Your Rabbit poop can tell you a lot about the health condition of your rabbit. Rabbits’poop shape, texture, and color can anticipate many health-related issues.
Rabbits have a sensitive digestive system, which is needed to be continuously digesting and getting nutrients from food. If the rabbits have any health problems, it will surely be noticeable in their poop. As a pet parent, you should know how a normal rabbit poop looks like? And you need to make it a habit to check your rabbit poop in the litter box regularly. This habit will help you to keep your rabbit’s health on the right track.
How Often Do Rabbits Poop?
Rabbit Poop Guide: Two Types Of Healthy Rabbit Poop
Rabbit owners must have enough knowledge about what healthy rabbit poop is like and what to look for in healthy rabbit poop. Rabbits normally produce two types of feces. Fecal pellets and cecotropes.
Fecal Pellets are round-shaped, a bit crumbly, odorless, precisely the same as cocoa puff balls. The size varies from pea to chickpea size.
Color varies from dark green to dark brown, depending on what your rabbit’s current diet is. Dark rabbit poop means they are taking a high protein diet. If rabbit poop is consistent in color and shape, it means there is nothing to worry about.
Cecotropes is another type of rabbit poop. It looks like a bunch of beads connected. These cecotropes are formed in the colon of rabbits and are rich in nutrients. You will not find cecotropes in the litter box as rabbits re-ingest cecotropes short after passing them. This process is known as “Cecoprophagy.”
Healthy Rabbit Droppings
| Characteristics | Normal Rabbit Droppings | Cecotropes Droppings |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Green pea to chickpea | 1 to 2 inches |
| Shape | Little round ball | Round pellets or cluster |
| Color | Dark brown to wheat color | Dark brown or black |
| Texture | Hard | Squishy and sticky |
| Smell | Slight or no smell | Slight or no smell |
Healthy Rabbit Poop vs Sick Rabbit Poop
| Characteristics | Normal Healthy Rabbit Dropping | Cecotropes Healthy Rabbit Dropping | Deformed Droppings(Sick Rabbit) | Mucus Dropping(Sick Rabbit) | Mushy Dropping(Sick Rabbit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Size | Green pea to chickpea | 1Muc 1 to 2 inch | Small, elongated | Small | 1 to 2 i1 1 to 2 inches |
| Shape | Single, Little Roundball | Round Pellets or cluster | deformed | Mucus l irregular | formless |
| Color | Dark brown to wheat color | Dark brown or black | Dark, deformed | Coated in Transparent mucus | dark |
| Texture | hard | Squishy or sticky | hard | Mucus layer | Doughy or pasty |
| Smell | Slight or no | No or slight | smelly | smelly | Quite smelly |
Two Best Ways To Clean Up Rabbit Poop
Most furry animals prefer self-cleaning and self-grooming. Rabbits are amongst the self-groomers and cleaners. They do not like a specific bath from their owner, as bathing can be problematic for the rabbits. Anyhow, if the rabbit got a mess or dirt on it, he cannot clean himself, then you can wash away the dirt from rabbits by using the following ways.
- You can clean the dirty area with a wet towel.
- However, if the poop becomes hard and the area becomes very messy. Then you can give rabbits a shallow bath.
Steps To Give Bath To Rabbits:
- Take a wide sink, fill it with Lukewarm water, around 1 inch in depth. Before interacting rabbit with water, keep a piece of towel.
- Hold your rabbit with balance. To maintain balance, hold your rabbit’s chest with one hand carefully; with the help of the other hand, hold the bum.
- Squeeze the excess water with your hand and cover him with the towel. Make sure that all the dirt is removed.
- Dry the wet part as soon as possible. You can use a dry cleaner for drying but at low heat. Rabbits have sensitive skin and are vulnerable to getting burnt due to high heat temperatures.
Precautions:
- Do not use shampoo or any soapy product unless directed by your veterinarian.
- Do not wash the head or upper surface, as having a bath for rabbits is an artificial process so that the bath can result in stress for rabbits.
- Only wash dirty areas.
- After bathing, place your rabbit under dry and normal room temperature.
Do Rabbits Eat Their Poop?
Yes, rabbits eat their poop called cecotropes. Production of cecotropes takes place in the digestive tract of rabbits. Cecotropes are also known as “night feces.” Rabbits consume their cecotropes early in the morning or late at night. They eat them once a day. Cecotropes are soft fecal pellets and comprise low fibers, high-level of protein, and vitamins.
This is an entirely natural behavior found in all healthy rabbits. Do not try to stop your rabbit from eating their cecotropes.
How To Make Rabbit Poop? Six Steps
Constipation and gastrointestinal stasis is a common health problem in rabbits. To avoid the critical condition of constipation or GIT stasis in rabbits, a rabbit owner can use the following methods:
- Once you notice the symptoms of constipation in your rabbit, contact your veterinary doctor. This condition can be life-threatening for your rabbit if not taken seriously.
- The veterinarian will diagnose the situation.
- Add fiber to your rabbit’s diet. Use fresh hay and green vegetables for improved results.
- Increase the physical activity of your rabbit; it helps to increase gut motility.
- Decreasing the number of pellets will uplift the hungry rabbit to eat more hay.
- An increase in the amount of water intake will also help in bowel movement.
Why Do Dogs Eat Rabbit Poop?
A medical condition known as pica is a health-related disorder in which dogs have craved to eat inedible items. If a dog is hungry, he can taste things that smell like food.
Rabbit poop will not cause any harm to your dog. Dogs will excrete the poop out in the form of waste material. Commonly the parasites that are present in rabbit stool do not cause any infestation in dogs.
You can implement some potential pieces of training which will keep your dog away from this gross habit.
Why Does My Rabbit Poop Smell Bad?
Rabbit poop nearly has no smell. Make sure that you are properly cleaning the Litter box regularly. Otherwise, if their droppings produce smells, it is an alarming sign that there is some problem.
Either your rabbit is suffering from stress, nutritional imbalance, or some other illness. If you find any signs, visit your veterinary doctor.
Will Rabbit Poop Kill My Lawn?
Rabbit droppings are very beneficial for lawns. It is considered a packet of nutrition. Richer in nutrition as compared to other animals manure. Thus, helps in improving the structure of the dry soil and moisturizes the soil.
This rabbit manure acts as the best organic fertilizer. It consists of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and minerals and contains beneficial elements like zinc, magnesium, Sulphur, etc. An ideal fertilizer for plants and crops.
How Much Does Rabbit Poop Sell For?
Rabbit manure is used as an organic fertilizer. Better than other commercial chemical fertilizers. Consist of 1% potassium, 1% phosphorous, and 2% nitrogen.
You can even buy rabbit poop easily from rabbit farms. Also can be ordered online from eBay, Amazon, and other online stores. These are sold as premium fertilizers, and the cost ranges from 5 to 15 pounds per bag.
When Should I Worry About My Rabbit’s Poop?
Generally, an average rabbit excretes 200 to 300 fecal pellets daily. If the rabbit stops pooping or you find sudden changes in your rabbit poop, it’s time to worry!
Furthermore, the unusual smell from the rabbit’s Litter box, irregular shapes, sizes, and texture in rabbit droppings also indicate that your rabbit is not well.
Improve the diet of your rabbit for better results. If no improvement is found, schedule a visit with your veterinary doctor.
Does Rabbit Poop Carry Diseases?
Rabbits can carry parasites like tapeworms and roundworms. However, no evidence has found that their fecal pellets transmit diseases to humans. Human beings are at a lower risk of getting infected by the diseases through rabbit poop. However, Keep good care of your rabbit’s hygiene and health.
Rabbit Poop Fertilizer
Rabbit poop fertilizer is counted as premium fertilizer. Also known as Gardner’s choice. It would never burn your plant, also known as cold manure. You don’t need to compost rabbit manure before using it.
Nitrogen is an essential macronutrient for plants. Rabbit poop holds a high rate of nitrogen as compared to chicken, goat, or sheep manure. This organic fertilizer nourishes your gardens. If you have pet rabbits, you should give it a try.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about rabbit poop.
Is rabbit poop clean?
Usually, rabbit poop is clean, odorless, or with a very light smell if excreted freshly. It is not gross like cow dung. You can easily handle it while cleaning or using it for gardening.
Where do rabbits poop?
Pet rabbits poop in their litter box, If they are litter trained. But if they poop anywhere outside their litter box, there could be other reasons; for example, they are showing this behavior to mark their area.
Why is rabbit poop so watery?
It means that your rabbit is unwell. He is suffering from true diarrhea. This disease is caused by parasites coccidian, roundworms, tapeworms, or anything that inflames the intestinal lining. Visit your veterinarian as soon as possible, as diarrhea can be life-threatening.
Do rabbits eat all their cecotropes?
Healthy rabbits consume all their cecotropes or “night feces.” Cecotropes are usually few. Consumption can be affected by the rabbit diet.
What foods give rabbits diarrhea?
Foods rich in carbohydrates, low in fiber, and frequent changes in diet can cause diarrhea in rabbits.
Can You Vacuum Rabbit Poop?
Yes, you can use a vacuum cleaner for fecal pellets, for the leftover particles. But first, use a broom to collect a sufficient amount of litter and hay.
Final Verdict
Regular observation of your rabbit’s poop can help you know about your bunny’s health status. And don’t get worried if you find your rabbit eating his poop, it’s quite normal and natural for a rabbit.
Lastly, rabbit poop can also be useful for your lawn. A variety of minerals and nutrients make it a good quality fertilizer. It depends upon you whether you consider it just a piece of shit or a good quality organic fertilizer for your lawn.
SmallPetsX.Com does not provide veterinary advice. Our aim to help small pet owners understand their pets a little better so that they can provide their pets with the life they deserve. All content is therefore for informational purposes only. If you're concerned about the health of your pet you should seek medical advice from a vet.
