this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2026
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Do they really do that? Huh
Yep. Cecotropes are a very important part of a rabbit’s diet. It’s gross but necessary.
Interesting. Sort of makes sense since the animals that do these are primarily fast running animals, so it's better they semi digest and lose the weight instead of staying slower longer.
Rabbits have a very simple digestive tract, similar to horses except I don’t think horses have cecotropes. Rabbits have to digest some stuff twice to get the full nutritional value out of it. It happens with a lot of small mammals like hamsters and guinea pigs too. I’m not sure if it has to do with how fast they run, but they are so cute they get a pass on the grossness.
My old bun once wafted a mouthful of it into my face and it was the stinkiest shit I’ve ever smelled lol. I still loved that fella
makes sense. lol I didn't think they stank that bad, given how goat droppings smell from a distance, but I suppose it's a completely different thing when they're chewed up and in your face.
Their normal poos don’t really smell, but the cecos do have a slight stink. It’s not strong, it was just that he wafted it directly into my nose while he was eating one.
It was nasty, but I sure do miss that fella. Best first bun I could have ever asked for.
Guinea pigs too. When I was a kid I had a few of them and this was how I usually started to info dump: did you know that they eat some of their poop?