Newly adopted rabbit strange eating behavior?

[Fury the Bun]

Hi everyone I’m new here and please parson for my bad english as it’s not my main language.

So I just adopted Fury an 8 weeks old male bunny 2 days ago. The breeder said he is a holland lop but I believe he is an american fuzzy lop since his coat is a bit fuzzy but his ear fur aren’t. When I met him in the breeder place they didn’t gave him drink for some hours since they put him in the different cage to be picked up, they also provide unlimited hay, unlimited pellets (soy based which I believe isn’t healthy), and unlimited banana leaves (in my country some of the rabbit breeders believe that banana leaves can help with digestion and prevent bloating, but I’m skeptical).

So when I first get him I weighed him and he weighed only 321gr, is this normal? Then I give him 0.3ml of nutridrop (a multivitamin to prevent stress, reccomended by some bunny owners in my country to give during stressful event). Then I put him straight into his enclosure which quite large for him. I didn’t touch him a lot during his first day since I’m afraid I would stressed him.

I get him in the morning and give him unlimited hay second cut timothy, water bowl, and a water bottle. I also give him 8 pellets after 4 hours arriving (6 old soy based pellets and 2 sherwood pellets). I planned to change fully to sherwood after 30 days gradually mixing the old and new pellets.

He eats the pellets just fine, but he eat just a little hay, and only poops around 20 pellets that day. The shape of the pellets r round but not perfect, varied in size, and dark in color. He also pee but the color is orange dark, but it gradually improved and he peed yellow transparent at night. He just sleep a lot in his hutch and already flop sometimes. He also drink just a little around 10-20ml. At night he just sleep and just waking up sometimes to groom himself, he didn’t poop, drink, or eat at all.

The next morning (yesterday), I checked how much hay he eat and he only eat around 2gr hay. I think that’s concerning so I give him simethicone 3 dose with 1 hour interval between each dose, toltrazuril 2.5% 0.13ml 1 dose, and benebac 0.24gr. He’s really active tho, he’s binkies a lot when I open his enclosure and let him free roam in my room for some hours. But still after 3 dose of simethicone he hasn’t poop or eat. He still drinks just a little and pee normally. I also tried to pet him this time and noticed that he is molting? Even tho it’s not normal for him to molt at his age, then I also noticed there’s fleas in his head area. After this he went into loaf position (idk if it’s loaf or hunching) and grinding his teeth quite loud and often?). Then I contacted a doctor via online (since there’s no rabbit savvy vet near me and I’m afraid to stressing him out if I bring him to a vet that’s far away). The doctor actually said it’s normal since he’s stressed. Then the doctor told me to continue on simethicone, toltrazuril, and benebac if it’s improving Fury’s recovery progress. Also the doctor told me to give him critical care if he’s not eating. Then he also give me virbac nutriplus gel (multivitamin for dig and cat) and interlac (lactobacilus probiotic) to make Fury eat more.

When I contact the doctor Fury already eat some hay but only a little and I noticed there’s hair in his poop (not connected to his poop but around his poop, idk if it’s from inside him or from the outside). So I give him virbac, interlac, toltrazuril, and simethicone (I stopped benebac since it’s also probiotics like interlac, idw to overdose my bun with probiotic).

Then I noticed that Fury only eat like 3-4 times a day and each sessions is around 10-20 minutes long, he eats hay, poop, and drink. Then he stop doing that for 1-3 hours (he sleeps or exploring my room), then repeat that session. But he didn’t eat or drink or poop or pee at night, only groom and run around his enclosure.

Yesterday he only poop around 70-80, drink around 10-30ml, eat around 2gr hay. Today he poop around 90, drink 10-30ml, eat around 4gr hay.

So what I want to ask is:
1. Is this normal for a bun to not eat, drink, poop continuously?
2. Till today Fury often sit in loaf position and grind his teeth, I checked it and it looks quite normal. Should I worried abt this? What should I do? (note: he love to bite things and me but today it’s reducing)
3. Is it possible that there’s blockage in Fury’s digestive bcs of his fur? Or it’s just recovery from stressful event? And how long will this last?
4. What’s the normal eating and pooping like for baby bunny?

I’m sorry if I typed a lot , but I’m quite confused. Any advice would be really appreciated

 

[Fury the Bun]

Anw here’s his loafing/hunched position and his newly poop

 

[Omi]

Hello, which country are you living in? You have written a lot and provided photos of his poop, both of which are helpful. I'll try to cover all your concerns.

Firstly, well done for leaving Fury mostly alone to settle. That will have been helpful. I would continue with this for a little while too, at least until he is recovered fully, only handling him when necessary.

I have no experience with banana leaves, but was concerned that Fury had been given an unlimited supply of these. Very young rabbits ' digestion is very fragile and easily upset. I had a look online and found this article about feeding banana leaves, where it states that for adult rabbits they are fine for them to eat, but unfortunately the advice is NOT to feed at all if the rabbit is under 3 months. Here is the article:

Can rabbits eat banana leaves?

Although bunnies love to eat bananas, the main question most owners often ask is, can rabbits eat banana leaves? The short answer is yes they can. However, just

rabbitszone.com

I'm suspecting that eating so many banana leaves at the breeders and then suddenly having none might have been contributory to his digestive issues.

According to this article Fury's weight at 321g is not below what it should be. It might even be above:

https://lopworld.com/holland-lop-weight/

Is this the new Sherwood pellet which you are now feeding? :

https://store.sherwoodpethealth.com/baby-rabbit-food/

If it is this rabbit food, the main ingredient is alfalfa hay and so I think if Fury is still slow to increase his hay intake, I would slightly and slowly increase the pellets. You can always adjust the quantity later. The main thing is to get his digestion working properly for now.

I think he should eat more hay. This would help any fur that's being ingested from his moult. It will also regularise his digestion and long term will help his teeth wear down. The fact that he is eating some hay though, is encouraging. I see also that today his hay consumption has increased, he is drinking more and also has pooped more, which means he seems to be improving. If the hair which you have observed is around the poop, it probably isn't hair which has been ingested. That would be visible coming from inside the poop.

My rabbits don't eat and poop continuously. They also have longish periods when they sleep or move around energetically.

Regarding your questions

1. As mentioned above, yes it's normal for a rabbit to have periods when they eat, periods when they sleep and periods when they run around.
2. Teeth grinding can be a sign of pain. It's possible, that this is because his digestive system feels uncomfortable. Yes, this is a concern and you should keep monitoring it. Hopefully, if his digestion can be improved, it should stop. It's normal for rabbits to bite things I'm afraid. You need to make sure that there is nothing in his environment which would harm him eg electrical cables.
3. It's impossible to say with any certainty. However, if he had a blockage it's unlikely he would be pooping in any quantity and also running around, as it would be very painful. Also as above if the fur you've observed isn't contained within the poop, it probably isn't fur that's been ingested.
4. How much is he eating per day now? If it's just 8 pellets and 4g of hay, then it isn't enough. I think he should be drinking more too. Do you have any critical care? I would give him a small amount a few times during the day, either via syringe or if he will lap it up from a plate. This is in additon to whatever pellets and hay he eats. How much each time, I would be guided by the instructions on the packet. I would also make it more watery than advised on the packet, to help with his hydration.

The photo of his poop suggests that he is not eating enough and certainly not enough fibre. So I would increase his food intake with some Critical Care until he starts to eat more, especially hay. You should notice an improvement in his poop.

Personally from your description I do not think he sounds stressed. A stressed rabbit does not run around and explore. I suspect the main issue is a disturbed digestion, caused possibly by having unlimited banana leaves and a change of diet after you collected him.

I would try first of all to remove the fleas with a flea comb. If they continue to be present, then you will need to get the online vet to prescribe something. You will need to be sure that they are actually fleas though, to obtain the correct medication.

And lastly, it will be very beneficial for Fury if he is able to run around a lot out of his enclosure. It will help a great deal with his digestion and also help to mitigate any stress that he's feeling.

Best of luck

 

[Shimmer]

His poo does look small and irregular. More hay or grass will be good for his digestion (and teeth), and will improve his poo output. Ideally, it should be bigger and round. Colour depends on what he's eating - hay makes it more golden, fresh greens / grass make it darker.

Rabbits tend to drink more from a bowl than a bottle.

The main thing at the moment is to let him de-stress and settle in. Don't change his diet yet - wait a week or 2 for him to settle.
Fleas need to be dealt with - a flea / nit comb used daily will definitely help. Extra grooming will also remove loose fur so that he doesn't ingest it.
Keep an eye on his weight - weigh weekly. He should slowly gain weight until he's fully grown. Any loss needs investigating.
Having extra space to run around in will help keep him in good condition, including his guts. Make sure it's safe for him and that he isn't chewing anythingthat he shouldn't (wires, furniture, carpet, etc).

Let us know how he gets on.

 

[Fury the Bun]

Hi everyone thank you for your advice, really appreciate it!

@Omi I live in Indonesia and there’s a not much rabbit savvy vet here, mostly in capital city but I live in a small city.
I unfortunately already handled Fury a lot since I need to brush him to control his flea and remove his loose hair, syringe feed him medicine, and comfort him during thunderstorms yesterday (yes it’s usually rainy in my city). But the good news is he actually like being handled now? He followed me and when I pet him he move into loaf position and grind his teeth but sometimes it getting louder till I can hear it (I think he likes me now?). Do u think that’s not a problem to handle him rn and I don’t need to leave him alone anymore?
Thankyou for the article of banana leaves I’ll read that after this.
The sherwood pellet I give him is the free choice timothy pellet (the blue one), yes it’s actually for adult rabbit but I can’t get the baby one in my country. The seller said she won’t restock the baby one since people rarely buy it, and she said it’s okay to give them timothy based pellet as long as I’m giving the bun alfafa hay. I’ve planned to give him a grab of alfafa next week after I half transitioning his pellet to sherwood and will give him 2 grab of alfafa after another week (while still give him unlimited timothy). I planned to go with this diet until Fury reached 6 months of age then I stop giving him alfafa and continue on timothy and pellets. This is bcs I’m afraid to upset his stomach since his old pellet contains a lot sugar, protein, and all that bad stuff, so that when I add alfafa it’ll make him get too much sugar and protein. Also he never get alfafa before from the breeeder, they usually give him timothy hay.
Thank you for ur answer, I already bunny proofing my area and keep improving on area he like to chewed on. The only thing I can’t cover is wooden chair, but I monitor him when he’s in his exercise time around my room so this won’t be a problem. But do u have any advice on how to stop him chewing wooden chair leg?
That’s nice to hear if my Fury probably didn’t have any blockage .
So he ate around 5gr of timothy hay and 8 mixed pellet (old one and new one) from 8am yesterday till 8pm last night and from last night to this morning he ate another 5gr of timothy hay. He still drink 10-30ml of water but his pee seems normal to me, yellow transparent. Also I count his poop (one by one yes it’s nasty and crazy but yes I really concerned abt him and willing to do anything) so he poop around 94 pellets from 8am-8pm yesterday and 75 pellets from 8pm-12am yesterday and 25 pellets from 12am-8am this morning. I think his poop count is almost normal, but the shape, size, and color still the same as before (dark, mishappen (almost round tho), size varried from very small (smaller than the photo I took yesterday, looked like sesame seeds) to very big (like the photo I took yesterday). Should I be more concerned or relieve?
Yes I do have sherwood sar-x and oxbow critical care, should I give it to him even though his hay intake increasing slowly?
When should I stop giving critical care? Should I stop after his poop is round and golden or after his hay intake reaching spesific weight?
I’m certain that it’s flea like the one you found in cat fur (I attached the photo bellow) and planned to give him revolution (the online vet also said that fleas topical should be given once a month as preventive). I already ask one of the selebgram bunny owner (the seller of the sherwood pellet) abt the revolution dose and she said to give it 1 drop for his weight now and then give it again after 2 weeks then after 1 month. I’m still waiting for the revolution package and will give Fury directly after it’s arrived (tmr or day after tmr).
Yes I give him large enough enclosure and sometimes he zoomies in his enclosure but mostly sleep, also I give him some exercise time outside his enclosure (in my room) within my watch for abt 2-6 hours a day.
Also follow up question, should I continue mixing his old pellets and sherwood pellets gradually or should I just give him sherwood but increasing the amount gradually?
And is it possible that Fury has megacolon? Because some of his poop looked like oval shape? Or is this just a mishappen poop because that digestive problem?

@Shimmer Fury eats timothy hay, but strangely his poop color is dark like the photo I took yesterday. When he first come his poop is more light color than now, idk why. I provided Fury with both bottle and bowl, I aggree that he loves to drink from bowl more. But I can’t really count how much he drink from bowl since it doesn’t has measuring tick on it, also sometimes he put his hand/feet in it, poop in it, pee in it, and sit in it . I’m afraid he would get hypothermia or skin infection if he continue doing this. Also idk if he’s really drinking from his bowl or just stick his face into it, case it’s so hard to see since his fur always blocking my watch. The only thing I can do is guessing how much he drink from that bowl. Should I continue giving him water bowl?
Atm I already change his diet to what I mentioned before, should I continue on this or going back to what the breeder has given him before (unlimited old pellets)?
The rest is the same as I mentioned for Omi above

Right now I’m giving simethicone 2 dose (20mg/ml @1ml), virbac nutriplus gel 2 dose (@ a size of green mung beans), and interlac 2 dose (@ 1/2 pack) each day in the morning and at night. Will give him another dose of toltrazuril after 5 days break (next saturday) (as adviced in this article https://www.vgr1.com/toltrazuril-hare/#calc) and will give him 1 dose revolution tmr or day after tmr. Let me know if you have any advice regarding this supplement!

Will keep yall updated with my Fury condition! Thanks

 

[Omi]

Hi again, yes I think Fury sounds to be fine with handling now.

This rabbit site provides sensible information and this page covers a baby rabbit's diet. As you will see baby rabbits actually need more daily protein than adult rabbits.

Diet for Young/Baby Rabbits

I think it would be a good idea to weigh Fury at the same time every couple of days to confirm that he is gaining weight. The colour of his poop is not a concern as that depends on what foods he is eating, but it shouldn't be small. If he isn't gaining weight and his poop is still small, then I think I would consider giving him a small top-up feed of Critical Care each day. I would then be guided by his weight and an increase in other foods as to when you should stop Critical Care. You say his hay intake is increasing which is good news. Once his hay intake has increased more, I think I would also increase his pellets very slowly and very slightly. The water intake sounds OK and it's fine to just use the bowl.

 

[Fury the Bun]

Thank you so much Omi, I weight him yesterday and seems like he’s gaining around 1gr I think that’s great. I give him sherwood sarx yesterday night and this morning, but his poop count seems to be decreasing (around 160 poops). And his poop is still small and some of them around 4-6 is really small. Is this normal when you give CC?
Also his hay intake is increasing again today yay!

 

[bunny momma]

Others have given you excellent advice. Fury is very cute. The consistency of his poop should be crumbly when they are rolled between your fingers. He must be eating more hay to make 160 poops, even if 4-6 are tiny.
Sending lots of positive vibes for you and your bunny.

 

[Fury the Bun]

@bunny momma thank youu . Yes the poop is crumbly so I think it’s good then. Good to know that those amount and size of poops r okay for him.
Sending positive vibes for u n ur bun too!

 

[Omi]

Thank you so much Omi, I weight him yesterday and seems like he’s gaining around 1gr I think that’s great. I give him sherwood sarx yesterday night and this morning, but his poop count seems to be decreasing (around 160 poops). And his poop is still small and some of them around 4-6 is really small. Is this normal when you give CC?
Also his hay intake is increasing again today yay!

I would continue with his diet the same for the next few days. I would also weigh him often. The 1g increase in weight that you reported is a step in the right direction, although don't forget it could just be the difference between before having a wee and afterwards I wouldn't be that concerned if his poop count is decreasing. It's still a large number and it could just be that each poop is very slightly larger than previously and so the overall weight of his poop per day could still be increasing. I don't think it has anything to do with the CC. Make sure you make the CC quite watery if he is still not drinking very much. Good digestion requires water. It's great that he is increasing his hay intake too. Is he still running around and exploring?

 

[Fury the Bun]

Hi again @Omi thanks for the information! Yes Fury still run and explore everyday, he even climbed to my lap when I sit on the floor xD. His food intake and poop count also increasing. His poop already in good shape but his food intake hasn’t reach the required amount tho. I think he is getting better now, all thanks to you and the others advice xD

 

[Omi]

Excellent, this is good news. I hope Fury continues to thrive

 

[Fury the Bun]

hello again everyone, it’s been a week already. So I have another “problem” with Fury. As I state before he’s weighed around 321gr, I weighed him sometimes but it seems like his weight going up and down? Sometimes he weighed 305, 309, and another time it was 319. The problem is today I weighed him and he only weight around 264, I tried restarting the scale and change the dish to weight him but it still shown the same. Also me and my boyfriend can notice that he seems thinner his front legs seems only filled with bone and no meat at all. Is this something I should be worried abt? Or it is normal since I’ve changed his diet (the breeder give unlimited pellets and timothy now I only give 8 and unlimited timothy)?

His hay intake actually increasing each day, yesterday he eat around 11gr timothy, 2.2gr sarx + 8.4gr water, 8 pellet (1 gr), and I started giving him alfafa hay 2gr each day starting last friday. He is drinking a lot lately maybe around 80-160ml each day. Sometimes he do drink a lot and his pee color is transparent, he hasn’t potty trained yet and he peed everywhere esp around me. But other times he just drink and pee normally with yellow transparent color. Also his poop is starting to be round and in similar size till saturday. Then starting sunday his poop is starting to be oval egg shapped, sometimes normal tho and the color is getting a lot darker. All the poop is a little bit wet but will dry overtime and will crushed into hay fiber when u squished. Today (monday) his poop is starting to be brighter in color (not that golden tho) and drier than yesterday but still in concerning shape, even some is oval dan connected to other oval poop and some is small. He also still shed a lot of fur and I brushed him 1-2 times a day. He just finished his cocci treatment yesterday a 2-9-2 method with 10mg/kg dose toltrazuril (it’s just for preventive, not from vet bcs there’s no rabbit savvy pet around me).

I checked his teeth and it seems normal (I can only check the front teeth). I also checked his poop if there’s any worm and I don’t seems any but I will give panacur preventive dose tho but maybe not now since he just finished his cocci treatment. He is eating pellet and sarx just fine (he will run around me when he feels that I’m abt giving him that thing). But it seems like he is more lethargic than the first few days? Like I mentioned before he is binkying and running and exploring all the time, now he mostly sleep and walk a little. He is also rarely flopping these past 2 days. His ears feels cold sometimes (these past 2 days), I tried to put him in his cage which has an electric warmer or wrapped him in a blanket and it usually worked to warm his ear up but he doesn’t seems to like it as if he wants to get cold?

Should I worried about this? What can I do? Do u guys hv any similar problem before?

*I attached the photo of the oval poop, small poop, and normal poop. Also the photo of his excess fur I get with only one grooming session.

 

[Shimmer]

He's still only a baby, so I wouldn't be reducing his pellets yet - he has a lot of growing to do. His digestive system is also going through a lot of changes, plus his change of home, medication, etc all adds to his stress. It is worrying that he's lost a noticeable amount of weight, has coldears, and that his poo has become quite irregular and inconsistent in size and shape. Will he eat more pellets?

The changes in poo seem to have started just after you started giving him alfalfa hay. Maybe stop that until he has stabilised again?

 

[Fury the Bun]

He will eat as many pellet as I give him. I’m planning to give him unlimited pellets when he fully transitioned to the healthier one (sherwood) since his old pellet (vita rabbit) contains a lot of soy and grains. Is it okay to wait around 2 weeks more till he fully transitioned to give him unlimited pellets?

Noted, I will stop the alfafa now, thanks Shimmer.

 

[Shimmer]

At the moment, it's more important that he eats. I would slow down on the pellet transition and just give him more of what he is used to until his poo improves and he starts to gain weight normally. He also needs to be encouraged to keep up with eating more hay as that is better for his guts & teeth, so you need to balance the pellets and hay.

He's having to deal with quite a lot right now - new home, new routine, new food, fleas, etc - all of which are quite stressful on a young rabbit. I would also concentrate on getting rid of the fleas as they will be weakening him.

 

[bunny momma]

If he is losing weight, is colder and is less active, he is either not eating enough food or he needs to be checked by a vet.
A few oval poo mixed with round poo may be from fur or other factors. However if most of his poo is oval it can be a sign of a medical condition.

 

[Fury the Bun]

He is eating hay normally and increasing from the first he come but still haven’t reach the target (at first he was 321gr I’m targeting he to eat at least 39gr hay) right now he eat around 11-13 gr hay/day. I think he doesn’t has eating problem just with the weight and cold ear.

I’m trying to search a vet that’s a rabbit savvy but can’t find one. But I’ll see an exotic vet today hopefully she’s quite helpful.

Thanks @bunny momma @Shimmer