A question about rabbit litter boxes and cecotropes?

Question

I will be getting a rabbit soon and I've been doing a lot of research to make sure my bunny has a healthy diet and living environment. I purchased the cage and litter box today. The litter box has a metal mesh over the top so that the rabbit can't nest in there and lay in its urine. But, I was reading this article on proper rabbit diets and it said this:

"Rabbits eat these pellets of f***s, the cecotropes. They are often consumed as they come out of the a**s, and are a rich source of nutrients. If this cycle is broken, it disrupts the healthy bacteria that live in the rabbits digestive tract. In very young rabbits, this can cause death by enterotoxemia, i.e. overproduction of toxins by a population of bacteria that is unbalanced and out of control. It can take a while for a rabbit to achieve a stable healthy gut flora (bacterial population), hence why young rabbits are so susceptible."

So if the metal mesh is over the litter box my rabbit won't be able to reach the cecotropes. I was just wondering what everyone's opinions were on this.

Answer 1

Good job on getting the information you'll need to be a good bunny owner !  I wish more people would do this !

About him/her eating her cecotrophs, put your mind at ease. This is what happens;

Cecotrophs are pellets produced at the a**s from the partially fermented matter of the cecum rather than from unwanted fiber. Because they are not waste material, they are not, strictly speaking, f***s, although the term “soft feces” is used synonymously with “cecotroph.”  The cecotrophs are ingested by the rabbit directly from the r****m and are swallowed whole without being chewed.

So, no matter what type of box or mesh is used, it won't interfere with bunny's .. what I call 'morning ablutions'  (joke).  

You will probably never see him/her doing this, but trust me, he or she will.

Again, awesome job on becoming informed BEFORE you get the pet!!!!!  I hope this helps

Also, here are a couple a sites you may find interesting;

http://www.therabbithutch.com/Care/careh...

http://www.arba.net/index.htm

http://www.medirabbit.com/

Answer 2

we have always had bunnies and I will tell you they are like cats, they wont sleep or nest where they pee or poo. I would take the mesh off so he can eat his poo outta the box. Sometime we would lay the wire cage down on the grass on nice days that way the bunny can feel grass and easily eat his p**p

Answer 3

When you get your rabbit it won't use it's litter tray straight away and when it is a mature male/female it probably won't use it's litter box most of the time unless it's spayed/neuteured so it will probably p**p other places and eat the cecotropes/cecals.

Lot's of people use that kind of litter box so I don't think there is anything to worry about, it will be fine! Good luck with your new bunny!

Answer 4

OMG!!! KUDOS to you for doing your homework!!!!!! That makes me so excited im sorry...

I just have regular cat boxes for my 4, rabbits love to lay in their litterboxes and eat the hay. If the box gets to dirty they often wont use it because they are very clean, so I just dump the litterboxes in the morning before I head to school. I fill them with shredded paper and or carefresh and just add hay.

http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/behavior/...

If it gets too dirty they really wont lay in it, so you will be fine with a normal litterbox as long as you clean it everyday to every other day.

Congrats on getting a new rabbit and doing your homework!