Hi everyone! I apologize for any errors as to the nature of this post but I’m brand new and trying to figure it out!
I’m currently living with three “special needs” bunnies, first off They are great but they are time consuming; I love them all anyway.
If you go to my profile you can read all about them (I would love for you to, in fact!). My main concern at the moment is my youngest bunny, Skittles. I obtained him from an auction and didn’t know what he had eaten, exactly how old he was, what kind of hay he liked, etc. I was just hoping he was healthy
The day I brought him home he was dehydrated and starving from sitting at an auction with no food or water all day (poor little guy) but he made it safely home with me. I gave him Oxbow pellets (for youngsters- same as I have my other two on) and he seemed ok….. Until the next morning. I woke up to find him not moving, not eating, shaking, etc., WITH FREEZING EARS. On top of it, he had a HUGE, hard tummy! AAAHHH! It scared me.
I put him in a heating pad, gave him a 15 minute long tummy massage, syringe fed him some water with Pedialyte, and after squirting diarrhea all over me, about 15-20 large, hard pellets (poops) came out of him. As soon as this happened he wanted down and began hopping around, eating, and drinking again. I was thinking to myself, “great, GI Stasis,” but he acted just fine now. He already had his unlimited amount of hay so after playing all day, I gave him his fresh water and pellets and put him back in his (INDOOR) cage.
I woke up the next morning to find him lethargic with cold ears and lacking any little poops in his cage. Here we go again…. Same exact thing happened that second morning.
Since I had no idea what the little guy had eaten all his life I figured I should go with a different kind of pellets, as maybe the Oxbow pellets were too rich for him so I got a lesser quality pellet from Tractor Supply that they recommended. I didn’t have the time OR the need to wean him off one or the other (I do know better than to do that under normal circumstances) so I gave him those pellets that night…. REPLAY ON THE THIRD MORNING.
The fourth day I decreased the number of pellets I let him eat to encourage his “hay munching” needs. I also added mint, as I know it helped Cinni-Mini’s upset tummys when she got them. It didn’t help him…. it was a replay all over again.
I spent the next few days weaning in new herbs and veggies to substitute the nutrition he is no longer getting from his pellets, and I tell you what, he is eating TONS of hay (in addition to his “salad.”) He also had not had a single sign of being ill again in the last five days. He IS, however, jealous of Smoky and Whisper because having FRS, I am keeping them on pellets twice a day.
I raised Cinni-Mini, my Angel Bunny, on a diet of hay and veggies because she snubbed her pellets and she did wonderfully. I wasn’t nervous with her at all in taking her off pellets but now that I’m dealing with his bouts of (what mimics) GI Statis and the other two’s FRS, I’ve become paranoid to say the least.
Here is a list of what he eats a day:
Cilantro, mint, turnip greens, dill, basil, a quarter of a baby carrot- He gets a packed cup on top of unlimited hay and water. Sometimes he doesn’t finish all of his veggies and I’ll take out the little bit that’s left after a while, but he finishes most of it.
With this diet he is no longer developing the lump in his stomach, he has TONS of energy, and he eats his hay like a [teeny-tiny] horse.
I’ve had 3 bunnies prior to these three and they all did great on a pellet free diet but like I said, I got paranoid with Skittles.
Do you guys have any suggestions as to what else I need to add to supplement the lack of pellets in his diet? Your help is appreciated!