A bit of a minor scare

hi and welcome. it's very possible the apple and carrot are the reason for
the soft poops. they are high in sugar and that's usually what sets the
digestive system off.

if i were you, i would cut out the sweets first and see how that is. if
your rabbit is tolerating greens, then don't stop. greens are very
important. however, i would probably limit some of the turnip greens (i
could be confusing them with mustard greens) because they may produce gas.

here's lots of info on rabbit diet:

www.carrotcafe.com

HTH.

mickey, morgan, thumper & dipper


"Chromesthesia" <chromesthesia.RemoveThis@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:1112624837.160440.325210@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> So last night my rabbit's poops were unusually soft. Then he stopped
> pooping for several hours and has only started up again.
> I have been feeding him his pellets from the shelter mixed with Oxbow
> pellets, lots of timothy hay, parsley and I have tried to introduce him
> to turnip greens, carrot tops and small pieces of carrot and apple.
> Could it have been the carrots and apples that have been making his
> poops too soft? He's very active still and keeps trying to get into my
> room without my permission. Other than the poop thing, he seems
> alright, but it's still pretty scary.
> Should I just keep him on hay for the next couple of weeks?
>
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

He's one year old. I just got him last week so I am <i>worried all the
time</i> about him and his health and whether or not i am feeding him
right.
For example, are rabbits SUPPOSED to be this... sleepy this time of
day?
He is now hiding from me. Sitting in the hallway, half asleep.
Perhaps I'll introduce him to greens again tomorrow. *completely
worried*
He might not be used to anything with sugar too from being fed at the
shelter.
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

Also, if I didn't give him pellets today, how do I introduce them again
only to slowly take them off again?
This rabbit digestive thing is tricky. All of my research did not
prepare me nearly enough.
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

His name is bernie and he's rather large and gentle. A nice rabbit.
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

Chromesthesia wrote:

> Could it have been the carrots and apples that have been making his
> poops too soft?

In a word, yes. As Mickey noted, rabbits are sensitive to sugar. It can
cause an overgrowth of "bad" bacteria in ther gus, which can cause
painful gas and even cessation of gut movement (stasis). I have a bunny
who is very intolerant of sugar, poor thing. She can handle carrots, but
forget about fruit or raisins.

> Should I just keep him on hay for the next couple of weeks?

How old is he? I would not think anything that drastic is needed in
this case. Hay, greens, and pellets should be fine,

But it does seem you've had a "heads-up" that you should take care with
what you feed him. Perhaps you need to follow the
introducing-one-veggie-at-a-time protocol to be extra careful about what
he might be sensitive to.



Nona
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

Apples do it to my kids everytime. If I give them a whole slice of
apple, it is cecal party time. Anytime I give them apple, they only
get a few bites.

I've never had trouble with carrots, but other people have. One thing
it may be is that the diet change is too fast. The microbes in the gut
have to have gradual change or they don't have time to adapt. I
believe a good rule of thumb is to give them one new thing at a time
and in small portions.

If the poops are just a little soft, no worries. Your bunny was just
letting you know that gradual change would be best for him.

Anita, Jessie, and Quark


On 4 Apr 2005 07:27:17 -0700, "Chromesthesia"
<chromesthesia DeleteThis @adelphia.net> wrote:

>So last night my rabbit's poops were unusually soft. Then he stopped
>pooping for several hours and has only started up again.
>I have been feeding him his pellets from the shelter mixed with Oxbow
>pellets, lots of timothy hay, parsley and I have tried to introduce him
>to turnip greens, carrot tops and small pieces of carrot and apple...
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

you don't have to re-introduce the pellets slowly. so long as your bunny
has had them before. sometimes i skip a day of pellets if i notice my guys
are not eating enough hay. the vegetables and greens should be introduced
one at a time as nona mentioned. it's a precaution to ensure that your
rabbit can tolerate the new food.

sounds like bernie is a very lucky bun to have found such a doting slave!
;o)

mickey, morgan, thumper & dipper



"Chromesthesia" <chromesthesia.DeleteThis@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:1112657997.243024.272830@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Also, if I didn't give him pellets today, how do I introduce them again
> only to slowly take them off again?
> This rabbit digestive thing is tricky. All of my research did not
> prepare me nearly enough.
>
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

Would a rabbit do better with no pellets at all?
Or, would he get insufficient nutrition?
Bernie does seem a bit skinny, but perhaps it's because he's been
excercising a lot, darting around the apartment and jumping, trying to
go places e's not supposed to.
I constantly worry about whether or not I am feeding him properly, or
even if it's such a good thing to put hay in his litter box...
It is somewhat gross for him to eat hay out of there, but he seems to
like it.
And how often should his box be cleaned? I've been doing it almost
every day, but I am nearly out of carefresh!
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

On 5 Apr 2005 08:56:08 -0700, "Chromesthesia"
<chromesthesia RemoveThis @adelphia.net> wrote:

>Would a rabbit do better with no pellets at all?

Depends on the rabbit, but in general no.

>Or, would he get insufficient nutrition?

A diet of hay and veggies only is lacking in some of the essential
fatty acids, as well as Vitamin E and D.

>Bernie does seem a bit skinny, but perhaps it's because he's been
>excercising a lot, darting around the apartment and jumping, trying to
>go places e's not supposed to.

Young bunnies are skinny, mostly because they have high energy demands
(both for growing and for running around) and don't quite have the
calorie intake to support all their energy needs.

>I constantly worry about whether or not I am feeding him properly, or
>even if it's such a good thing to put hay in his litter box...
>It is somewhat gross for him to eat hay out of there, but he seems to
>like it.

Hay in the litter box is *great*. Bunnies love to eat and poop.
They're weird, what can I say?

As for cleaning, clean it when it gets dirty. If you want, you can
just scoop the wet bits out and some of the poops then top it off
daily and then do a full dump and clean weekly.

b
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

I put him back on pellets for a while... hopefully he'll be ok and I'm
slowly introducing greens again...
feeding rabbits stresses me out a bit..
no, a lot...
I wonder if reducing his pellet ration and increasing his hay ration
would help more. he still seems a bit skinny... i'll see...
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

On 5 Apr 2005 17:08:24 -0700, "Chromesthesia"
<chromesthesia.TakeThisOut@adelphia.net> wrote:

>I put him back on pellets for a while... hopefully he'll be ok and I'm
>slowly introducing greens again...
>feeding rabbits stresses me out a bit..
>no, a lot...

Eh. Don't stress about it that much.

>I wonder if reducing his pellet ration and increasing his hay ration
>would help more. he still seems a bit skinny... i'll see...

Calories will come from pellets not hay unless you're feeding alfalfa
or some of the really soft, leafy green stuff you can get through
mailorder. You can add a handful of alfalfa to his diet if you think
he's not getting enough calories. However, young rabbits are skinny
that's just how they are.

I *really* like using alfalfa when I'm trying to keep a bunny's weight
up as it has calories but is also has lots of fiber. I try and keep
alfalfa around at all times -- it's part of my rabbit emergency kit.

b
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

That might be it... It might have been a bit overwhelming...
He's still not completely stable yet either... *Quite worried a bit*
Going to have to take it slow and easy next time.
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare 

On Mon, 4 Apr 2005, Chromesthesia wrote:
> So last night my rabbit's poops were unusually soft. Then he stopped
> pooping for several hours and has only started up again.
> I have been feeding him his pellets from the shelter mixed with Oxbow
> pellets, lots of timothy hay, parsley and I have tried to introduce him
> to turnip greens, carrot tops and small pieces of carrot and apple.
> Could it have been the carrots and apples that have been making his
> poops too soft? He's very active still and keeps trying to get into my
> room without my permission. Other than the poop thing, he seems
> alright, but it's still pretty scary.
> Should I just keep him on hay for the next couple of weeks?

You may want to consider introducing only one new food every week or two. It
seems as if you gave him three new things at once.
 >> Stay informed about: A bit of a minor scare