help! baby bunny bathroom habits!

[pimsybunny]

Hiiiii all
My baby bunny is about two and a half months old, she adjusted really well to my boyfriend and I and loves her new home and environment. When I picked her up I she was on a pellet certain vegetable diet. Since then I've added spring mix to her diet some in the morning and some at night with a bowl of pellets next to her veggies. Then once every few days i'll give her a small piece of banana to much on or a carrot. But since i've gotten her she's started to poop far more than she used to and has laid around SOOOOO MANY cecotropes its insane. Ive done my own research and everything tells me something different so I decided its time to finally turn to the bunny community we all know and love.

I know stress can sometimes cause change in bathroom behavior but she's always running around or flopped by my side so I figured that is something I can cancel out.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Welcome to the forum! What brand pellets? Does she get hay? Baby rabbits (2-4 months) should get unlimited Alfalfa based pellets, unlimited timothy hay, and unlimited water. She should not get any veggies until she turns 4 months. Then, you can slowly introduce veggies to her diet, and slowly reduce her pellets until she is getting 1/4 cup per day. I would wait until she is 6 months before you add fruits and carrots.
She should be eating her cecotropes, not leaving them laying around.

 

[pimsybunny]

she eats Alfalfa based pellets by the brand Kaytee, I am trying to find a better brand for her eventually but this is what she was eating when I got her. Yes, she gets unlimited water and Timothy hay. So no more fresh food for alittle over 3 months? She always left her cecotropes around but it was never this much! Thank you so much!!!

 

[Mariam+Theo]

she eats Alfalfa based pellets by the brand Kaytee

Can you send a link? Yes, remove all fresh food for 1 1/2 months, she can begin to have them when she turns 4 months. Leaving cecotropes around means that their diet is too rich in fiber, which normally happens when they have to many pellets or too many greens. Since she is a baby she needs unlimited pellets, so that shouldn't be causing the cecotropes. The greens are probably the reason she is producing too many cecotropes.

 

[Preitler]

Hm, my thoughts on that:

Too much cecotropes most times means a too rich diet (too rich in nutrients, not enough fiber). Alfalfa based pellets are great to get rabbits to butcher weight in 10, 12 weeks, and in that case 1 or 2% more or less protein can make a difference, depending on breeding line.
Small rabbits, like under 5-6lbs grown up, don't need that pellets, not much of it anyway, it's a convinient supplement to make up for a somewhat not very diverse diet. Rabbits evolved with a rather meager fare, we tend to stuff them.

I would reduce the pellets in favour of unlimited hay (change regularily, not just fill up the rack) to a tablespoon or so until no cecotropes are left uneaten.

When I picked her up I she was on a pellet certain vegetable diet.

Since she grew up with THIS veggies you can stick to it, but just small amounts, regularily (like every day, not every second) so that she does eat hay. Don't introduce new stuff for the next month, at least.
Veggies per se are not bad, changes are. But the same as with the pellets, reduce it until poop gets normal.

 

[pimsybunny]

Thank you ill leave some carrots to her but i will take a away the spring mix in order to have her more interested in her pellets and hay

 

[Preitler]

Ah, carrots are very high in sugar, so it shouldn't be more than one or two fingernail sized pieces per day. Not sure what spring mix is, but if it is greens I would just reduce it to a small amount, not cut it out completly, unless she has diarrhia. Depending on for how long you have her now the issue could be stress related too, but that shouldn't take more than a few days.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Spring mix: https://www.kroger.com/p/simple-truth-organic-baby-spring-mix/0001111091130. It is what a ton of rabbit owners give their rabbits because Lennon the Bunny uses it for her rabbit.

 

[pimsybunny]

Spring mix: https://www.kroger.com/p/simple-truth-organic-baby-spring-mix/0001111091130. It is what a ton of rabbit owners give their rabbits because Lennon the Bunny uses it for her rabbit.

Is this something i shouldn't be giving to her?

 

[zuppa]

Thank you ill leave some carrots to her but i will take a away the spring mix in order to have her more interested in her pellets and hay

No you better don't give her any carrots, keep her on hay and water for a few days, then she should start eating her cecotropes again, when you don't see them around for 2 days give her one eggcup of pellets per day, you can give half in the morning and half in the evening if you wish. If there still no cecotropes around after two days, you can increase that to one eggcup in the mornng and one eggcup in the evening (until she is 4 months old, then you will have to reduce pellets to one eggcup per day). Wth vegetables, two stems of mint or cilantro once a day would be enough, you better don't mix greens, only one type per portion.

So, keep her on hay and water 2-3 days up to one week until she goes back to her cecotropes. Now her diet is too rich on protein and she needs more fibre to keep her stomach working properly.

 

[Preitler]

If her normal poop is, well, normal, you can feed a little. More like a treat than a staple food. If you just introduced 2 or 3 days ago and that's when the trouble started cut it out.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Is this something i shouldn't be giving to her?

No, the spring mix is totally fine for an adult rabbit, just not a baby. When she hits 4 months you can slowly introduce this to her diet.

 

[pimsybunny]

No you better don't give her any carrots, keep her on hay and water for a few days, then she should start eating her cecotropes again, when you don't see them around for 2 days give her one eggcup of pellets per day, you can give half in the morning and half in the evening if you wish. If there still no cecotropes around after two days, you can increase that to one eggcup in the mornng and one eggcup in the evening (until she is 4 months old, then you will have to reduce pellets to one eggcup per day). Wth vegetables, two stems of mint or cilantro once a day would be enough, you better don't mix greens, only one type per portion.

So, keep her on hay and water 2-3 days up to one week until she goes back to her cecotropes. Now her diet is too rich on protein and she needs more fibre to keep her stomach working properly.

Thank you so much for all this help i really appreciate it!!