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The other day a neighbor kid asked me if rabbit’s fart, and while I knew the answer from years of living with pet bunnies, all of the follow-up questions left me reeling and laughing. So I boiled that conversation down into this article which I think you’ll soon agree is the definitive guide to rabbit farts.
Let’s start with the basics.
Rabbits are non-ruminant herbivores which means that they eat plant matter. For your pet bunny, this means that they eat hay, pellets made out of hay, fresh grass, and weeds, as well as occasional vegetables or fruit as treats. However, they can also eat very slow-to-digest plant material like twigs or bark.
Those slow-to-digest foods will actually ferment as they travel through the rabbit’s digestive tract, which produces gas.
Rabbits do pass gas or fart because they regularly eat slowly to digest plant-based foods that create gas as they slowly pass through the bunny’s digestive system. That gas must be released in the form of farts for the comfort and health of the bunny.
Couldn’t Your Bunny Burp Instead Of Fart?
Rabbits are physically unable to burp, belch, or vomit. They have a number of physical traits that prevent them from pushing gas or food up, instead of it passing all the way through the digestive system. The structure of their stomach is the primary reason that a bunny can’t burp.
A rabbit’s digestive system is a one-way trip.
There is a physical structure in their stomach that is a very effective one-way valve. This is called the cardiac sphincter and this is the primary reason that bunnies can’t belch.
Another reason is a relatively weak diaphragm which isn’t able to create a lot of air force. Not only does this prevent your bunny from belching, but it is also the primary reason that rabbits don’t make a lot of noise.
If you want to learn more about why a rabbit can’t vomit, here is an article that my friend Dr. Jamie wrote.
Do Rabbit Farts Make Sounds?
Rabbit farts can be silent or quite loud. How loud a bunny’s farts are dependent on the amount of gas and the personality of the bunny.
How Loud Are Rabbit Farts?
Keeping in mind that some rabbit farts are silent while others make noise, Sadie in the video below is pretty loud.
Rabbit farts can be as loud as the farts of a small dog and that’s pretty loud.
Do Rabbit Farts Smell?
Rabbit farts do stink, just like the farts of all other animals. Some bunny farts stink more than others and since bunnies are small their farts are small too which makes them smell less than those of larger animals or even people..
How To Reduce Rabbit Farts?
Excessive rabbit farting is usually caused by one of two factors; Diet and Teeth Health. Something in her diet could be causing excessive gas, and if her teeth are preventing her from properly chewing her food that too could cause excessive gas.
Foods That Cause Rabbits To Fart
Foods that are high in carbohydrates or sugar will cause gas in rabbits. These foods include Fruits, Vegetables, and even low-quality rabbit pellets.
P.S. If you’d like to see my recommended rabbit feed, check out my Rabbit Gear Page.
If your bunny has excessive gas, really focus on feeding high-quality hay as at least 90% of her diet.
Experiment with the other 10%, feeding one kind of ‘treat’ as that 10% for at least four days and see how it affects her gas. In time, you’ll be able to figure out what is causing the majority of your bunny’s gas.
Why Long Teeth Could Cause Rabbit Gas
A rabbit’s teeth grow continuously, and they need to continually be grinding them down. We give our bunnies sticks to chew on to help them keep their teeth at the right length.
If a rabbit’s teeth are too long, they will not be able to properly chew their food into small enough pieces to be digested correctly. These larger pieces of hay will take longer to digest and will create more gas that your bunny will pass as farts. If your bunny’s teeth are too long, a veterinarian can painlessly file them down.
So there you go. That’s the stinky truth about rabbit farts.
And remember, he who smelt it dealt it. 😉
Your Rabbit Friend,
~Stacey