Why do rabbits eat their droppings? Eating poop doesn’t sound very appetizing. Yet we sometimes see rabbits doing it. Is this normal? And why do they do this? We explain it to you.
Why do rabbits eat poop?
Some animals take a lot of work to digest their food. Rabbits, for example, have to pass their food through their intestines as many as twice to get all the nutrients out. So this is why they have to eat some of their poop. There are more animals that have strange eating habits. For example, read the article: Why do dogs eat grass?
Different types of rabbit poop
Rabbits have two different types of poop. There are “regular” droppings from which nutrients have already been extracted and there are “blind” droppings from which all nutrients have not yet been extracted. Regular droppings are large, firm and you see a lot of them lying around the coop. Cecum droppings are small, soft and very dark in color. You usually don’t see these droppings because they are eaten by the rabbit right from their poop hole.
Soft rabbit droppings in the hutch or stuck to the butt
When these cecum droppings do end up (often stuck together) in the hutch, or sticking to the rabbit’s butt, it could mean that the rabbit is getting too much rabbit food. The rabbit is getting so many ready-to-eat nutrients through the rabbit biks that it is no longer eating its cecum droppings. Probably the rabbit needs less biks and more dry hay and some green food. Get advice on the right proportions and types of food for your rabbits if you are left with the question, Why do rabbits eat their droppings?
Bunnies eat regular droppings
Some rabbits also sometimes eat plain droppings. The reason for this is not clear, but it is not harmful. Of course, you prefer to see your rabbit just eat its biks. And, of course, carrots and straw.
