sticky poo's, gratefull for any advice

Willow and Felix have always had some sticky poo's since I have had them from 3 weeks. I am especially noticing this more since they have had jabs and been allowed in the run outside (which is on concrete, they have no access to grass).

They are being fed unlimited pellets (excell for young and dwarf rabbits) and unlimited hay.

I have run this past my vet a couple of time, once when they had their jabs, and then I called him a couple of weeks ago as there seemed to be more than usual in their run. He told me its nothing to worry about, they need unlimited pellets at their age, especially as Willow was a bit on the thin side (she has caught up massively)

I have read (correct this if its wrong) that a diet too high in protein can cause this (amongst other things relating to veg etc, or if they are over weight and cant eat their sticky poo's from their anus). I have been advised by the vet to keep them on unlimited pellets untill they are 3 months (which they are today I believe!) and then start to cut it down and introduce greens. Jay has also kindly given me some advice on when and how to start them off with greens.

They currently are eating nothing else other than pellets and hay, so i am wondering why they have sticky poo's and how to sort it before I tamper with their diet and start introducing new things.

Do you think the fact that didnt have their mothers milk from 3 weeks has in some way effected their guts? Should I be concerned about this or is it just the product of them eating too many pellets? If so, now they are 3 months, should I reduce it down, or keep going with the unlimited supply untill they are 6 months?

The other thing i am thinking about is that they will be spayed in the next couple of months, so I need to make sure they are as healthy, settled, and tummy balanced as possible in preperation for that.

General advice, or even better a bullet point through by through of what I should do would be so fab.. oh, whats that? oh its another grey hair sprouting from my head

How sticky are they? Could they be left over caecotropes?
I found something online saying they should be a little wet anyway. Mine seem to be a bit shiny at night and during the day quite dry. I'm in the process of learning too

Yes they are the sticky dark ones, they are only in the run for a bit during the day. I see them eating them from their bottom and their bottoms arent sore, i check them and wash them every day because of the fear of flystrike- and also because of their litter mate developing a prolapsed rectum- so their bums are thoroughly monitored

I am 90% sure it'll be the pellets. Excel are notorious for causing rabbits to produce excess ceacals (the sticky poops you describe) due to the high protein content they contain, this is especially true of the junior/dwarf pellets which contain even more.

It is my personal opinion that no healthy baby rabbit needs an unlimited quantity of pellets, indeed I have never fed them ad-lib to youngsters. They have had more than I would give an adult, but not available on demand.

I would strongly suggest switching to an alternative type of pellet with more fiber and less protein such as science selective, oxbow or allen & page (who incidently do a breeder/grower pellet with a slightly higher protein content which is not known to cause the same poo related problems as Excel)

Yeah basically what Sooz said! She's very good

I never gave my buns ad-lib pellets as babies either despite the bag saying so. Mine are on Supreme Science Selective which is a good high fibre pellet.

Hey, I also never gave Harley unlimited pellets.

Harley was an Inspectorate rescued bun (from a hoarder who had around 60 rabbits in an apartment). He was extremely emacitated, with a broken hind leg and literally knocking on death's door.

Although he was extremely thin he still didn't have unlimited pellets for the above reason. I feed him Oxbow for growing buns, and it has been magic and little Harley is now 1.8 kilos.

Oh, Harley was also away from his mother at a very early age (around 3 or 4 weeks I believe) and the only issue we seem to have from him being weaned too early is that the poor dear gets the hiccups all the time! Buns weaned too early can be prone to getting the hiccups, which when it first happened scared the hell out of me as I thought he was about to have a seizure.

I love this forum! Thank you so much everyone. They, well Willow was skinny at first, now she doesnt feel so sharp - a week ago felix was 1050 grams, and willow 950 grams, felix puts on about 140 grams a week, and Willow 120, and there is normally 100 grams between them so that the only marker i have to know how well they are growing.

Ok so a gradual pellet change needed, anyone feel confident enough to advise me which brand of the ones you have suggested I should go for, and how much to decrease it down to over what period of time? Sorry to be so pestering with these continuos questions - just want to get it right Brand of hay? The one I have at the moment is the excel one, I ordered trail sizes of all the ones that 'the hay experts' do, then havent fed them to them for fear of mucky their tummys about.

Also, Harley looks brill, you would never guess by looking at him that he had a very tough start, he is a credit to you

I think I'd cut down on the pellets, I actually came off Excel and went on to SS as I found a lot of our buns had dirty bottoms with Excel

hmmm, annoying how this is the one the vet recommends and he told me to do unlimited... he is a very nice guy but im wondering if he is clued up on rabbits really, and if he is the best person to spay them...
I was so worried about every little thing when Yasmin was born, questioning everything, I now feel im very baby/toddler/infant savvy, and Im starting this quest for knowledge and path of worry all over again with the bunnies

I have never had a problem with Supreme Science, the rescue I got Jeeves from also use it and I know several people on here use it too!

Someone posted a link on here of an article that said ideally buns should get 25g of pelleted food per kilo of bodyweight, but then the RWAF suggest that an eggcup full is sufficient enough per rabbit as long as they have everything else they need through the day.

I just measure out 25 grams to see what that looked like in the bowl - and oh my gosh, mine are having 4 times that amount a day easily

How old are they? Until they are 6 months old you can give them a small handful in the evening too.
Until Tigger was 6 months she had a small handful in the morning and then a quarter cup measurement in the evening.

They are 3 months, I have cut them to a 60 grams in the morning and 60 in the evening (between them) - and we have already lost the sticky poo's (so far). Before I was topping them up whenever they were running out, and they werent interested in what I was doing when I filled up the bowl, now when they hear that shake of the container I have the food in they go mad! I have round it hard seeing them sniff the empty bowl, and felt very mean, but as its in their best interest it has to be done!

Brilliant! Great to hear there's no more sticky poos!

Ahh yes the dinner time frenzy, i get that too, it's like I never feed them the way they act