# Poop and poop dirt stuck on bunny's hair



## lunarlady (Jan 1, 2013)

Hi guys!

I have two adorable bunnies that I got for Christmas last week. They were roughly the same size but in a week's time, I've noticed that my white rabbit (Blanco) has grown about twice his size but my gray (Sylvia) one just grew about 1/2 of her size. I'm so worried because recently, I notice the past few days that Blanco keeps growing but Sylvia's still the same. 

They eat a lot, I always give them unlimited grass, their Vitakraft mix (taking out the corn,) some oats, portions of carrots and water spinach, and vitamins in their water dish. 

Sylvia is also very active though and gets very excited when she sees me and I let her out the cage so I didn't want to think anything was wrong. However, just today, I peeked under her belly and saw that there's something that looks like poop stuck in her anus and some poop dirt stuck on the hair surrounding her anus. I started cleaning it but it's not that easy. I got about half of the poop dirt out but she keeps kicking, even as I sing her her lullaby. 

I'm just worried if that's a sign of sickness in Sylvia. Cause when I checked Blanco's underbelly, his was spot clean, even his anus.  What does that mean and what should I do, guys? I'm a very worried momma.


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## Imbrium (Jan 1, 2013)

how old are they, and what breeds? also, how much pellets are they getting per day and do you know their approximate weights?

I would avoid the oats, the excess carbs aren't good for bunnies and can cause tummy troubles with some rabbits. carrots are high in sugar, so they should be fed very sparingly and spinach is high in oxylates so should be limited to no more than 2-3 feedings a week (of no more than 1/3c per 2 lbs body weight).

rabbits don't need vitamins, and adding stuff to their main water supply isn't recommended.

what's the poop like that's stuck to her? does it look like fecal pellets (the "normal" stuff) or is it darker, soft and bad-smelling? if it's the latter, it could be that she's not eating her cecals (which can be caused by too rich a diet, being overweight or arthritic (not able to reach down to eat them) or being a baby - babies often "forget" to eat them).

the best way to clean her is to give her a "butt bath" - get a shallow bowl/tub or a sink and fill it with 1-2'' of warm (not hot) water and, if you have it, some small animal shampoo. dip just her bootie in the water and let it soak for 30 seconds or as long as she'll let you, then use a washcloth dipped in the warm water to gently work the poop out of her fur. make sure you dry her as thoroughly as possible afterward.


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## JBun (Jan 1, 2013)

Sylvia is probably getting a poopy bum from the kind of food she's getting. Baby rabbits should only have plain alfalfa pellets and a dry grass hay. You shouldn't feed bunnies veggies until they are 12 weeks old. Then when thay are that old you start giving one veggie at a time and only a very small piece to make sure they don't get soft poops. If they get soft poops, you don't feed that veggie any more until they are older, then you can try introducing it again. And carrots aren't considered a veggie but more of a treat and they should only be getting a very small piece when they are old enough to have veggies, and only if it doesn't cause soft poops. They also don't need to be getting oats or vitamins in their water. There are already vitamins added to their pellet food.

Almost every time a rabbit gets soft poops, it is because of something they are eating. This is what you want to do. Make sure you are picking everything out of the vitakraft mix and giving only the green hay pellets to your rabbits. Stop giving all veggies or fruit if your rabbits aren't old enough yet. If they are old enough for veggies then just stop giving them to Sylvia. Stop giving the oats and the vitamins in the water. Give Sylvia only a small amount of the plain hay pellets and lots of dry grass hay, not fresh grass. Give her as much dry grass hay as she wants to eat in a day so that she never runs out of it. This should get rid of the poopy bum. You can use a warm damp cloth to clean off her poopy bum, then make sure to towel dry her fur as much as you can, and make sure she is warm enough until she is completely dry.

When you can, switch them both to a new rabbit pellet that is plain with no seeds, fruit, grain, or colorful bits in it. You need to do it very gradually by starting to add a very small amount of the new food, like 1/2 teaspoon, into the old food, and each day you add just a pinch more of the new food, and a pinch less of the old food, until after 2-3 weeks you are all the way switched to the new food.


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## lunarlady (Jan 1, 2013)

Wow! Thanks so much for all your help and advice! I'll try those out myself. Sylvia and Blanco are about 2 1/2 months old. Will try to switch up their diet according to your advice. Thanks so much guys!


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## sugarbunnies (Jan 1, 2013)

What breed is she and how much does she weigh?


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