Do you want a cute small lovely pet? Then rabbits are suitable for you. These mammals are energetic, cute, and lovable animals which in high demand among pet lovers. A rabbit can become your best companion and will keep you entertained with its antics.
Do Rabbits eat their Poop? They eat their own poop or faecal matter. It may seem gross and unaccepted. There is a fascinating fact about rabbits. But is it valid for all rabbits? Well, yes, most of the rabbits feed upon their own poop. In other words, they are coprophagic animals.
But, why do rabbits eat their poop? There are some biological reasons behind their antics. Find out why they eat their faecal matter in this article.
Why do rabbits eat their poop?
Well, rabbits eat their poop to get more nutrition out of it. Rabbits are herbivores, and they mainly love to eat green grass and leafy plants. These greenish plants contain a high amount of cellulose and fibres, which is essential for your bunny. But rabbits cannot digest all the cellulose on their own, which is a big drawback for their life. Hence, they have their own way of getting more nutrition. That is through their poop!
Rabbits have symbiotic bacteria present in their single-chambered stomach. These bacteria help the rabbits digest their own poop and ensure a rabbit gets enough nutrition to live on. It is called hindgut fermentation.
Which kind of poop does a rabbit eat?
You might think that a rabbit eats its poop. But, in reality, it only consumes a specific kind of poop. Rabbits pass two different types of faeces – soft blackish droppings and blackish hard droppings.
They release the soft droppings during the night. It is also known as night faeces or night droppings, or caecotrophs. Rabbits eat only the caecotrophs. They usually consume this immediately after release. These caecotrophs are nutrient-rich. It gets complete digested as it passes through the digestive system of a rabbit. After digestion, a rabbit throws out the stool from its body like normal stool.
When the rabbit eats these faeces again, it helps to digest the excess nutrients fully from the half-digested poop. It then produces hard droppings. The rabbits do not eat these faecal matters because it does not contain helpful nutrient for them. This kind of two-time digestion process helps the rabbits to consume all valuable nutrients properly. Hence, if a rabbit is eating its poop, be assured that this habit is entirely normal.
You cannot prevent the rabbits from eating their own poop because it may cause a lack of nutrition. If your rabbit is not eating its faeces, be sure that your pet needs medical assistance.
The faecal matter can be intact for six hours inside the rabbit’s stomach if they do not get a safe environment. You can set a litter box inside the cage of your pet so you can observe the different types of faecal matter inside it (according to size, shape, color, texture, and smell). Also, you may observe your rabbit’s hind end.