Eating cecotropes later?

AshAndMaple · Mar 15, 2023

Weird question, but is it normal for some rabbits to leave piles of cecotropes and then go back to eat them 1-25 minutes later?

My bunny Ash does this whereas Maple eats them straight from her bum ever time. It's slightly annoying bc I'll find droppings outside his litter box and not know whether to clean them up or leave them for him

I'm not worried about him, just wondering if this is something that some rabbits do, if there's a known reason for it and if there's a gender disparity or anything

JBun · Mar 16, 2023

I wouldn's say it's a normal thing at all. If a rabbit is leaving cecotropes uneaten, sometimes it's because they're a young rabbit and distracted, an overweight rabbit and can't reach down there to eat them, or in a new space or home or something startles them and they get distracted from eating them.

But other than that, I would be making sure it's not from an excess of cecotropes being produced because their diet is too rich in protein, usually from being fed too much alfalfa hay and/or too many alfalfa based pellets. A diet with too many carbs can also be a possible cause, from the cecals not being formed properly and so smell wrong to the rabbit and get left uneaten.

There is also the possibility of dental issues contributing to cecals not being eaten, though usually with this there will also be other signs of dental issues like drooling, odd chewing behavior, weight loss, reduced appetite, excess drinking, and/or food being dropped from the mouth.

https://rabbit.org/2013/01/disorders-of-the-cecum/

AshAndMaple · Mar 22, 2023

JBun said:
I wouldn's say it's a normal thing at all. If a rabbit is leaving cecotropes uneaten, sometimes it's because they're a young rabbit and distracted, an overweight rabbit and can't reach down there to eat them, or in a new space or home or something startles them and they get distracted from eating them.

But other than that, I would be making sure it's not from an excess of cecotropes being produced because their diet is too rich in protein, usually from being fed too much alfalfa hay and/or too many alfalfa based pellets. A diet with too many carbs can also be a possible cause, from the cecals not being formed properly and so smell wrong to the rabbit and get left uneaten.

There is also the possibility of dental issues contributing to cecals not being eaten, though usually with this there will also be other signs of dental issues like drooling, odd chewing behavior, weight loss, reduced appetite, excess drinking, and/or food being dropped from the mouth.

https://rabbit.org/2013/01/disorders-of-the-cecum/

Okay, I think he does generally eat them all, he just leaves them for a while sometimes before going back to them. Sometimes I pick them up and offer them to him and he'll eat them - I don't know if he just forgets. He's 8 months old and he's definitely not overweight - he's 1.5kg and he's a lionhead. He's not in a new home either - he could be distracted by his sister because he gets excited every time he sees her through his pen (he's not neutered so he can't live with her because he just starts humping her - I want him neutered, there are just medical complications bc he's previously reacted very badly to anaesthetic).

He has no signs of dental issues, so I'm not really concerned about him I just wondered what the reason could be. It seems most likely he's just distracted because he definitely does eat them directly from his bum too. They don't have any alfalfa hay or alfalfa pellets, they get 15g each of Excel's indoor rabbit nuggets once a day. They eat a rotation of mainly romaine lettuce, curly leaf lettuce, red lettuce, bell peppers, dill, coriander, and mint leaves. Occasionally I'll throw in a couple of bites of banana, strawberry + leaves, apple or pear as a treat. For dried treats they tend to get a couple of pieces of dried dandelion root a day and then every few days some dried fruit leaves or pear wood sticks. They have unlimited access to exclusively Timothy hay as I'm allergic to every other type I've tried to mix in!

AshAndMaple · Mar 30, 2023

AshAndMaple said:
Okay, I think he does generally eat them all, he just leaves them for a while sometimes before going back to them. Sometimes I pick them up and offer them to him and he'll eat them - I don't know if he just forgets. He's 8 months old and he's definitely not overweight - he's 1.5kg and he's a lionhead. He's not in a new home either - he could be distracted by his sister because he gets excited every time he sees her through his pen (he's not neutered so he can't live with her because he just starts humping her - I want him neutered, there are just medical complications bc he's previously reacted very badly to anaesthetic).

He has no signs of dental issues, so I'm not really concerned about him I just wondered what the reason could be. It seems most likely he's just distracted because he definitely does eat them directly from his bum too. They don't have any alfalfa hay or alfalfa pellets, they get 15g each of Excel's indoor rabbit nuggets once a day. They eat a rotation of mainly romaine lettuce, curly leaf lettuce, red lettuce, bell peppers, dill, coriander, and mint leaves. Occasionally I'll throw in a couple of bites of banana, strawberry + leaves, apple or pear as a treat. For dried treats they tend to get a couple of pieces of dried dandelion root a day and then every few days some dried fruit leaves or pear wood sticks. They have unlimited access to exclusively Timothy hay as I'm allergic to every other type I've tried to mix in!

I've started pointing out the cecotropes he's leaving behind to him, and he comes up to see what it is, stiffs them and immediately eats them

seems like he's just a bit of an ***** bless him