Hi all,
This is my first post as I am a new bunny mum of two lovely bunnies who are around 15 weeks old. We have had them for a month now, and they are very lovely. However, since they came, we have found quite a lot of left over cecotropes every morning in the cage. They are doing them at night mainly, and some in the afternoons. I am struggling with the amount of cleaning this is leading to - we are having to clean the cage out everyday, and I am having to clean their behinds and tummy fur quite regularly which is not helping them bond to me at all as they are not keen on being handled just yet Today one of them is in such a mess, with very messy hocks, quite a few cecotropes matted into her fur, and general 'poo-ey' discolouration around her backside and tummy. I have manage to get the mats out now, but she was really upset about it, and didn't want to stay on my lap long enough to clean off the rest of the mucky bits. I am also finding it really hard to get her hocks clean, as the mess seems to cling on to the short fur there. I really want to get this sorted before the weather gets warmer and the flies come out. They are indoor bunnies.
I have done some reading up and think it may be diet related - when they arrived at 10 weeks old they were on Wagg, veg and hay. Over the space of 7-14 days I weaned them off the Wagg and onto Burgess Junior, with plenty of meadow hay. After they were 12 weeks I have tried the odd bit of veg but not regularly. I was initially giving unlimited pellets when we got them, but have now reduced to one handful between them morning and night. Unfortunately, the cecotropes are still coming. I don't know what to do next. I am thinking of cutting the evening pellets, but as they are so young I am a bit worried they may lose weight or not grow well.
Any help or advice would be really appreciated, with the diet issues, or with tips on how to clean the fur without minimal stress for bunny. Thanks in advance.
This is my first post as I am a new bunny mum of two lovely bunnies who are around 15 weeks old. We have had them for a month now, and they are very lovely. However, since they came, we have found quite a lot of left over cecotropes every morning in the cage. They are doing them at night mainly, and some in the afternoons. I am struggling with the amount of cleaning this is leading to - we are having to clean the cage out everyday, and I am having to clean their behinds and tummy fur quite regularly which is not helping them bond to me at all as they are not keen on being handled just yet Today one of them is in such a mess, with very messy hocks, quite a few cecotropes matted into her fur, and general 'poo-ey' discolouration around her backside and tummy. I have manage to get the mats out now, but she was really upset about it, and didn't want to stay on my lap long enough to clean off the rest of the mucky bits. I am also finding it really hard to get her hocks clean, as the mess seems to cling on to the short fur there. I really want to get this sorted before the weather gets warmer and the flies come out. They are indoor bunnies.
I have done some reading up and think it may be diet related - when they arrived at 10 weeks old they were on Wagg, veg and hay. Over the space of 7-14 days I weaned them off the Wagg and onto Burgess Junior, with plenty of meadow hay. After they were 12 weeks I have tried the odd bit of veg but not regularly. I was initially giving unlimited pellets when we got them, but have now reduced to one handful between them morning and night. Unfortunately, the cecotropes are still coming. I don't know what to do next. I am thinking of cutting the evening pellets, but as they are so young I am a bit worried they may lose weight or not grow well.
Any help or advice would be really appreciated, with the diet issues, or with tips on how to clean the fur without minimal stress for bunny. Thanks in advance.