Rabbit Wont Eat Pellets. Please Help

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 10sd replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 11 months ago by bunnygirl.

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- 03/26/2013 at 7:19 PM
  Cheeto21
  Participant
  2 posts
  Hello,
  
  I have a two year old mini lop, Buttons, we got her unexpectedly and weren’t prepared and didn’t know much about how to care for rabbits. So we got bagged food with pellets/junk. Thinking that if they sold it in the pet store, it should be good. But nope. I now know its unhealthy for rabbits. The worst part is that she doesn’t even eat the pellets! She just eats the junk thats mixed in with the pellets. I’ve tried changing the food slowly to just pellets but she just won’t touch them. She eats a lot of Timothy hay, her poops seem to be normal. We’ve tried giving her veggies and she’s only ever ate one and that’s kale, I’ve heard that its not the best thing for rabbits either so I only give her a little bit once in a while. She’s also had a few apples before. I just don’t know what to do, I don’t want her to get sick or be unhealthy or anything. She seems healthy, she’s happy, she runs around and binkies every now and then, she flops all the time so I know she’s relaxed, but I want her healthier, I just don’t know what do to. I’ve tried researching things before but if one site says something about rabbits, another site says the opposite, so I just would appreciate some advice from someone with experience.
  
  Thank you so much!
- 03/26/2013 at 8:40 PM
  peppypoo
  Participant
  1945 posts
  Welcome! I’m glad that you’re trying to provide a good diet for your bunny .
  
  You’re on the right track with a slow transition, but I encourage you to just stick with it and have patience…as long as she has other food available, she won’t starve. It’s just a battle of wills, except that they’re great at guilting us . What kind of pellets are you giving her now? Also, what kind of veggies have you tried to give her? As with the pellets, sometimes it can just take time for bunnies to come around to new foods. If you have any veggies in your fridge that are bunny-suitable (http://rabbit.org/what-to-feed-your-rabbit/) just try leaving her some every day, and hopefully she’ll come around to try new things. I’ve noticed that cilantro, parsley, and romaine seem like very popular choices around here, so if you have some around it might be worth trying.
- 03/26/2013 at 8:41 PM
  peppypoo
  Participant
  1945 posts
  Also, have you considered having her spayed? Aside from ameliorating behavioral issues, females have a very high cancer risk within a few years if left intact.
- 03/26/2013 at 10:17 PM
  Stickerbunny
  Participant
  4128 posts
  Powder took about a week to adjust to his new pellets when I flipped him over to oxbow. I provided hay and a tiny tiny amount of his old pellets after gradually reducing the old over the week. After a few days of not having pellets beyond a bite or two of his old stuff he started to nibble. They can be stubborn about new stuff.
- 03/27/2013 at 1:25 PM
  tobyluv
  Participant
  3312 posts
  The information on feeding kale has changed. It is now considered a very good veggie for rabbits and can be given every day.
- 03/27/2013 at 2:14 PM
  Jesse97
  Participant
  79 posts
  I would agree with most of the people who have commented. Just keep trying to gradually switch her over to plain pellets. Thankfully pellets are the food that your rabbit should have the least of so don’t worry about her starving as long as she has hay and has access to veggies.
  When you mix the food in with each other and your rabbit eats all the extras, don’t refill it with more even if you rabbit is not eating the pellets. Just leave the pellets in their until your rabbit starts to eat and finishes it. Again, your rabbit won’t starve, she is just being picky so don’t give up yet.
- 03/28/2013 at 4:18 AM
  LittlePuffyTail
  Moderator
  18092 posts
  It`s normal for buns to shun any new pellets, especially healthy pellets in place of junk food. My buns ignored their pellets for over a week when I switched brands.
- 03/29/2013 at 3:17 PM
  Emmie
  Participant
  461 posts
  I am also having this issue. Siha was on a mix of food for about 5yrs until I got her. I’ve been gradually reducing the amount of mix and increasing the amount of pellets but nothing, she point blank refuses to go near them. I can’t give Thane too many veggies as it seems to upset his butt so I’m trying to just give Siha veggies. She’s also very fussy when it comes to hay.
  
  Any advice it tips to help?
- 04/10/2013 at 3:05 PM
  Cheeto21
  Participant
  2 posts
  Thanks for answering!
  
  She would only eat the dried fruit and other things from the brand “Bonanza” which includes timothy hay pellets, I have tried giving her just pellets before but she wouldnt even go near them. and now unfortunately, for some reason, all that “junk” mixed in with the pellets in the Bonanza food has been changed and now Buttons wont eat any of it. I have bought other brands hoping she would eat either pellets or the mix, just so she’d be eating something, but no luck, I have been giving her unlimited hay, and some kale and romaine lettuce, to try first, which she liked at first but now she just pushes away and wont eat. So at the moment, all she is eating is hay, which I know is not enough. Im going out today to get other veggies to try to give her, thanks to the link you gave me, I now know what is safe and what is unsafe, so thank you for that also.
  
  I do plan on getting her spayed, money is an issue, but Im getting her spayed as soon as i can.
  
  thanks again!
- 04/14/2013 at 2:51 AM
  Bwbedard
  Participant
  31 posts
  I just recently found out that Kale was considered a veggie that rabbits could only have in moderation. My rabbits have eaten kale in bulk for years to my ignorance and they haven’t had any problems. In fact it is by far their favorite veggie!
- 04/14/2013 at 8:16 AM
  bunnygirl
  Participant
  636 posts
  ^^ YES!
  Apollo has had plenty of curly kale, nearly every week. He goes nuts when it’s in his salad, it’s the first thing he grab in the mad dash to eat it before it runs away! (Sorry, it’s just so adorable, I can’t bring myself to tell him it won’t grow legs and wriggle between the bars of the cage!) And, me being the obsessive bun momma I am, I’m always monitoring poops and amount of water drank and is the litter box clean and so on. I’m not sure about this new thing about kale being bad!
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