Why Not Eating Cecotropes?

[AshAndMaple]

Hi everyone,

I've just adopted two 3-month-old lionhead bunnies from a sanctuary I volunteer at. Their diet there was meadow hay, adult rabbit nuggets, and whatever fruit and veg got donated. Now they're home I'm giving them timothy hay (high-quality, not pet-shop!), and they're getting small amounts of dried dandelion roots and dried leaves as treats. I tried to give them a small amount of excel junior nuggets, fresh herbs, and bell pepper but stopped because they left lots of cecotropes everywhere. I checked the internet and it seemed to say the solution was to only give them hay until they settle down, but I'm doing that (with the dried botanicals as an exception), and they're still leaving them everywhere - some look normal, some are weirdly smooth and some are just incredibly long berry structures. Should I be concerned that they're not eating them? And what can I do about it?

(the images are from today)

P.S. they seem lively enough and have no issues with eating, I only have concerns that one might have mites, so last night I treated both of them with Johnsons' Insecticidal spray to see if that helps.

 

[Preitler]

Never heard of that, is this spray explicitly safe for rabbits? If not, Do Not Spray Any Random Chemicals on rabbits. Mites are not insects btw.

I would just keep feeding them a rather lean diet with little or no changes from what they are used to for some more weeks, and keep an eye on their poop.

 

[AshAndMaple]

Never heard of that, is this spray explicitly safe for rabbits? If not, Do Not Spray Any Random Chemicals on rabbits. Mites are not insects btw.

I would just keep feeding them a rather lean diet with little or no changes from what they are used to for some more weeks, and keep an eye on their poop.

It is safe yes, it's by Johnsons which is a veterinary company and it's designed for small animals - it has instructions for how to treat rabbits on the back of the packaging. It's for external parasites, including mites.

I'm going to order some of the nuggets they were given at the rescue (which were actually guinea pig nuggets...), and I'll slowly mix in the new nuggets while I phase them out. I'm surprised I wasn't given any of their previous nuggets but

 

[Diane R]

Congrats on your new babies! Excess caecotrophes could be from the stress of moving home and/or diet too rich. Keep them on a mostly hay diet, use a variety of grass hays including meadow hay. You can give pellets but just a small amount, not more than 1 tbsp. a day. Don't give them guinea pig nuggets. Excel and Science Selective are usually recommended in the UK. I would skip the dandelion roots too for now. Introduce fresh herbs slowly in small quantities. Find a rabbit vet on the RWAF website. A vet should diagnose mites and prescribe medication if necessary. Don't use over the counter stuff or home remedies. And no, Johnsons products are not recommended for rabbits.

 

[christinedavies1980]

Hi everyone,

I've just adopted two 3-month-old lionhead bunnies from a sanctuary I volunteer at. Their diet there was meadow hay, adult rabbit nuggets, and whatever fruit and veg got donated. Now they're home I'm giving them timothy hay (high-quality, not pet-shop!), and they're getting small amounts of dried dandelion roots and dried leaves as treats. I tried to give them a small amount of excel junior nuggets, fresh herbs, and bell pepper but stopped because they left lots of cecotropes everywhere. I checked the internet and it seemed to say the solution was to only give them hay until they settle down, but I'm doing that (with the dried botanicals as an exception), and they're still leaving them everywhere - some look normal, some are weirdly smooth and some are just incredibly long berry structures. Should I be concerned that they're not eating them? And what can I do about it?

(the images are from today)

P.S. they seem lively enough and have no issues with eating, I only have concerns that one might have mites, so last night I treated both of them with Johnsons' Insecticidal spray to see if that helps.View attachment 62781View attachment 62783View attachment 62782

My bunny left those around, when we first brought him home. He had been living with another family for two years, then they wanted a long holiday and left him with a Shelter. Then he came to us. He left these (I called them strings of pearls!) over about three weeks, until he settled in. He never does them now.

 

[christinedavies1980]

Hi everyone,

I've just adopted two 3-month-old lionhead bunnies from a sanctuary I volunteer at. Their diet there was meadow hay, adult rabbit nuggets, and whatever fruit and veg got donated. Now they're home I'm giving them timothy hay (high-quality, not pet-shop!), and they're getting small amounts of dried dandelion roots and dried leaves as treats. I tried to give them a small amount of excel junior nuggets, fresh herbs, and bell pepper but stopped because they left lots of cecotropes everywhere. I checked the internet and it seemed to say the solution was to only give them hay until they settle down, but I'm doing that (with the dried botanicals as an exception), and they're still leaving them everywhere - some look normal, some are weirdly smooth and some are just incredibly long berry structures. Should I be concerned that they're not eating them? And what can I do about it?

(the images are from today)

P.S. they seem lively enough and have no issues with eating, I only have concerns that one might have mites, so last night I treated both of them with Johnsons' Insecticidal spray to see if that helps.View attachment 62781View attachment 62783View attachment 62782

Hi everyone,

I've just adopted two 3-month-old lionhead bunnies from a sanctuary I volunteer at. Their diet there was meadow hay, adult rabbit nuggets, and whatever fruit and veg got donated. Now they're home I'm giving them timothy hay (high-quality, not pet-shop!), and they're getting small amounts of dried dandelion roots and dried leaves as treats. I tried to give them a small amount of excel junior nuggets, fresh herbs, and bell pepper but stopped because they left lots of cecotropes everywhere. I checked the internet and it seemed to say the solution was to only give them hay until they settle down, but I'm doing that (with the dried botanicals as an exception), and they're still leaving them everywhere - some look normal, some are weirdly smooth and some are just incredibly long berry structures. Should I be concerned that they're not eating them? And what can I do about it?

(the images are from today)

P.S. they seem lively enough and have no issues with eating, I only have concerns that one might have mites, so last night I treated both of them with Johnsons' Insecticidal spray to see if that helps.View attachment 62781View attachment 62783View attachment 62782

Your bunnies are unsettled. These strange looking things will stop once they’re used to their new home.

 

[AshAndMaple]

Congrats on your new babies! Excess caecotrophes could be from the stress of moving home and/or diet too rich. Keep them on a mostly hay diet, use a variety of grass hays including meadow hay. You can give pellets but just a small amount, not more than 1 tbsp. a day. Don't give them guinea pig nuggets. Excel and Science Selective are usually recommended in the UK. I would skip the dandelion roots too for now. Introduce fresh herbs slowly in small quantities. Find a rabbit vet on the RWAF website. A vet should diagnose mites and prescribe medication if necessary. Don't use over the counter stuff or home remedies. And no, Johnsons products are not recommended for rabbits.

Thank you

I went to a specialist rabbit vet this afternoon and was told that their gut noises are all healthy. The vet said to keep giving them hay, and small amounts of herbs and weedy, leafy veg like kale. She said that the dandelion roots will also be good for them.

The vet knew about the Johnsons Veterinary product that I used and said that it usually works really quickly on them. She could see from looking at Ash that there were very few mites left, and his skin is clearing up well. She thinks the treatment will continue to clear up his skin and get rid of the mites, the only thing she considered prescribing was an anti-inflammatory, but there isn't that much redness left so I'm just going to keep an eye on him.

The vet did suggest I buy some fibreplex to firm up their poo and their cecotropes, so I'm going to order some online.

I wouldn't personally choose to give them guinea pig nuggets, but that's what they were on at the sanctuary, so I'm going to give them some to help them adjust while I phase in the excel junior rabbit nuggets - that way I can gently phase them out of their diet, rather than them suddenly going without them which is unfortunately what's happened. The guinea pig nuggets are okay for rabbits, they won't damage them in the short-term, but obviously they don't contain the correct balance of nutrients that rabbits need.

 

[AshAndMaple]

My bunny left those around, when we first brought him home. He had been living with another family for two years, then they wanted a long holiday and left him with a Shelter. Then he came to us. He left these (I called them strings of pearls!) over about three weeks, until he settled in. He never does them now.

Thank you, it's good to hear you had a similar experience and it all worked out fine!