are all adults and the pair get a small handful between them once a day and the singles get about an eggcup worth :) I don't think I've ever paid attention to what the bag said, even when I had babies, they got about half a bowl full in the morning then an eggcup in the evening until 5 months of age :) I never left it with them either, I'd leave it 10 minutes then take it off them. :p
Click to expand...

Thank You so much, I tend to leave the pellets in his cage if he doesn't eat them, maybe I should start taking them out if he doesn't eat them after 10 minutes.
I agree with you that they are probably telling me to use more than I should so I finish the product quicker and go buy more, makes sense!
I will definitely be cutting down a bit. I have also noticed that he has become super hyperactive since giving him the recommended 60-80g of pellets.
 
Yeah, you are probably right re the pellets being too much but, as I say, I can't visualise! My rabbit has half an eggcup in the morning and half an eggcup in the evening (ish) with a fibafirst stick, which works fine for him :) He's a mini lop as well, but is three years old.
 
JemimaH said:
Yeah, you are probably right re the pellets being too much but, as I say, I can't visualise! My rabbit has half an eggcup in the morning and half an eggcup in the evening (ish) with a fibafirst stick, which works fine for him :) He's a mini lop as well, but is three years old.
Click to expand...

The majourity of his poop is just cecotropes which worries me that he isn't getting all the healthy bacteria :( I think cutting back on all this rich stuff will help though, fingers crossed!!
The 60-80g of pellets is roughly about 5-6 handfuls, seems a lot to me!
 
One other thing worth thinking about. .Excel pellets are known to cause excess cecals in some buns.
I would start by process of elimination. .cut out veggies, reduce herbs and see if that helps first. I would be wary on cutting back food to much just yet as bun is still baby and needs more at the moment BUT you could consider changing him over to Science Selective junior pellets. We have all our 8 buns on SS and apart from one bun..have no problems with excess cecals.
If you do decide to change then remember ...very slow and gradual is key.
 
PepsiBunny said:
The majourity of his poop is just cecotropes which worries me that he isn't getting all the healthy bacteria :( I think cutting back on all this rich stuff will help though, fingers crossed!!
The 60-80g of pellets is roughly about 5-6 handfuls, seems a lot to me!
Click to expand...

Gosh that is a lot! As he's got a bit of an upset tum at the moment, I wouldn't just stop them completely - that could upset it even more. I'd just gradually start reducing the amount he gets and reducing what types he gets. You might not have to cut the entire lot out; you might find that the excess cecals stop when the amount of veg is reduced. Veg isn't a necessity for rabbits though - some people don't feed their rabbits any. The main thing is hay, hay and more hay!

As Fellie said, Excel can sometimes cause excess cecals - saying that, I've never had that problem with Alf and he's been on them 3 years. It may just depend on the bunny, I guess.
 
Fellie said:
One other thing worth thinking about. .Excel pellets are known to cause excess cecals in some buns.
I would start by process of elimination. .cut out veggies, reduce herbs and see if that helps first. I would be wary on cutting back food to much just yet as bun is still baby and needs more at the moment BUT you could consider changing him over to Science Selective junior pellets. We have all our 8 buns on SS and apart from one bun..have no problems with excess cecals.
If you do decide to change then remember ...very slow and gradual is key.
Click to expand...

Thank You, I didn't know excel pellets are known to cause cecals, I have heard a lot of great things about Science Selective, I think I will look into getting him some if things don't change.
I will cut out the veggies and cut down on the herbs, he has those dried mountain herbs but only has a very small handful a day
Hopefully he will start eating his cecals soon, will keep you updated!
 
JemimaH said:
Gosh that is a lot! As he's got a bit of an upset tum at the moment, I wouldn't just stop them completely - that could upset it even more. I'd just gradually start reducing the amount he gets and reducing what types he gets. You might not have to cut the entire lot out; you might find that the excess cecals stop when the amount of veg is reduced. Veg isn't a necessity for rabbits though - some people don't feed their rabbits any. The main thing is hay, hay and more hay!

As Fellie said, Excel can sometimes cause excess cecals - saying that, I've never had that problem with Alf and he's been on them 3 years. It may just depend on the bunny, I guess.
Click to expand...

Yeah it does seem like a lot! Especially for such a small rabbit
He's had some this morning and I will take your advice and not cut them out completely, I'll do it little by little as I don't want to upset his tummy even more
He hasn't had any veg today, or his dried mountain herbs, I think maybe his diet is wayy too rich for him
He has a giant pile of meadow hay at the moment but he hasn't really touched it, hopefully cutting down on the pellets and veg will help encourage him to eat it a bit more!
 
Update:
So I decided to cut down his pellets, he has also had no veg today, I have seen a difference in his poop, it's almost normal now Yay! :D I've never been so excited by poop before :lol: But in all seriousness it was obviously me giving him an endless supply of pellets why he wasn't eating his cecals, I am going to carry on with this limited pellet diet. I have also noticed him tucking into his hay constantly now which I'm very happy about
Thank you everyone for your help. Fingers crossed he carries on pooping normally :)
 
PepsiBunny said:
Update:
So I decided to cut down his pellets, he has also had no veg today, I have seen a difference in his poop, it's almost normal now Yay! :D I've never been so excited by poop before :lol: But in all seriousness it was obviously me giving him an endless supply of pellets why he wasn't eating his cecals, I am going to carry on with this limited pellet diet. I have also noticed him tucking into his hay constantly now which I'm very happy about
Thank you everyone for your help. Fingers crossed he carries on pooping normally :)
Click to expand...


Sounds perfect. In my experience, Burgess excel pellets can cause some rabbits to produce excess caecotrophs. I have not come across another brand of pellets that cause this problem.

Checking poop, seeing that they are ' good' poops..... = one happy bunny and it's owner!!!! We all appreciate how excited we can be at the sight of perfect poop!!!!


There are poop threads popping up regularly on RU. Yes, we are rather bonkers..........
 
Mrs. Bunnykins said:
Sounds perfect. In my experience, Burgess excel pellets can cause some rabbits to produce excess caecotrophs. I have not come across another brand of pellets that cause this problem.

Checking poop, seeing that they are ' good' poops..... = one happy bunny and it's owner!!!! We all appreciate how excited we can be at the sight of perfect poop!!!!


There are poop threads popping up regularly on RU. Yes, we are rather bonkers..........
Click to expand...

I'm thinking about switching to Selective Science now I am hearing about excess cecals with the Burgess pellets, I'll see how he goes these next couple of days :)
Haha I'm glad I am not the only one getting excited over poop :lol:
 
I'm so pleased to hear he seems to be doing so much better. My mini lops are on SS pellets and I've never had a problem with them, but some people have experience of buns choking on them as some pieces can be particularly large. I'm not wanting to put you off, I'm just giving you a heads up. I get round the potential problem by breaking the large ones in half as I get to them, that way i know there's no risk.

Keep us posted on how he (and his poops!) are doing :)
 
B&B Buns said:
I'm so pleased to hear he seems to be doing so much better. My mini lops are on SS pellets and I've never had a problem with them, but some people have experience of buns choking on them as some pieces can be particularly large. I'm not wanting to put you off, I'm just giving you a heads up. I get round the potential problem by breaking the large ones in half as I get to them, that way i know there's no risk.

Keep us posted on how he (and his poops!) are doing :)
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the heads up! If I decide to switch to Selective Science I will definitely take your advice and break the larger pellets up. My little bun loves scoffing things down his neck at a fast rate so I will definitely be cautious!
I will just keep monitoring him and see how he goes :)
Will keep you updated!
 
Hi, sorry I missed this... i doscovered that both Burgess and SS gave my wee Smudge , excess caecals and he also couldnt tolerate greens...

Glad things seem to be improving.. hay should the mainstay of bunnies diets.... With a few wee treats too!

Good luck
Fee x
 
Fee said:
Hi, sorry I missed this... i doscovered that both Burgess and SS gave my wee Smudge , excess caecals and he also couldnt tolerate greens...

Glad things seem to be improving.. hay should the mainstay of bunnies diets.... With a few wee treats too!

Good luck
Fee x
Click to expand...

Thanks so much! Veggies and pellets seem to be the problem with my bun, will definitely be more careful in the future when making decisions about his diet! x
 
I've mostly swapped to Burgess Excel from P@H own-brand (for the higher fibre content) and I have noticed the occasional excess caecal or two. Didn't know it could send some of them off so I'll stick to the 25g (about an eggcup) Lopsy gets. I don't bowl-feed them but they are the thing Lopsy goes for first and he doesn't stop until he's finished, which means he's found them all after going mental with his treatball and tubes!
 
keletkezes said:
I've mostly swapped to Burgess Excel from P@H own-brand (for the higher fibre content) and I have noticed the occasional excess caecal or two. Didn't know it could send some of them off so I'll stick to the 25g (about an eggcup) Lopsy gets. I don't bowl-feed them but they are the thing Lopsy goes for first and he doesn't stop until he's finished, which means he's found them all after going mental with his treatball and tubes!
Click to expand...

Lopsy sounds so cute! 25g sounds much better than the 60-80g that the packet suggests! After decreasing Pepsi's pellets his poop looks loads better, even when I checked him this morning his poop was normal and had been all night! I was dreading checking his fleece lined cage this morning after all the cecals he had squished into everything yesterday, but all was fine :lol:
I think I will be sticking to an eggcup amount from now on too!
 
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