# Uneaten cecotropes



## ouisie (Apr 13, 2009)

One of my buns has regularly started leaving uneaten cecotropes. It started a couple of months ago that if he had even one treat (yoghurty drop things) or more than a smidge of veg there would be one or two the next morning. So i cut those out. Now every couple of days there are still some uneaten ones. He's fed a shot glass full of pellets each day and plenty of hay, nothing else. He weighs 1.6 kg and has been on a diet to get this down a bit. 

Any ideas? Other than this he is eating, drinking, pooing, playing fine.


----------



## AmyCruick (Jul 20, 2009)

My Lottie doesn't always eat hers, sometimes we find what we call 'blackberries' laying about which we have to clean up or they get stuck to her and I have to clean her bottom. She does eat them the majority of the time though. No idea why sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn't! As long as they aren't stuck on your buns bottom and she's eating and pooing ok then I wouldn't worry too much.


----------



## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

Is he a dwarf breed if he weighs 1.6kg and on a diet? Only two of my five are close to this weight, one being a baby and the other being a nethie. The rest are either 2kg or above.

If he is supposed to weigh less than 1.6kg and is obviously porky for what he should be then that could be the reason he's not eating the poo's. An overweight bunny isn't as flexible as a trim bunny so won't be able to reach round the excess tummy bulge to eat the poo's (think of trying to touch your toes with extra belly to lean over). Once the poo's are out and been on the floor rarely will bunny pick them up to eat as they won't be as "fresh and tasty" as straight from the bum.


----------



## ouisie (Apr 13, 2009)

He's a mini lop and the vet said to pop him on a diet because he's at the higher end if normal. I felt really bad for him when the vet called him fat!!


----------



## Waterlily (Apr 18, 2010)

Lol Winnie eats hers directly from her ass usually its sooo gross to watch her head comes up and she is munching away


----------



## ouisie (Apr 13, 2009)

My husband calls them bum cookies! I think it's his way of making is less gross


----------



## Gil3987 (Aug 1, 2008)

I think its just totally gross lol, why do rabbits do this anyway??

Gill
x


----------



## Guest (Jun 2, 2010)

Gil3987 said:


> I think its just totally gross lol, why do rabbits do this anyway??
> 
> Gill
> x


Rabbits eat their cecotropes because they contain vital nutrients that are not well absorbed by the large intestine :thumbup:


----------



## AmyCruick (Jul 20, 2009)

Kammie said:


> they won't be as "fresh and tasty" as straight from the bum.


Ha ha you've almost made them sound appetising with this staement! :lol:


----------



## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

AmyCruick said:


> Ha ha you've almost made them sound appetising with this staement! :lol:


If your a rabbit it would be.


----------



## Gil3987 (Aug 1, 2008)

B3rnie said:


> Rabbits eat their cecotropes because they contain vital nutrients that are not well absorbed by the large intestine :thumbup:


Aaahhh ok thanks for that, I presumed there would be a logical explanation!! Its still gross lol but if it is good for him then i will try to be a little less grossed out lol

Gill
x


----------



## Chell (Jun 1, 2010)

Is it normal for a young bunny to leave them... Bailey is 11 weeks old and I have noticed a few in the hutch, mainly in his sleeping area??


----------



## Guest (Jun 3, 2010)

A lot of rabbits don't eat all of their cecotropes, so long as you make sure there are none stuck to the bum then that is ok. I presume as he is a young bun he won't be over weight so that won't be the cause :thumbup:


----------



## vikivk (Jun 16, 2010)

Are you sure it's ok for a young bunny to leave a few cecotropes? I first witnessed my new dwarf lop bunny (he's approx 12-14 weeks) Binkying yesterday while in his playpen outside (that was a weird experience haha) and then I noticed the cecotropes (2 were left). I have never seen them before and it looked like he had thrown them up but now I know he was trying to eat them but didn't. This morning while trying to find an answer I posted a question on Yahoo Answers and someone replied saying take him to a vets straight away as he has something wrong with him! It's completely freaked me out now and I'm paranoid if I leave him he'll get really ill!

I already feed him brocolli and carrots in evening, he has hay everyday and his nuggets in morning plus he eats grass when in playpen so could that be the reason why he didn't eat the cecotropes? He's full? 

I'm all so new at this so if someone could let me know in normal terms (not cups or grams) what i should be feeding him I'd be very grateful.

There are so many different websites all with different advice i'm very confused :confused1: one said only give carrot occassionally and another said its fine all the time! 

Please help a novice here 

Many thanks

Vicky


----------



## Lollie1515 (Feb 9, 2010)

Vicky - Depends how big he is... My lionhead Patch has the bottom of the normal size ceramic bowl covered with pellets, same with Pebbles.

Mike and Dave have 3/4 of a ceramic bowl but they are alot larger than Patch n Pebbles, and 2 buns in same hutch. 

What bun you got? x


----------



## Guest (Jun 16, 2010)

vikivk said:


> Are you sure it's ok for a young bunny to leave a few cecotropes? I first witnessed my new dwarf lop bunny (he's approx 12-14 weeks) Binkying yesterday while in his playpen outside (that was a weird experience haha) and then I noticed the cecotropes (2 were left). I have never seen them before and it looked like he had thrown them up but now I know he was trying to eat them but didn't. This morning while trying to find an answer I posted a question on Yahoo Answers and someone replied saying take him to a vets straight away as he has something wrong with him! It's completely freaked me out now and I'm paranoid if I leave him he'll get really ill!
> 
> I already feed him brocolli and carrots in evening, he has hay everyday and his nuggets in morning plus he eats grass when in playpen so could that be the reason why he didn't eat the cecotropes? He's full?
> 
> ...


As Lollie1515 has said it all depends on the size of your bun and what breed also... 
I personally wouldn't feed carrots or broccoli everyday as carrots are high in sugar and broccoli is high in calcium, so although they are good for a treat I wouldn't have them as my daily veg. if you go to this link http://www.petforums.co.uk/rabbits/39071-rabbit-foods-whats-safe-whats-dangerous.html it lists alot of the veg you can try with your rabbit (make sure you introduce any new veg slowly)


----------



## vikivk (Jun 16, 2010)

Thanks for quick reply.

Thumper (I know not very original  ) is a dwarf lop (that's what i was told). I can see he has gained weight since I got him but I have no idea how much he weighs. We bought a measuring cup from Pets at Home and for dwarf and baby bunnies we give him approx 40g of nuggets in morning - covers just over bottom of his bowl. We don't take rest of food out though that he hasn't eaten (which I read earlier you should take it out after 5 mins?). Pets at Home told us he was on carrot before we bought him so thats why we carried on feeding him it. I will sit down later while Thumper is in his playpen and do my research on here


----------



## Guest (Jun 16, 2010)

When you take him along to the vets for his vaccinations they should weight him for you and then you will be able to keep an eye on his weight (rabbits loosing weight quickly can be a sign of something sinister) :thumbup: 
Are you going to get him a friend at some stage then?


----------



## vikivk (Jun 16, 2010)

We had his first vaccination the other day but they didn't weigh him. We have got his VHD in a couple weeks so I'll ask them then to check him over and weigh him. We may get another one for him at some point but as it's our first ever rabbit we didn't want to overwhelm ourselves and not be able to cope with two. One is definitly a lot to handle (bless him). He gets a lot of attention though (especially from me  ). Once I'm on the home computer I will put some pics up of him. :thumbup:


----------

