Cecotropes, extra lying around

[Floyd2019]

My bunny produces lots of healthy poops, I am pretty sure he is a megacolon bunny because he's always had issues with cecotropes. Currently he eats them but there's still smears all over his pen and around his mouth. Not a mega ton but enough that I feel I should wash his blankets daily. I've seen him eating them. I feed him parsley every few days and less than a tea spoon of pellets a couple times a week. (Hay 24/7) He can't eat much more than that as we've tried everything. I used to feed bok choy but it started to upset him and threw him into GI stasis...he can't have romaine or kale either
Do you think this is fairly normal for an irregular bun???

 

[Crazybunnymum]

Excess cecotropes would suggest an excess of protein in his diet, but from what you’ve described, his diet is pretty good and full of good fibre. My boy is terrible at eating his, and I honestly think it’s because he’s really fluffy and it gets caught everywhere (his diet is 90% hay) is your bun particularly fluffy or overweight?

 

[Floyd2019]

Excess cecotropes would suggest an excess of protein in his diet, but from what you’ve described, his diet is pretty good and full of good fibre. My boy is terrible at eating his, and I honestly think it’s because he’s really fluffy and it gets caught everywhere (his diet is 90% hay) is your bun particularly fluffy or overweight?

No, he is part lionhead part rex and has a short but long coat? Does that make sense? Like a "typical" rabbit coat lol. Under his tail area is super managed and he has no trouble reaching. He is the perfect weight apparently. I wonder if I should just take a little break from his pellets for a bit and see if it regulates. They are a higher protein because he doesn't eat veggies really. It might help

 

[Crazybunnymum]

No, he is part lionhead part rex and has a short but long coat? Does that make sense? Like a "typical" rabbit coat lol. Under his tail area is super managed and he has no trouble reaching. He is the perfect weight apparently. I wonder if I should just take a little break from his pellets for a bit and see if it regulates. They are a higher protein because he doesn't eat veggies really. It might help

Makes perfect sense Definitely worth a shot. Something my vet recommended for me, although it didn’t work for my older boy who was quite disgusted by it, is to collect the extra cecotropes and put them in his bowl along with his pellets. Either way, as long as his tummy feels okay (not too firm, no too “jelly” like) and he seems healthy in himself, I wouldn’t worry too much.

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

Is he a "Charlie" rabbit?

 

[JBun]

Mega colon is a completely different problem than excess cecals. With mega colon you will see abnormally shaped fecal poop(oblong, log shaped, small/large) and sometimes odd looking cecotropes. With excess cecals they are producing normally shaped cecotropes but just not consuming them. And this can be because of things like excess protein in the diet if they are getting too many pellets or their hay is too rich(eg. alfalfa hay), from being overly distracted(young bunny, new to the home, predator or something in the environment distracting them), from a health issue like obesity or arthritis making it difficult to reach down and consume them.

If the uneaten cecals are not normally shaped buy are coming out semiformed and/or pasty or watery, then it could be a dietary issue. Since your rabbit is already on a low amount of pellets and greens, it could be he is just extra sensitive and doesn't need them in his diet.
https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/

If he is actually having odd shaped poop and does have megacolon, that can also make him very sensitive to his diet. I had a megacolon bun that couldn't tolerate any pellets in his diet and only a limited amount and type of greens. Plus his hay quality had to be a very particular consistency or it would cause increased poop irregularities. He had to have a medium coarse grass hay. Any softer and he would end up with log shaped poop. He was on a no pellet diet with a medium coarse grass hay(timothy), and limited greens. This is the diet I found worked best for him and managing his condition. He lived to be 5 yrs old.
https://www.vgr1.com/megacolon/