Rosemary is overproducing cecotropes!

[RosemaryBunny]

She is making a TON. Like, a 1/3 cup a day. And she's only four pounds.

Wait a minute, I mean on the days I give her treats she overproduces them. I give her, say, two strawberry tops every four days. It's not that much! But she always doesn't eat/overproduces her cecotropes on those days. Should I stop giving her treats? :'( Should I feed her cecotropes back to her? Thanks!

 

[Graciee]

She is making a TON. Like, a 1/3 cup a day. And she's only four pounds.

Wait a minute, I mean on the days I give her treats she overproduces them. I give her, say, two strawberry tops every four days. It's not that much! But she always doesn't eat/overproduces her cecotropes on those days. Should I stop giving her treats? :'( Should I feed her cecotropes back to her? Thanks!

I'm no expert but that's more sugar than I feed mine, fruit I feed barely any of coz it not in their natural diet much. I do mostly leafy greens and herbs. I'd definitely decrease/stop giving that much fruit so frequently, if the cecos then stop, then you've figured it out! All buns are different in what they can tolerate too, what might be too much for one, another one might not leave their cecos. Worth a go to see if feeding less fixes the issue imo.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Too much sugar,carbohydrates or protein will cause gut problems such as excess cecotrophs.

Fruit is high in sugar, my Rabbits are never fed fruit at all.

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[RosemaryBunny]

Thanks for the advice, guys! Alas, it is as difficult for me to stop giving her treats as it is for a three year old kid to stop begging for candy but I will do my best.

Thanks for the website, Inspector Morse, it's very helpful! (yay, it's got a section on outdoor rabbit housing)

 

[bunny momma]

Perhaps you can find a different thing to use as treats, perhaps a few pellets fed one by one. It is not ideal, yet like others said, mine do not get any fruit.

 

[tonibun]

You could give her some Readigrass which is very popular. Bear in mind if she is getting a mucky bum she is in danger of getting fly strike which is fatal if not caught early enough. You have to be in charge of what she eats or you will be spending a lot of time at the Vets.

 

[InspectorMorse]

You could give her some Readigrass which is very popular. Bear in mind if she is getting a mucky bum she is in danger of getting fly strike which is fatal if not caught early enough. You have to be in charge of what she eats or you will be spending a lot of time at the Vets.

Readigrass is high in protein which can exacerbate the cecotroph problem x