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sticky bum

beck

beck

Mama Doe
Hi everyone,
Can you advise?
Blueberry is leaving several uneaten caecotrophs. I know the normal advice is hay and veg but as she is only 4 months she isn't really having much in the way of veg yet. so should I just reduce the dried food (chudleys rabbit royale)and increase the hay? -Although there is always hay available but she doesn't seem to eat alot of it, only when shes in her litter tray.
 
You could try changing her feed so she gets more fibre.

Try Timothy Hay instead of Meadow Hay. Most bun's love this!

http://www.westwaleswillows.co.uk/

Try a different dry feed that's high in fibre. Science Selective and Allen and Page Natural Rabbit Pellet's are both highly recommend and high in fibre. (Thou the Allen and Page is quite hard o get hold of!)

http://www.allenandpage.co.uk/crabbit.htm

Blackberry leave's are also a good source of fibre. (Make sure you remove the prickly spines before you feed!) My bun's love them.


Are you feeding her the correct amount of dry feed for her weight/type? Over feeding can cause excess "soft poo"!

If she has got a sticky bun make sure you keep it clean. As there's always the risk of Flystrike.

Louise
 
Hiya,

I have used www timothy hay which blue loved. Have scince bought Timothy hay from a local pet shop which she doesn't seem to like so much :roll:, so I'll be going back to www!

The rabbit mix I use is what she was fed when I got her, the breeder highly recommended it and I got a huge sack full! I cant buy it down this way though so will have to wean her onto something else. I was advised to feed ad lib, but I have been given her 3/4 bowl in the morning and 1/4 - 1/2 abowl ful in the evening. I make sure she doesn't leave any bits as my bunny before was very picky and had to change to Burgess supa excell.

I am going to start gradually adding veg next month when she's about 5 months old. What age would you say she can have a purely hay and veg diet :?:
 
If she prefers her hay whilst sat in the litter tray then putting hay in other locations she likes to sit can help encourage her to eat more. If she has a particular spot she likes to snooze thats a good spot for a pile of hay.

Tam
 
Hello
the chudley's rabbit royale is extremely rich and sticky, so this could be causing your bunnies to be a bit runny, I would change onto Excel which is high fibre, reasonably priced and easy to get hold of, there is a junior excel that may be more suitable for your bunny the pellets are smaller.

annie
 
Lazylops said:
Hello
the chudley's rabbit royale is extremely rich and sticky, so this could be causing your bunnies to be a bit runny, I would change onto Excel which is high fibre, reasonably priced and easy to get hold of, there is a junior excel that may be more suitable for your bunny the pellets are smaller.

annie
Click to expand...

I would'nt say Burgess Supa Excel is that high in Fibre. A few Rabbit owner's on other forum's have commented that they get excess "soft poo" when feeding Supa Excel.

I think the fibre content in Burgess feed's average's at 16% where as in Science Selective its 18% and in the Allen and Page Natural Rabbit Pellet's its 23%.

These are both pelleted feed's to stop "selective eating".

I also think Burgess is over priced for what it is. In my local Pet Store is £3.00 for 2kgs. Because its Vetinary recommend it seem's to bump its price up.

Louise
 
Hello
I buy burgess excel for £9.00 a bag. The excel has a good fibre content, not necessarily the best. Soft poos are usually caused by too much being fed, and not necessarily the food, but if the rabbit is not doing well on the excel then obviously it is necessary to switch.

Both Science Selective and Allen and Page pellets have a good fibre content as does the Allen and Page mix, a rabbit will only be able to selectively feed if their food is emptied and refilled at each feed time, if the food bowl is left until all food is consumed the rabbit will get all the nutrients it requires. I will say that as the dried food should only constitute a tiny part of your bunnies diet the amount it eats of the dried food is not important so long as they are getting fresh hay, greens, grass and herbs.
 
Ok, so bearing in mind Beck's bun is only 4 months old, what is she allowed to feed it?

According to the RWA:
"Young rabbits can be offered food ad lib until growth slows down around 4-6 months. After that, adjust food intake to suit the rabbit. Obesity is a serious health hazard to bunnies. A fat rabbit will not live as long as his slim siblings and will be a higher risk patient if surgery is required"
 
bunnyhuggger said:
Ok, so bearing in mind Beck's bun is only 4 months old, what is she allowed to feed it?
quote]

I imagine on the back of the feed you use there will be a chart sating how much to feed a certain age/type/weight bun.

I would go by them guideline's until you have fully introduced Veg. When you have you can start reducing the dry mix and adding more Veg, if you want to feed a Hay and Veg diet only.

With Rabbit's you need to do any diet change slowly as they are very sensitive.

Louise
Click to expand...
 
Being just four months old, you could also feed alfalfa hay in addition to normal hay. Alfalfa is sky high in fibre and also gives baby bunnies some extra nutrition (is not recommended for adult bunnies though).

I had two bunnies that had occasional sticky bum on Excel, but never had it since on Science Selective (it's been about two years now). I tried Allen and Page, two rabbits ate it, two refused it point blank and one had digestive issues from it. So I went back to SS with excellent results.

At four months, you can start introducing greens. A rabbit's digestive system is pretty stable from about three months. That's when I introduce veg to babies that have not been raised on greens. Never had a problem. So you can start introducing greens now, one by one, small quantities at first.

Vera
 
Hi and thanks everyone.

Blueberry is better. She has been eating alot more hay -I have been giving her slightly less rabbit mix. Since doing this she has been fine.

I shall carry on like this as I still have lots of the rabbit mix, before it does all go I might gradually change it to science selective or super excell as she is still young and most I have read does say to feed ad lib.

I might also try her on some alfalfa hay and I am going to start introducing veggies now. I want to eventually feed her a hay and veg diet.

Thanks again :bunny:
 
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