I have a grey lop eared rabbit (im afraid im nottoo good with the colours and breeds of rabbits) anyway he keeps having a lot of poo sticking to his bum and tail.

i have to bathe him to get it off because it goes so hard and is so stuck it wont just pull off.

do you know why this could be, i know rabbits eat their "sloppy" poo and then sort of re-digest it and then it comes out as the hard little balls. is there a chance he's not eating his poo?

i asked my vet about it and they just said it happens to alotof rabbits but theres no reason for it.

He gets hay and is on a good food with all the right things, is there anything that could be wrong?

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What are you feeding him exactly?

This is very dangerous as its coming into summer and flystrike is a common killer among bunnies that have mucky bums. How old is he? And how big is his hutch/run.

Theres loads of very experienced bunny people and rescues on Rabbits United Forum - Powered by vBulletin

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If tears could build a stairway, And memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to Heaven, And bring you home again.

infact this is quite a common problem for lop rabbits

ive had 2 rabbits both lop and one had this problem

it eventualy turned out he had stones in his bladder and had to be put to sleep

the right diet can solve this problem tho
and athough the myth that rabbits love veggies and should be given all the time is actualy bad

if you feed him veggies stick to harder dryer veggies and only on the odd occasion like 2 times a week or sommit otherwise they will only eat the veggies and not there food

i will recommend burgess exel pellets and burgess exel forage

give him plenty ofthe forage grassy foods and his stinky bottom problem should settle

you must check reguarly that his bottom area is spotless or as someone mentions above he could be attacked by flies and stuff even more so if its an out door rabbit

but mainly this problem happens because rabits tend to eat only dry grassy foods in the wild and dont need veggies only as treats and supplyed in small portions

lettuce and cucumber ect are a no no but things such as cabbage and carrots shouldbe given on the odd day in small portions or the rabbit will polish it off and it bacicaly shoots out the other end as a big mess bacicaly

projectile pooing as my vet reffered to this as lol

anyways i think less fresh veggies and more fibery grassy things will put an end to it

also you might need to get your vet to give the rabits behind a little trim on the clippers
this will help avoid it sticking to his fur

also get him checked for mites
as this can happen when they have mites
you can check your self by parting his fur andlook for flaky skin
and white flaky stuff and exessive hair loss or bald paches

this will indicate a mite problem and your vet will have a treatment for that

hope that helps
pugz

Good post.

Yes i recommend excell pellets, coloured rabbit food such as russel rabbit has far too much sugar content. I only feed pellets once a day, too much can cause loose stool, my 2 get 2 handfuls at night. Rabbits diet should be 90% hay. If your buns arent that keen timothy hay with herbs is great, its expensive so pop it in a hay rack, mine mug me for it!!! If you want to give them treats, natural range treats from pets at home are great. a little fresh veg is fine and of course grassif poss.

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If tears could build a stairway, And memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to Heaven, And bring you home again.

wow thanx alot for all that info!

He isn't too keen on veg anyway so the onlything he gets as a treat is dandelion leaves (his name is dandelion)

i give him loooads of hay and it did stop it for awhile but then came back again :S i don't know if maybe its because its just summer and its warm.

He has a run outside with a hutch in it (which he never uses) and a huge hutch in the garage which is actually a converted dog kennel. he is around 7 or 8 years old so he's getting on a bit.

i will change his food to that excel i think because he is currently on a mix food so obviously he picks out the best bits and leaves the healthy stuff.

i really hope he hasn't got anyhting wrong with him and it is just his diet.

thankyou so much everyone that was all really helpful

Raven
xxx

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Hi there, I have same type of rabbit and same problems.

Basically he should be getting carrots etc every day, mine likes cornish greens, brocolli stalks, cabbage,cucumber, apples(not thepips they are poisonous for them). If you think in the wild how avried his diet would be, you need to offer that. Look ath RSPCA web for ideas.

If you pop him to a vet they will shave off the offending pooey fur, it takes a minute and as has been pointed out could end up in nasty flystrike, which i have seen and trsust me you dont want that happening. Mine has also been done for mites by the vet, as the mites may be in the poey tale.

As for him not really using the run, well if he has had years alone, the my bet is he is very very very bored and depressed, rabbits are social animals. They live in complex hierarchical communites and although rabbits should always have company, you cant just chuck any rabbit in with them . If he is that old, its long past that time for him.

All you can fdo is feed him, a wide range of intersting food and provide toys, like hay bells and plastic plant pots they chuck around. Good luck.

slowly over at least 2 weeks to a month move him on to excel pellets or another brand with at least 20% fiber in them. a shot a day is enough for a good weight rabbit, if yours cant clean his bum then he should only have half a shot til he can clean himself properly. also dont feed him any veg, just lots and lots of good quality hay not the cut up stuff u can buy in wilkos. and they like it fresh so pop a bit in twice a day. The Hay Experts - Natural Rabbit Supplies & Timothy Hay timothy hay again has more fiber than other hay types.

with the bum cleaning, you should be ok fly wise this time of year, but obviously this has got to be very uncomfortable, bathe him with cotton wool soaked in boiled but cooled water to get any bacteria out of the water, then make sure u dry the area off or they can get wet skin rashes.

This is an old thread, good advice though!

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There are 33,000 bunnies young, middle aged, old, large and small all looking for a second chance and loving home, can you help? www.rabbitrehome.org.uk



If tears could build a stairway, And memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to Heaven, And bring you home again.