Rabbit Poop 101

The poop dish or liter dish of your rabbit should be checked daily for any tell tale signs that your is in poor health or having a health issue.  Their is alot to know about rabbit poop and some is gross and some is just well not so interesting, it's poop after all.

 

Here is the gross stuff. Rabbits create two kinds of poop - fecal pellet and cecotrope.  A fecal pellet is mainly undigested hay or food, has no or little smell, is round or roundish maybe oval, and normally dark brown in color. Sorta looks like cocoa puff cereal. The are hard to the touch.  These are usually in the poop or liter dish or scattered here and there through out your house. Remember they can't really control not pooping a little pellet here or there so please be understanding.

 

 

Then we have the cecotrope. The cecotrope is composed of nutrients from the rabbits digestion that is meant to be eaten a second time to get the necessary nutrition a rabbit requires. Yes you understood me - they eat this type of poop. Think about it, ever see your rabbit bent over forward doing something near their tail/butt area?  Think they were cleaning themselves?   Then hmmm, oh yes, you thought they were eating something?  Yes they eat the cecotrope right from their anus. Some rabbits will not eat their cecotropes in the presence of a human but hide the process from you.  The cecotrope is dark brown or dark reddish brown. Resembles a bunch of grapes pressed together tightly with a shiny white coating of mucus over it. They have a strong odor to them and are mushy.

 

If your rabbits poop looks like string of pearls, sorta held together by a poop string, that is undigested hay or hair and is normally no reason for concern.

 

 Since I am not expert at rabbit poop and don't want to be, click here to read The Mystery of Rabbit Poop written by Dana Krempels, PhD.YOU REALLY MUST READ THIS TO KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN YOUR RABBITS POOP DISH.

 

Some common poop issues are:

Runny Stool or Diarrhea - most common in baby rabbits and they need to be seen by a vet.  Adult rabbits rarely have diarrhea.

Mushy or Runny poop - caused by unbalanced diet

Please take the time to read The Mystery of Rabbit Poop it covers all this and much more.

 

To find out about these common health problems that can be detected by your rabbits poop, please read The Mystery of Rabbit Poop.

How weaning too young can cause runny stools in baby rabbits.

Intestinal Parasites

Runny stool in adult rabbits may be caused by Obesity or Arthritis

Starch rich diets or fiber poor diets

Other hidden issues such as dental issues, urinary tract disorders, upper respiratory infections and Head Tilt

Please read the pdf The Mystery of Rabbit Poop for more information on these matters written by Dana Kermpels, Ph.D..

 

Poop Wars

You can't talk about poop and not mention how rabbits will mark their territory. When you have multiple rabbits not living as one family this can become a problem - like a Poop War!

 

I have a male/female bonded pair of rabbits - Dino and Gracie. Then I have a single bunny Baby. These guys are all always pooping to mark parts of the house as theirs. This happens every day, multiple times per day. It is a constant clean up poop zone for us. 

 

Rabbits will urinate, poop or chin (or all of the above) to mark their territory and claim it as theirs. That is okay except when you have to live in the middle of it.  All 3 of them will poop and urinate in the same places every day.  At times it looks like a poop war battlefield. Even tho I clean up all poop and urine before letting the next bunny out, it does not matter. They are scent marking as a warning to other bunnies.  Baby is the funniest at this because I've had her now for almost 4 years and she is not threatened by Gracie and Dino being in the house. Now if they ever got lose I am sure I would have some seriously injured bunnies since Gracie and Baby hate each other. But Baby will leave like  4 little tiny poop pellets and then when Gracie and Dino come out and find it - the war begins. They start pooping everywhere. I mean the poop is just falling out their butt, like a waterfall, while they run and prance around the living room leaving a trail of poop where ever they go.  Once Dino came into the house Gracie seems to have gotten worse. My husband says it's because Gracie has a man to protect now so that Baby doesn't take him away. Well Baby could have been bonded to Dino first but didn't want to be with Dino and lucky for Dino, Gracie just loves him.  From all that I've heard I think I will always have this poop war to contend with. I never see any really let up in the marking, it's daily and it's multiple times per day.  It does seem to be worse than others at different times of the year. If only they could grow out of this naughty behavior but I don't think they ever will.

 

Random poops

Random poops here and there will be a fact of life living with a pet rabbit. They don't have the control to hold and release their poop like a human can. And so since they eat so much and so often, they will always be hopping around and loosing a few poops here and there. Just remember bunny parents - it's not their fault and they can't help it so please don't get mad.  Thanks for understanding and accepting them for how they are!