weird poop during shedding

[pumpkinbumpkin]

pumpkin has been having some poops that are strung together with hair, but i wasnt getting any loose hair out when brushing her. yesterday i realized that she's shedding a LOT right above her tail, and some on her lower belly where the brush cant reach. i tried to pull out all the loose hair i could until it seemed like most of it was out. i couldnt get much from her belly because she hates being touched there.

i'm not sure how long she's been shedding there before i noticed. ever since then she's had a lot of bigger egg shaped poop, and a few very tiny ones (still round). today i tried grooming her again but there wasn't much hair coming out. im having to do it with my hands so its harder than just using the brush.

are the weird poop sizes normal during this? she's only shedding heavily in that one spot above her tail, but this is only the 2nd time she's molted. the first time she got stasis not too long after and i believe it was caused by the shedding, so im really worried that she'll get sick again.

she's been acting completely normal and eating all her lettuce/pellets, but she doesnt seem to be drinking as much water. i've been giving her wet lettuce and putting little piles of hay around her cage to encourage her to eat more. i also reduced her pellets a lot.

she just left these in her litterbox, i've never seen ones this big from her. does this look normal? i just want to make sure. should i be giving her gas medicine?



edit: i just wanted to add that she has been eating her hay, but maybe a little less than normal. i got a new bag of hay today, and its a completely different quality from the last bag. it's still the same brand (oxbow), but this new hay is a lighter color, much more hard and has longer pieces and more of the fluffy pieces, but the old bag is very soft and darker in color. im running out of the old bag, it's mostly just dust but pumpkin refuses to eat the new hay. is there any way i can get her to eat it? i dont want to make my mom buy another bag especially with a chance of it being the same quality.

 

[Blue eyes]

Looks like string pearl poos from ingesting fur. The more hay she eats, the better. That roughage helps move that fur through her system. You're doing the right stuff. Encourage that hay as much as possible. Continue keeping an eye on her eating and her poos.

When you use your hand to get more fur, you can try having a damp hand. It'll get fur all over your hand but it will help get it off of her.

 

[pumpkinbumpkin]

Looks like string pearl poos from ingesting fur. The more hay she eats, the better. That roughage helps move that fur through her system. You're doing the right stuff. Encourage that hay as much as possible. Continue keeping an eye on her eating and her poos.

When you use your hand to get more fur, you can try having a damp hand. It'll get fur all over your hand but it will help get it off of her.

that's a good idea, i'll try that. thank you!

 

[Catlyn]

My pair has been in an eternal state of shedding ever since december, and i cannot for the life of me groom them. They'll just up and run.
So i tried the moist hand thing and it works really well for us. I found that just petting and slighlty ruffling their fur is a great way to shake off those that are already super loose.
Also, for their chest&stomach area, i'll pull loose tufts off when they reach for a leaf or banana or any other treat they're not inclined to take my fingers along with.
Not the most effective thing but it's better than nothing at all.
I'm lucky though that my royalty isn't as picky with eating hay, though i do find hair-ladled poops every now and then.
Might it be possible for you to get access to a single bale of hay? If you can storage it somewhere in parts, maybe in fabric bags or plastic bins? It would be more cost-effective and would last longer than just a bag of hay, and it usually has a bigger variety between leafs&stems so bun can be a bit pickier and find exactly what they like, hopefully eating more.

 

[Ampee]

Mine had these like 10+ times. I usually give them oxbow digestive support tablets. (1 per day)

 

[pumpkinbumpkin]

My pair has been in an eternal state of shedding ever since december, and i cannot for the life of me groom them. They'll just up and run.
So i tried the moist hand thing and it works really well for us. I found that just petting and slighlty ruffling their fur is a great way to shake off those that are already super loose.
Also, for their chest&stomach area, i'll pull loose tufts off when they reach for a leaf or banana or any other treat they're not inclined to take my fingers along with.
Not the most effective thing but it's better than nothing at all.
I'm lucky though that my royalty isn't as picky with eating hay, though i do find hair-ladled poops every now and then.
Might it be possible for you to get access to a single bale of hay? If you can storage it somewhere in parts, maybe in fabric bags or plastic bins? It would be more cost-effective and would last longer than just a bag of hay, and it usually has a bigger variety between leafs&stems so bun can be a bit pickier and find exactly what they like, hopefully eating more.

omg i couldnt imagine pumpkin shedding for that long, that would be so hard to deal with pumpkin doesnt like to be groomed either, i always have to put her up on a table or hold her and i get bit everytime

i tried the damp hand thing but it didnt get much hair and pumpkin was NOT happy with me. maybe i made my hand too wet LOL she's been glaring at me ever since. she's still getting some of those strung together poops, but when i groom her im not getting anything, just a very small amount from all over her. i wonder if she's mostly done shedding for now or just getting it all out before i do. there's just a random spot of short hair on her bottom now haha

today i've been giving her the new bag of hay mixed with just a little of the old, and i noticed her finally eating the new hay. so hopefully i wont need to buy a new bag just yet. i've been thinking about buying bales of hay once i find someone who sells them here.

anyways thank you for the advice! i think the damp hand will work much better when she sheds on her back again.

 

[pumpkinbumpkin]

Mine had these like 10+ times. I usually give them oxbow digestive support tablets. (1 per day)

i actually almost bought those a while ago but didn't. do they work well? i've seen some people say they work and some say they dont. would those be considered a treat?

 

[Ampee]

According to our vet its really useful and she gives her own bunnies these tablets. According to her its really effective for getting the fur through the rabbit.
My own experience: really positive. Never had any kind of "stuck fur" situation (6 years since I have my rabbits).

It should be given 1 per day.

 

[rabbit_friend]

Fluids are so important to keep hair masses moving and not drying out and causing full-blown stasis or a blockage. I've sometimes put down multiple water bowls, a few spiked with a tiny bit of unsweetened fruit juice (apple and pear), to get them to drink more. Gentle belly massages, just putting the palm of your hand curved around and under her side and jiggling gently, help move things along. My bunnies usually adjust their position to where it feels best for them. You can also evaluate how the belly feels by doing this.

I went to Petsmart in January, for the first time in years, to get some Oxbow hay because my buns weren’t eating the latest shipment from Small Pet Select. They gobbled up the orchard hay I bought, which smelled very fresh and herbal. Then the bags dated after March 15 changed somehow and they suddenly wouldn’t eat that any more. So I'm doing exactly what you’re doing—putting the last bit of the “good” hay with the new hay in hopes that they'll switch over!

 

[pumpkinbumpkin]

Fluids are so important to keep hair masses moving and not drying out and causing full-blown stasis or a blockage. I've sometimes put down multiple water bowls, a few spiked with a tiny bit of unsweetened fruit juice (apple and pear), to get them to drink more. Gentle belly massages, just putting the palm of your hand curved around and under her side and jiggling gently, help move things along. My bunnies usually adjust their position to where it feels best for them. You can also evaluate how the belly feels by doing this.

I went to Petsmart in January, for the first time in years, to get some Oxbow hay because my buns weren’t eating the latest shipment from Small Pet Select. They gobbled up the orchard hay I bought, which smelled very fresh and herbal. Then the bags dated after March 15 changed somehow and they suddenly wouldn’t eat that any more. So I'm doing exactly what you’re doing—putting the last bit of the “good” hay with the new hay in hopes that they'll switch over!

yeah, i'm probably going to switch hay brands once the bag i have now is gone. for a while it was really good quality, but now every bag is different. it's been either super dusty, or the longer hard pieces which pumpkin doesnt like. mixing it together has definitely helped, pumpkin is starting to eat the new hay but i would rather order it online than waste money trying to get a good bag. hopefully they'll start labeling the bags with which cut it is.

also thank you for the fruit juice idea, she seems to drink less water when shedding so i'll definitely be trying that!

 

[pumpkinbumpkin]

update on pumpkin i found a better way to brush her, i think she's only shedding the hair underneath so i've been gently pulling the hair back with my hand and holding it there while brushing underneath and it helped a LOT. ive been getting so much more hair out. right now im using a diy hairbuster i saw in a lennonthebunny youtube video but i ordered a hairbuster the other day so hopefully it gets here before shes done shedding.

she's still getting the strung together poops a lot, and now she's having big round poop with huge oval ones. i read somewhere that it's normal for rabbits that are shedding but i may start grooming her more to see if it helps with those at all. i think the big round ones may be from the hay, i finally got her to eat the new kind and since then her poop has been a lighter color and thats when it started getting bigger.