rabbit diet and poop

Question
QUESTION: Hi! I was wondering if you could check my rabbits diet. So she is a mini rex rabbit and is about 2 years old. In the morning she gets a medium sized carrot and a big hand full of timothy hay in her bowl At night she gets a regular hand full of pellets. ( they're like those nibbler things that has lots of nutrition) She constanly has water and a salt wheel. Also, lately she has been eating her poop. Do you know why?

ANSWER: Hi,

I would probably say she's probably getting too many calories and will become overweight on you if she is not already.

Rexes and mini-rexes have genetics that make them put on weight very easy.  As an almost exclusive owner of mini-rexes I am aware of this.

The vet guidelines are:

for a regular rabbit (regular hair length or long hair), 1/4 cup of pellets only (no seeds, fruit, etc) per 5 pounds body weight, per day.  For mini rexes, generally it should be no more than 1/8 cup of pellets only (no extra seeds, fruit, etc), per 5 pounds body weight, per day.  If they are very active they may need a little more, if they are less active they may actually need a little less.  It also is good to give them half their allotted pellets in the morning, and half in the evening, so that they have things to look forward to at breakfast and dinner, and don't get a huge calorie intake all in one sitting.

Never give rabbits pellets with extra junk in them - it will make them fat.  Oxbow pellets are excellent quality and well developed for rabbit nutrition.  As your girl is two years old, done growing, she needs the Oxbow Bunny Basics T version of their pellets.

Carrots: I would not give more than 3-4 carrot 'coin' slices per day.  It is better to give some small pieces of romaine or green leaf lettuce than carrots.

She should be eating mostly hay.  That should mean you are giving her fresh handfuls of hay several times a day.  She should never run out of a decent pile of hay to eat.  This is what they are designed to eat, high fiber, low energy food.  The hay is critical to their gut working right, and hay also is the fiber that helps take ingested fur out of their system - rabbits cannot vomit up furballs like cats and dogs.  Lots of hay gets the fur through their gut.

Hay is so important to rabbits, rabbits technically could really just live off hay (and water) and survive just fine.  It is that fundamental to their health and long life.  Everything else is really supplemental.  But I would still give her pellets and some greens for additional vitamins and also because they enjoy some variety.  

Rabbits do not need salt licks, I would get rid of it.

She is eating only a certain type of pellet (poop) - it is called 'cecal pellets' and they are made to be re-ingested and disgested again, as they are rich in vitamins needed by your rabbbit.  Just like cows will 'chew the cud', this is the bunny equivalent of that.  Consider it a turbocharger.  They are extracting the ultimate amount of energy from the lower-energy food they are designed to eat.

If you want to read up more about rabbbit diets, the House Rabbit Society site has great articles you can read and print out.  Go to  www.rabbit.org  and you an search on "nutrition" and you will find a number of relevant articles appear.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanky you for your quick responce! So can you give me a full meal plan on what i should feed her for morning, night, and snacks? Also what do you mean by cecal pellets? She is just pooping in her bowl and eating the poop.

ANSWER: Hi,

there really is no hard and fast 'meal plan' because people usually work feedings around their schedule.

Here's what I'd recommend to make it easy.

In the morning, give her half of her daily amount of pellets.  Plenty of fresh hay for the morning and afternoon.  More than just one handful.  Especially if you are not around at lunch.  Plenty of fresh water.

When you get home, you could make sure she has enough hay, possibly give a small treat like a few stamp-sized lettuce pieces or carrot coins.

At dinner, give the second half of her pellets and see if she needs any more hay.

When you go to sleep, top off her hay so she can graze overnight.  Also check her water if it needs to be changed or filled/topped off.

Rabbits produce two kinds of output pellets. Fecal pellets are the round poops that they don't eat, the ones they drop while they are in the litterpan or sometimes they drop a couple when they are out playing and exploring.  Cecal pellets are smaller, wetter, softer, and usually in 'clusters' that your rabbit will bend down and eat.  A special organ in their gi tract called the cecum produces these cecal pellet clusters, and when they are released into the large intestine, a nerve is activated and the rabbit knows that it's coming out, and they bend over to eat these cecal clusters because they are very nutritious and necessary for the bunny to get enough vitamins.  So they re-ingest them, and the stomach breaks them down so the vitamins can be absorbed into the body.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for all the help you've given me. I jsut have a few more questions since i want to be a good rabbit owner. So it is normal if my rabbit eats the cecal pellets? Also, could this meal plan be for everyday? I've haerd things like rabbits can't eat too much carrots since they have a high sugar content and that they cant eat lettuce or cabbage.

Answer
Hi,

yes it is normal for them to eat their cecal pellets.  They need to to get their proper vitamins.  They are designed to eat these special pellets.  They are not waste pellets.  Now that said that doesn't mean every once in a great while they may eat part of a fecal pellet but they don't do this.  They just eat the smaller, smellier, mushy cecal pellets.  Most of the time you don't even see this, you just see them bent over and it looks like they are grooming or something.

Yes it oculd be a good way to feed your rabbit every day.  Whatever type of way you decide to feed your rabbit, the key is to be consistent and do it the same every day, roughly the same times every day.  They are creatures of habit and routine and their gut gets used to being fed the same amounts every day.

2-3 carrot coin slices are about all I'd recommend, per day.  I would avoid cabbage, it causes gas in rabbits.  They can eat green lettuces in small amounts - lettuce like romaine or green leaf lettuce.

Another good thing to do is discuss her diet with your regular, good rabbit vet.  The vet could also tell you if she was overweight or the right weight.  You could discuss nutrition questions with the vet and get some good one on one customized help specifically for your bunny.

It would be good to get her in for a checkup if she has not been seen by a rabbit vet in the last year.  If you need to find one (not all vets are good rabbbit vets) go here:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

to find a House Rabbit Society recommended rabbit vet near you.