Rabbit has tiny poops, help!

[whitebunny]

I looked in Harry's litter box this morning and his poops were tiny and very dark - they weren't joined together with hair, they were still separate but very small and dry. His normal droppings are about 3x bigger than these. I give him 1 tablespoon of pellets each day, spring greens and plenty of meadow hay.

He has been spending around 10 hours a day in his run outside (while I work 3 feet away, no chances of foxes!) eating plenty of grass - would this cause smaller droppings? He's eating normally and seems to enjoy the grass more than hay, so I haven't put any hay in his run. He's molting at the moment, not sure if there could be a blockage. Should I be worried?

He's three years old - not sure about his breed, but his dad was a mini rex so he's quite large.

 

[Imbrium]

It could be a hairball. I would groom him extra to help remove some of the hair. Encourage him to eat lots of hay and water - fiber and moisture are the main things that help break up a hairball. Monitor his eating and pooping closely - if he stops eating and / or pooping for 8-12 hours, it's a medical emergency and he needs to go to the vet.

 

[JBun]

Eating more fresh grass can affect their poop size and color. Usually hay is a more mature growth of grass, which means it contains less protein and more indigestible fiber and causes increased gut movement and the rabbits poop to look lighter in color and larger in size. Fresh grass is usually the less mature softer growth, which means it's higher in protein and has less indigestible fiber and causes a rabbit poop to get a little smaller in size and darker in color.

Usually it won't cause any problems, but with your rabbit molting and if you think the poops are much too small then reducing fresh grass consumption and feeding more hay should help resolve that. That's what I would do, add some hay back into his diet, particularly while he is molting.