Young rabbits leaving cecotropes

MiniLopMum1 · Jul 4, 2017

Hi all, we have two 3.5 month old mini lops that we've had for 2 weeks. Ever since we got them, we have been finding large piles of cecotropes in the morning - often squashed, sometimes not well formed, occasionally runny. We've cut down their ration of pellet mix food to very minimal (about 17g a day, for rabbits weighing a total of 3kg altogether - they're very small). When we found the runny poo, we cut them back to hay only for a couple of days and it got a little better, but I'm worried about keeping that up as they're young and need lots of protein, so they're gradually coming back to the pellet mix now.

They are active, good hay eaters (timothy, meadow and italian rye grass) and water drinkers. We think Nibbler, the unspayed doe (can't be spayed until at least 6 months, is that right?), is the main culprit - we've seen her eat her cecotropes occasionally in the evening but in the morning the great big piles are often under her! Or in her favourite place. That, and we saw her do the runny poos. Trico, the spayed buck, is rarely near them but then again I haven't seen him eat his cecotropes. One person has said that it's normal for their age and will get better as they get older - is this your experience?

It's staining their feet, and I'm worried they're missing out on nutrition. Also it's messy and smelly! (I have pictures if needed.) I've put a 2nd litter box in their very large cage, which I put out in the run when it's open for them, and they largely wee in them (with occasional accidents) but pellet everywhere and the cecotropes are invariably on the cage floor.

Thank you for your help! I'm a worried first-time rabbit mum

Zoobec · Jul 4, 2017

Are you feeding them a lot of veg? That can sometimes be a cause. I don't weigh pellets so not sure how much 17g would be, I feed a small egg cup size portion per day to my rabbit. Feeding a lot of pellets can cause excess caecotrophes. Have you changed their diet since you got them? Abrupt changes in diet could be the cause.

Omi · Jul 4, 2017

What pellet are you feeding? It may be worth (very slowly) changing them on to something like Fibafirst, which might be better for their digestive system. As Zoobec says, a lot of vegetables can be an issue for some rabbits.

I've never heard that it can be "normal" for young rabbits to have this problem, but it is a long time since I've had young rabbits.

You will need to discuss with your vet what age to spay your doe. Some vets are happy to spay at 5 months, but it also depends to an extent what weight the rabbit is. If she is around 1.5kg (half of your stated combined weight for them), it should be OK. Make sure you are happy that your vet is experienced in rabbits, especially spaying does.

MiniLopMum1 · Jul 4, 2017

Thanks guys for your quick replies

This is their food, only because it's what they were brought up on (realised latterly I should have got rescue rabbits, next time!): https://www.deemillen.co.uk/advanced-millen-rabbit-food-p-1319.html

17g of pellets is about 2/3 of an eggcup I think. It's not a lot! I was recommended to feed quadruple that but I reduced it when the cecotropes were poorly formed. I'm not feeding any veg as I was advised not to feed veg until 6 months, only hay and the pellet mix - exactly the same as they've had all their lives. I'll go look at Fibafirst now... nervous about changing their diet though.

Monty's Human · Jul 4, 2017

We've had Monty from about the same age, and he never had these problems. I did find one or two mushed into the floor to start with, but we were accidentally feeding him far too many pellets for the first couple of weeks, so cutting them down solved the problem. I wouldn't say this is normal, just based on my experience of one rabbit (and the plural of anecdote isn't data), but I don't have much experience either. Have you taken them to the vet for their vaccines and did you talk about diet then? I know when we took Monty in, because we'd just got him, the vet did a quick once over on everything and talked us through diet and so on - so if not, it might be worth booking them in for that and raising it at the same time?

MightyMax · Jul 4, 2017

MiniLopMum1 said:
Hi all, we have two 3.5 month old mini lops that we've had for 2 weeks. Ever since we got them, we have been finding large piles of cecotropes in the morning - often squashed, sometimes not well formed, occasionally runny. We've cut down their ration of pellet mix food to very minimal (about 17g a day, for rabbits weighing a total of 3kg altogether - they're very small). When we found the runny poo, we cut them back to hay only for a couple of days and it got a little better, but I'm worried about keeping that up as they're young and need lots of protein, so they're gradually coming back to the pellet mix now.

They are active, good hay eaters (timothy, meadow and italian rye grass) and water drinkers. We think Nibbler, the unspayed doe (can't be spayed until at least 6 months, is that right?), is the main culprit - we've seen her eat her cecotropes occasionally in the evening but in the morning the great big piles are often under her! Or in her favourite place. That, and we saw her do the runny poos. Trico, the spayed buck, is rarely near them but then again I haven't seen him eat his cecotropes. One person has said that it's normal for their age and will get better as they get older - is this your experience?

It's staining their feet, and I'm worried they're missing out on nutrition. Also it's messy and smelly! (I have pictures if needed.) I've put a 2nd litter box in their very large cage, which I put out in the run when it's open for them, and they largely wee in them (with occasional accidents) but pellet everywhere and the cecotropes are invariably on the cage floor.

Thank you for your help! I'm a worried first-time rabbit mum

Welcome to the Forum :wave:

When you say 'pellet mix' food, what exactly is that? What did the previous place feed them and are you continuing the same regime? Did they have this issue, and have you spoken with them about it? I would start there ....

Are you feeding veggies? Which ones?

It's not normal, but it's very very common

Don't worry, they will be fine

Have a look here for some diet recommendations from experts:

Balanced diet (food triangle)

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/components-rabbit-diet.asp

http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-diet/

Also, a rabbit can be spayed from 4 months onwards:

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/neutering28807.pdf

Can you perhaps get some advice from another vet? Ring around and see what they tell you about how many rabbits they spay, their success rate and also what age.

MiniLopMum1 · Jul 4, 2017

Thanks all for the helpful advice

I'm still feeding them exactly what the breeder did (realised latterly I should've got rescue rabbits, next time!), which is hay plus a pellet mix food she calls Advanced Millen Rabbit Food (don't think I can post a link, my last post had one and hasn't been put up). It's bulk mono-pellets, then with some dried veggies and grains mixed in. Oil 4%, Protein 12%-13%, Fibre 10%-15% variable , Ash 5.6%. VitA 1000iu/kg, Vit D3 1400iu/kg, Vit E 40iu/kg, copper 20mg/kg.

That said, she said she was feeding them 2 measures a day (about 70g/2-3 eggcups), and I've gradually reduced it to a quarter of that due to the cecotrope troubles, a bit of selective feeding and internet research indicating that might be twice as much as they need. They said they'd had no issues, but they do have a lot of rabbits.

I haven't fed any veggies yet, as the breeder advised not to until 6 months (again I'm rethinking this on research).

I've just registered with a vet and have an appointment in 2 weeks. The Fibafirst food does look better (thanks Omi), I'll mention it when I meet the vet - nervous about changing their diet until then. I'm not sure whether to increase their food rations in the meantime?

Young rabbits leaving cecotropes

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