Bunny not pooping or eating greens?

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Chocoteddy0

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My rabbit is very young, as you can see in the pic. We give him normal grass instead of hay and sometimes he eats it. He rarely eats though, just a bit of grass and a tiny bit of carrot/apple. He doesn't it greens. Also, he hasn't pooped since we got him, over a day ago. Help?
 
Hi there welcome to the forum,

Do you mind putting your generallocation in your profile? It helpsa lot in case we need to find vets around your area to help you out. :).

Would it be possible to contact the people you purchased him from to see what he was being fed before?

Just a few suggestions while we wait forsomeone with more experience to come along and give their input :).

**Edited to add, read your introduction. I'm sure someone will come along in no time to help you and your little one out.

 
Wow - your rabbit does look young - to be honest with you - your rabbit looks too young to be away from mama. HOWEVER...lets do what we can to try and help your bunny as quicklyas possible.

I would not be feeding your rabbit grass as you do not know what its mother ate and if the mother wasn't used to eating grass (along with apples and carrots and stuff) - then it could mess up your baby's digestive system since he/she is so young.

I would try to get rabbit pellets and feed your rabbit that. I would also feed him/her some oatmeal if you can get that - I get the regular oatmeal (not the instant) and put a bit of that in on their food. I would also encourage you to get hay and not grass - because we don't know if the grass might have been treated with pesticides.

It is very important that your rabbit be pooping and peeing regularly. If your rabbit isn't getting enough water - that may be part of why it isn't eating as it needs water in order for the digestive system to work.

I have heard of babies who went to a new home and didn't poop for 24 hours but they started pooping after that.

I think the important thing right now is to get the gut moving.....


 
So far:

*We will buy hay. Thanks for the advice. :)

*He is eating greens.

*No poo! :(


Also, yeah, he probably should still be with his mother :(but the man said he was okay to go and he's better off with us than him. Sometimes we give him slightly warm milk.
 
Wow honey not sure about the "milk" as I understand buns do not take to any type of milk other than their moms and would stop this immediately...

Please take a look at the section of Buns 101 - and see about feeding buns.. No milk - not good, this I know for sure!!
 
Thanks!!! Wow, some really good links...Well my rabbits eating now, but no poo?? :(I never thought I'dsay this but...PLEASE POO, LITTLE WABBIT!!
 
How long has it been since poo?

Try giving your bun some tummy rubs (Long, slow, deep rubs) to help their gut move the food that is in there -out.. If they haven't gone by tomorrow morning take them to the Vet immediatly (if not now, just to make sure all is ok)..
 
Don't know, we got it yesterday morning, hasn't pooed yet.

How do I do the tummy rubs? Do I have to flip him over? He hates being on his back.
 
No, hold him on you and just gently rub his sides for now. Keep his tummy warm and can you give him some water by just letting it drip into the side of his mouth? don't force feed it - cause you can hurt him - but if you get a bit in there or get him to lick it off himself he will get some water. Fluids is the key right now! If he's eating greens - make sure they are moist with some extra water - not WET because he might not eat them... but just a bit of moisture added.
 
Hallo and welcome to you and your lovely baby bun!

Hay in an unlimited quantity and pellets -abt. 1/3 of a cup divided in 2 portions, 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening (there are pellets higher in protein, especially formulated for junior rabbits and are to be fed till about the age of 12 months) should be your buns main diet. Hay is the most important feed, as it contains the fibre needed for the proper function of their GI tract, it grinds down their teeth, which is necessary in order to avoid dental issues and is, also low in protein and fat. As far as veggies are concerned, if the bun used to eat greens before you got him, this means that his digestive system is accustomed to them, so you can continue feeding in moderate quantities. If not, veggies could create GI problems in such a young baby. Don't feed milk. Fruit is not necessary, herbs and greens would be enough. Please DO take the time to read our nutrition section in the Library, you will there find out all the answers in regard to a healthy and proper diet. Also, provide a bottle and a bowl with water, sometimes babies get a hard time before learning to drink from a bottle, and they drink less quantities than from a bowl.

Is he peeing? Does he look uncomfortable in any way? i.e. is he grinding his teeth? Does he sit in a hunched position? Does he breath faster than normal? Are his eyes bright and clear? Is he active? Does he hop or move around? Also, do you hear any tummy sounds? Take him in your lap and put your ear next to his rib case (=don't flip him over, he'll freak out and it's also very dangerous for causing an injury) and listen. You should hear tummy gurgles, like in humans. Are they loud? Are they subtle? Do you hear anything?

Please let us know on the above, in order to be able to help.

Marietta
 
Ackk! When I hold him I can feel all his bones....Scrawny little thing. Geting him to drink via dribbling the water now (but he looks majorly displeased).

THX for the advice Marietta, as for your questions:

Haven't seen him pee, but saw some on his towel. He sometimes grinds his teeth softly.He sometimes sits hunches, like all curled up . He doesn't breath any faster than I would expect. His eyes are black but bright. He sometimes moves aroud, and usually flops to the ground after a few mins, then tries again. Not very good at hopping - his greatest achievement so far is hopping over my ankle.His tummy sounds are not tooloud, kinda spaced out. SometimesI can hear bubbling sounds, mostly sort of gurgle/drumming sounds.
 
Okay, by what you have noticed and have described in detail, he doesn't sound like he's in GI stasis. So, what I can assume (by what I read only) is that his not pooping must be connected to his not eating. So, I suggest that you do as advised: don't feed greens (he doesn't eat them, anyway), givehim hay and pellets in the suggested quantities. Since he is so thin and young, you can alsofeed him with alfalfa cubes, if you can find them in your feed supplier.

Has he, by any chance, pooped anything since our last communication? Please keep us posted.

Marietta
 
I *think* he pooed! and hes eating! (LOADS too much perhaps?) i saw tiny brown balls in the litter tray...tiny, like not much bigger than couscous, is this normal?
 
I'm so glad he has POOPED!!! AND eating!!! - don't worry about quantities of hay, he can eat as much as he wants, also he can eat a lot of pellets without problems, he's still young and he needs the calories, even more since he's skinny.

His poops are, indeed, normal, baby buns produce much smaller poops than adults. You've done a great job with him, please keep it up and let us know when he's completely back to normal. He sounds like a very happy bun also!!!

Do, check out our Library, there's tons of usuful info, and don't hesitate to post on any issue you have queries.

Marietta
 
How much grass, pellets, veggies and water should I be expecting her to consume?

Now, there are LOADS of poops. she leaves a trail of poops behind her all the time, like:

. . . .. . .. ... . (='.'=)

BTW, now my rabbit thinks I'm food. :(:(:(Keeps biting me when I stroke it. I'm gonna wash my hands, see if it makes a difference (could be food smell). Okay, just washed my hands, and he still thinks I am food. Maybe because hes been smelling my smell as well as the food smellwhen I feed it. :(:(How can I train him out of it???:(
 
The food quantities depend on each rabbit's weight, age and even way of living, i.e. a rabbit who has the space and predesposition for climbing, running etc. burns more calories than a more relaxed personality, so more food intake is needed. In general bigger (in size) bunnies and older ones are more mild and more relaxed than younger ones. Dwarf rabbits are more energetic than the bigger breeds. However, each bun is its own case.

Re hay (=dried grass): Unlimited quantities, 24 hrs per day.
It is important that he has access to hay constantly. You remove the hay and replace with new each day, so that the fresh smell and taste makes him want to eat more. A hay rack attached to the cage bars would keep the hay clean. A good idea is to place hay also in his litter box, so that he munches and poops at the same time.

Re: pellets. Now that he's a baby and up to the age of about 10-12 months, at least 1/3 of a cup daily, it's best if divided in 2 doses, 1 in the morning-1 in the evening (another standpoint talks about unlimited pellets for this age. you should watch your bun's eating habits and adjust quantities accordingly). After the age of abt. 1 year, it's half a cup for each 2.7 kilograms of rabbit weight.

Re: greens/veggies: You introduce veggies/greens after the age of 6 months. Again, about a full cup per day would, more or less, suit the needs of a dwarf bun. A much bigger salad is needed for non-draft breeds. There are rabbits who love greens and have no problems whatsoever in eating them, there are buns who have a "sensitive intestine" (mine is like this) and can't tolerate veggies at all or can tolerate small quantities or can tolerate some and some not. Read the article about safe/unsafe veggies.

Re: fruits: A thin slice per day, no more, because they contain sugar, which is not good for their GI system. Read the article about safe/unsafe fruit. Some are even toxic to rabbits. No seeds, no stems, no peels (generally speeking. i.e. banana peels are okay. I never give peels to my bun, though).

NO snacks, sticks, treats, yoghurt drops, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, cakes, sweets, chocolate, bread, potatos etc. Not to be given under any circumstances. In case your bun can tolerate them, they are, nevertheless, completely useless and fattening. If your bun has tummy troubles, they are detrimental to his health, can cause obesity, GI stasis and other nasty problems, which can endanger even his life and which you wouldn't like to face. This kind of stuff is sold purely for commercial purposes and is merely junk food, the equivalent of hamburgers and fries for humans (=delicious, but unhealthy!).

Re: water. It depends on the rabbit, its weight, the temperature (we would expect it to be the other way round, but rabbits drink more water during winter time rather than summer time), the kind of feed (when they eat hay, they drink more water. When they eat veggies, they may even not drink water at all, because they get hydrated by the water contained in the veggies). It would be a good idea to buy one of the bottles with an ml meter on its side, so that you can monitor which is considered as "normal" water intake for your own bunny. Provide a water bowl also, they drink more from bowl than from bottles. A heavy porcelain crock would be fine, in order to avoid spillages.

All this and much more with details is in our Library. You should take the time and read about rabbit nutrition, because a healthy diet leads to a healthy rabbit. And vise versa.

Marietta

Edited to add: about his biting you, he doesn't think you're food, he's male and this is dominance on his behalf. He's probably trying to show you who's the boss! This kind of behaviour and also, humping, spraying, being agressive etc. gets much milder after neutering.
 

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