Feeding and soft poos... I really don't know what i'm doing

After a full day of nice normal poo's, we got up this morning to find loads of soft squichy poo's all over her cage.... could she be upset about being left on her own overnight and this could be upsetting her tummy.

I'm off to work now and I am hoping that things will be ok when I get home... fingers crossed


Karen xx

runnybabbit said:

After a full day of nice normal poo's, we got up this morning to find loads of soft squichy poo's all over her cage.... could she be upset about being left on her own overnight and this could be upsetting her tummy.

I'm off to work now and I am hoping that things will be ok when I get home... fingers crossed


Karen xx

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karen things are not gonna change over night you honestly need to get here diet sorted before you are gonna see an omprovement! have you managed to get hold os any science selective!?

Eve x

Dont worry too much I m sure things will settle down .I just want to say that there seems to be loads of different advice in what and how to feed bunnies. I take in rabbits for a rescue as well as having 4 of my own and as you can imagine Ive come across this problem a lot. I ve read loads of books and asked advice from vets other rabbit owners etc while building up my knowledge on rabbits and I still sometimes get baffled. The best advice i think is that bunnies need loads of hay . Get your bunny eating it while hes young and remember dont change food quickly introduce new things gradualy. I think the advice to feed 4 times a day is good then your bun cant pig out on pellets but make sure hay is available all the time. Dont ever be tempted to give bunny s stomach a rest by not feeding her at all because a rabbits stomach needs to be processing food all the time or it can shut down then you have BIG problems.

The science selective food is the best I have come across yet because it has the highest fibre I know, my 2 absolutley love it!!

I wonder if they do a junior range?? I know that Excel (also pellets) do a junior range for younger buns.

I would never listen to pet shops or breeders because half the time they dont know what theyre talking about and are just in it for the money. I bought my jasper from a pet shop and they were feeding him on that rubbish cheap rabbit mix stuff!!

I would lay off the veggies for a while because my vet said that they shouldnt have them until they are a bit older!

The best place to go to for food would perhaps be your local vet - mine tend to sell the best rabbit food. Remember pellets etc should only compliment a rabbits diet - they should not be the main source of food - this should be a good quality hay (I find the thinner and stringier the hay, the more they love it!) The buns should have access to fresh quality hay at all times. Then when they are a little older it would be good to introduce them onto grass too (very gradually) because grass is what rabbits eat in the wild! (never mowed grass though)

When changing food (as everyone else has said above) always change it gradually. My vet recomended this strategy for feeding once the food has been changed:

If they eat everything in the bowl - feed a little more
If some is left over, feed a little less

It wont take long to get to the right amount!

Hope this helps.

Science Selective isn't easy to get hold of as I'v just found out, my vet cant get it and none of the pet shops I'v visited today carry it as stock but my local shop says he look at the wholesalers when he goes on Wed.

Poo's have been normal again all day, so I'll wait and see what happens overnight again.

Think I'm just going to have to stop worrying so much and let time and candys tummy get on with it as long as she seems fine in every other way.


Thanks again everyone

Karen xx

I believe the P@H juinor pellets are made by Burgess and similar to their Excel junior pellets - what is the fibre/protein etc content as listed on the back?

If they are on a pelleted food with high fibre already then swapping to SS may not be necessary. If you are on a mixed food then you will need to swap.

Mine have been on Burgess Excel junior and are now on the normal, they seem to be doing fine on it and I can't get hold of SS easily either. Excel is available from P@H and I can get it in large bags, which is perfect for the number of rabbits I have to feed. If you find once you have the balence of pellets to hay sorted out and they still get too may soft poos then SS is supposed to be better then Excel for that problem.

Caz

Most pet shops should be able to get hold of SS for you, ask them when they go to thw wholesalers - they should definitley be able to order you some in, as should your vets. It really is the best stuff.

I spoke to a wholesaler of pet food and actually although they stocked Russel rabbit they said it wasn't worth their while to stock Science select or even get in a small quantity for me!

Caz

really?? I must just have a nice store owner! what about the vets?

I know my local pet store uses the same wholesaler as me (so no point asking him plus his mark up is huge) and the nearest wholesaler is Swindon (Batleys) so far I haven't found a local pet wholesaler that will order in SS but at least I can get my Excel cheap.

My vets recommend/stock Excel lite but Burgess only do tiny bags which wouldn't be economic. I have contacted Burgess about doing larger bags and they have said they will see what they can do.

Caz

http://www.buybypost.co.uk/pets/products/Rabbit-Food.html

Just thought this might help - you can buy Science Selective on line if your unable to get from your local Vets or Pet Stores.

I took on a baby bunny (6weeks old) about 1 month ago (shes now 10 wks) She is a mini lop and has a huge appetite, I started feeding her unlimited pellets as she is so young but she was putting on weight at an alarming rate (nearly 200g in 1 week) she was also eating the whole bowl down in one go and I was worried about her getting a bloated tummy, she is on the Burgess Excell Junior and she was getting lots of hay as well, but after I had her about 1 week of feeding her unlimited food she was passing alot of soft poos (like your bunny) So I cut down the food to 2 smaller meals a day and started mixing a little Allen & Paige in with the excel to give her the extra fibre this has sorted her out and she now has normal poos and her weight is increasing at a more steady rate.

Allen & paige is available from farm shops in 20kg bags for around 6.50
I have found it extremely good and although only 2 of my bunnies eat it at the moment the other 4 all have it mixed with their normal food as they are either too young to switch to it completely or are picky about it and will eat it in small quantities.

Good luck with sorting her out.

Well done for sorting that out!!

I would suggest, especially as your bunnys are so young, that you get them to eat as much quality hay as possible - unlimited amounts, i find mine like the stringier the better.

My bunny has unlimited amouts of fresh hay in her cage, in a seperate hay section in her cage and also in her litter tray and nibbles away at it all the time. Since filling her bowl up once a day and leaving her to it, I'v found she eats as much or as little as she wants although it has only been a couple of days. What I have noticed is that the soft poo's occure overnight, when she's left in her cage all alone. I know the ones I follow her round picking up are normal hardish pellets. I read in one of the postings that they are supposed to eat soft poo's as a source of protine, but I'v been cleaning her cage every morning to get rid of them, so this morning I didn't and they are still there now, so she doesen't seem to want to eat them. But shes fine in herself and at the mo is going mad as I wont let her out of her cage as I need to go to the supermarket, she normally runs round my house from now till bedtime so it's a bit strange for her... in fact shes sitting with her back to me so I'm subject to a bunny insult for this one.... don't they make you feel bad.

I wouldnt worry too much, especially if she is producing hard poos. Do you feed her vegetables?? as sometimes these can cause a runny tummy.

Hay is the best way to get rid of soft poos, anything with lots of fibre!! If she goes outside, watch out for flystrike!

I was just starting to try her with little bits of veg, cherry tom (which she loves) carrott and a bit of cucumber but have stopped now as at 12wks now understand that she is still too young.

Shes not been outside yet as shes not had her vhd inj yet (thats this thurs) but I didn't really want her to go outside anyway as we have a lot of local cats who use my garden as a meeting place, so I was worried the may hurt her or frighten her or she may catch something from them. They are a bit of a rough bunch as my garden furnature could tell you...lol.

I have got a harness for her so when shes a bit bigger and cant get out of it we could walk her on the path way which I can clean before we take her out.

yes, cats do kill rabbits!! It would be best for her to have a run built. Securely of course. I would be worried of taking her on a lead incase she picked any other infections up from outside.

Its good that you have stopped the veggies until her poos dry up. Keep a close eye on her after her jab too because this can sometimes upset them.


Hay hay and more hay!!

We had 2 days of nipping after the mix one, I say nipping, at times it was biting as she drew blood on my leg and I had to go for a tetnus inj myself. If it looks like being a repeat of that then I will have to keep her in her cage until shes calmed down a bit so my daughter dosen't get bitten as my bun usually has free run of the house, there is always one of us tagging along behind to make sure she dosent get into too much trouble.

To be honest, I wouldn't even trust these cats not to at least try to get into the run and I think that might scare her. They've managed to claw at my shed door to gain access and take shelter in there from the rain and bad weather so a run would be no trouble to them.

I didn't mention they also leave dead birds, mice and voles in the garden aswell