Caecotrophs

[armywife320]

Hi! My name is Kara and I am a new rabbit owner.I have an 11 mos. old lop rabbit named Faith. I am having troubles withhis poop. He excretes caecotrophs several times a day. I have an areafor him to run around in to get excercise since he lives indoors. Theproblem is he doesn't reingest the caecotrophs and then steps on themand they get stuck and plastered to my hard wood floors. I have triedto clean the residue up but it is cemented to the floor. I would liketo give him play time to excercise and be free from a cage but I CANNOTget that stuff up. I need help with how to get him to have less or nocaecotrophs, how to get him to eat them, and how to get the stuff offthe floor. I have tried goo be gone to get it off and scrubbing butnothing seems to help. I am in Army housing so when I leave, this stuffneeds to be off the floors. I have tried mats for play pens but hechews them up. PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE HEEELLLPPP MEEEEE!!! ANY advice orhelp at all would be greatly appreciated.:bunnydance:

 

[blackdutch]

Sorry if I sound really dumb, but whatare caecotrophs? Like, a type of poop?


The only suggestion I have is.. :litterempty::litterfew::litterhealthy:

A LITTER BOX! (Just had to use the smileys!)

 

[missyscove]

I don't know too much about the issue, but Ihave heard that too much protein in their food can lead to excessivecaecotrophs, you might check the level of protein in the food you'reproviding. Also, for the flooring, perhaps you could try achair mat or the like, put the walls of the playpen inside the edges ofthe mat, so he can't chew.

 

[Runestonez]

Our bunns started to have alot of cecotrophs andthey weren't eating them either. I looked at what we werefeeding them. I have also heard that it is related to toomuch protein. I cut back their pellets (we used to free feed)to an 1/8 of a cup each per day, unlimited hay, unlimitedveggies. We haven't had a problem with cecalssince. Some rabbits have problems with their cecals if theyare over weight too. They can't reach around to get tothem.

On another note...we have hardwood floor too. I use warmvinegar...dampena cloth and set it on the spot to be cleanedfor a couple of minutes...this helps soften them...then we usesomething with a stiff edge to dislodge them and wipe themup. I use old bread bag ties or milk bag ties...they don'tseem to scratch the wood floor!

 

[naturestee]

I use vinegar too. It works well once it soaks in.

What kind of pellets are you feeding and how much? Usually ifyou're seeing cecals then the bunny is producing too many.This is often caused by excess protein such as alfalfa hay or alfalfapellets but it is sometimes caused by sensitivities to certain veggiesor an excess of treats. For starters though, make sure you'renot feeding him alfalfa hay, cut back on treats if you feed much, andswitch to a timothy pellet like Oxbow Bunny Basics/T or Kaytee TimothyComplete.

 

[armywife320]

I feed him a 1/2 cup of Kaytee Fiesta forRabbits a day. Since he is a mini or hollandlop, it says onthe package to feed him 1/4 to 1/2 cup a day. I also keep Timothy Hayin a hay manger. And as always fresh water. He is also getting wholecarrots tops and all. I just got some oranges today that I will throwin there too. The Fiesta blend has dried veggies and fruits as well asseeds. Should he not eat any pellets? Because my mom used to have arabbit that lived solely on pellets and she has never heard of thecaecotrophs (aka:squishy poo). He gets a few treats here and there andthey are always Kaytee. He used to love the hay but now hardly eats it.Not sure what to do, should I take him to the vet to check his weight?He's pretty small. Last time he was 4.8 lbs.Thanks for the tips aboutthe vinegar...will try that out. Other than the caecos he is litter boxtrained (boy was that a trip). Keep giving the advice! I trulyappreciate it.

 

[naturestee]

Kaytee Fiesta is pure treats/sugar with hardlyany fiber and is probably the problem. Switch to a pelletwithout any treats. The only Kaytee brand I think is okay isKaytee Timothy Complete, although Exact is decent too. Or goto a feed store and get a 16% protein or less pellet there. Alot of the breeder-type pellets are much better than the alfalfa Kayteevarieties.

For treats, stick with raisins or rolled oats. Those hugeKaytee treat sticks are way too much and tend to overload most bunswith sugar and carbs.

 

[maherwoman]

Hello! Everyone's already given such great advice, so I just wanted to say...

Welcome to the site!

Rosie*

 

[armywife320]

Thanks! I had no idea Fiesta was bad for him. Iwill find new pellets and give him natural treats and hope for thebest. :colors:There is a feed store close to my work, I'll stop bythere after work someday soon.

 

[naturestee]

While you're there, see if they have any timothyor other grass hay. If you've been buying Kaytee hay, farmerhay is often more fresh, tasty, and much less expensive.

Just make sure it doesn't have much alfalfa mixed in. In myarea, "mixed grass" hay is half alfalfa and I had to really search tofind stuff that was mostly grass. Two of my rabbits arereally sensitive to alfalfa and get diarrhea and gross cecals.