Reducing Cecotropes

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Easy Ears

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Hey! My buck is having quite a bit of cellulose...suggestions on reducing it?
He is a Dutch/dwarf cross, weighing 2.8 lbs. I give him a half cup of pellets, and he has as much timothy hay as he wants. (Which he doesn't eat much of.) And he gets a baby carrot every once in a while for a treat.
 
If your rabbit is fat, has a bunch of "cellulite", then I would be feeding him 2 ounces of pellets a day with unlimited hay. I say 2 ounces since that is a little under 1 once per pound of body weight. A half cup, either by volume or weight, is to much for such a small rabbit. My 4.5 pound buck gets 3.5 ounces of pellets each day. He is lean but not under weight.
 
Cellulose in food products is basically sawdust and harmless.

Cellulite by the medical definition would not be seen on a rabbit and in people doesnt even always mean someone is overweight.
 
Yea I'm not sure what is meant. Using the more official definitions neither really makes sense.
 
:shock:
A month ago in this tread - post244076.html?hilit= you described your buck as having a
Fat/round belly with bony back
which is not normal and not cellulite as rabbits deposit fat along their backs so an overweigh rabbit has a very plump back and you cannot feel any bones. A fat round belly is more likely caused by parasites.
 
Easy Ears, if you want help with this, you are really going to have to clarify exactly what the problem is. Please google your terms to ensure you are communicating clearly. It is very frustrating to try to help you because you don't give us the information we need.
 
Easy Ears":3q4nbpkr said:
Oh great. :groooan: like I said in the chat box ...long day. :(
I meant Cecotropes. :t_oops:

:rotfl:


I hadn't a clue as to how one would treat cellulose. :?

Cecotropes are much easier to treat!

All you have to do is reduce the richness of his feed. I'd stop with the carrots, maybe replace them with a lower sugar treat, like mint, cilantro, parsley, blackberry leaves, dandelion or plaintain. (There are many more plants that could be added to that list)
Of course, keep portions small at first. Dandelions are rich and could contribute to cecotrope overproduction if you give too many.
Reduce pellets a little more and do your best to get him eating more hay.
Consider feeding him just hay in the morning and pellets in the evening.
 
Haha, ok. Ya, he's preeeetty picky about the hay. I end up picking off the leaves for him, and putting it in his feeder sometimes, cause he likes those. ;) (Timothy Hay)
 
Pellet reduction and going to a lower protein level is the most effective. Trying to get hay and fresh food in would help mainly because it replaces some of the pellets with a less nutrient dense food. If you feed less pellets he might decide the hay isn't so bad because of increased hunger.
 
Thanks akane! I was gone for Thanksgiving and decide to just wait on lowering the pellets until I got back, so I would be easier to for the people taking care of them. ;) Anyway, when I came back I realized I didn't even need to lower his feed, because since it's been so cold, he's hungrier and eating a lot more hay! :D Yay!
And his droppings look great! :)
 
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