Now his poops are really small and hard!

[toyabrooke]

Hello everyone,

As some of you might know Poe has been with us over a month and is 5 months old. He has been very since we got him. He has had some diet issues with me being stupid and getting him a fruity blend mix, so that is slowly being changed over to a normal plain pellet mix. He has also been getting the past few days a lot of beautiful green grass and gets Bamboo and crackers for treats (training and other things).

I originally had some issues with him having poops that were a bit squishy, so I have stopped all veggies until this stops fully. His little bits of fruit in his mix of food were probably a contributor too, so until that is fully switched over he will probably just not get veggies but have lots of everything else. He was fed Bok Choy and Apple by the breeder, but I introduced new veggies to him too fast and learnt this was very bad.

Today though, he has tiny little hard poos! I know hard is fine, but that are really small and not round. Is he now constipated!? Should I give him some veggies to clear it up? It is strange because they have come out in between some still soft poops (probably still from the dried fruit and maybe a bit from the tonnes of grass), but I have never seen them like this before now!

99% of the time his poops are text book normal. Maybe I am just paranoid...

T

 

[toyabrooke]

Okay now he has normal ones again! I have read tiny poops can mean wool block and he is always eating at our rug no matter how many time I shoo him away! If his poos are back to normal now could that still mean wool block or was it just something that happens sometimes - They can't be exactly the same each time right?

T

 

[ZRabbits]

Poops do change when you are changing food. Sounds like your bunny is just digestively adjusting to the plain pellets.

Just observe. That's all we can do. Understand completely worrying about our bunny's health.

K

 

[LakeCondo]

If it's just one spot on the rug, can you cover it up? And/or give him other things to chew.

And I would suggest re-introducing one green veggie in very small amounts for a week, then adding more.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat: Start over like he's being newly introduced to veggies.

 

[tonyshuman]

Look into some probiotic for his GI tract. It sounds like it's a bit mixed up with some changes in diet that have been more rapid than desirable. Introduce the veggies very slowly, and really I would eliminate the crackers unless they are made for rabbits. The high carbohydrate content isn't good for bunnies' sensitive GI's.

 

[toyabrooke]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I can't really cover up the rug (it us huge), but I can see what I can do. I just clap really loud when he does it give him a nudge and he stops. It is long like grass so he just loves to graze on it -__-'

In regards to veggies, that is exactly what I will do. I will start with one he was already fed with the breeder and slowly monitor a new veggie each week and then go from there. He is still on a full break from them right now until I can see how he reacts to the slow change in pellets (going back from the junk food ones to normal plain ones), but for now he seems to LOVE them. I have never seen him eat so many pellets!

Is apple cider vinegar a probiotic? I know it has great vitamins in it and is good for them so I have started putting little drops in his water which he doesn't seem to mind.

Thanks everyone for all the advice!

T

 

[LakeCondo]

Sorry, but vinegar isn't a probiotic. I don't know what brands are available in Australia, but a health food store would be the place to look, ideally in the refrigerator section. Try to find one that says it releases in the intestines rather than the stomach. I take them any time I take an antibiotic, to restore the good bacteria. You'd have to guess at the dosage for Poe cf a human. Open up a capsule if they come in capsules or shave off part of a tablet, or crush it & give it part by part.

 

[tonyshuman]

Agreed with LakeCondo. The apple cider vinegar might help to acidify his gut, which will promote beneficial bacteria to grow, but i would be worried about over acidifying. A human probiotic is your best bet. Make sure it does not contain lactose. I say about a gram of probiotic a day until he's back to normal.

 

[toyabrooke]

Okay I will have a look. Thanks for that! Everything seems back to normal now and he has had normal poos for about 24 hours. I think his new pellets are doing him some good and he has been eating more hay than usual too.

I only feed him crackers when I train him which is about 5 minutes each day. He has tiny bits and I can't use anything else because he turns his nose up to normal bunny treats that you can buy or just special fruits or veggies! I will monitor how those affect his droppings, but he did get trained yesterday and so far no change in poops.

I feel like I'm a poop detective...

T