already a worried bun mom!

[Godwit]

hi everyone!

i just got my little one on thursday, not even a name yet! and already, despite months of research and lurking on this site i find myself constantly worrying!

i came home after work today to find the watter bottle had fallen off the rack into the litter box. obviously i don’t know when this happened but ever since i put it back up my bun has been drinking like crazy! i guess i can chalk that up to an unknown amount of time without having water available, though. i will be purchasing a heavy ceramic dish very soon so this doesn’t happen again. also, i feed very few pellets, barely enough for it to cover the bottom of the bowl. hardly any gets eaten! it sits there all day, barely touched, until i replace with a bit more but then s/he will only eat a nibble or two. how do i get it to eat more pellets?? i haven’t started veggies yet because i don’t know how old it is so i’m waiting for our vet visit in the next week or two to find out, so i’m worried about nutrients!  i have found myself topping off the hay rack so that’s a good thing but i’m still worried my baby isn’t getting enough. is it just because it’s in a new place and hasn’t become totally comfortable yet? I’m watching it now and it’s munching some hay and has stopped being glued to the water bottle but i still want to make sure i’m doing the right things!

[Dobby]

Are the pellets the same kind it had before? If they are different, that could be part of the problem. If you can find out what it was eating before and get some of those, it might help. (Of course, if before it was getting the kind with nuts and fruit and other junk included, you wouldn’t want to move back to that.) Then you can slowly transition to your preferred brand.

It may also be that the new bunny just needs more time to settle in. My most recent addition took a couple of days before he was eating much. I think if it is eating hay, drinking water, and pooping you can just give it a little more time.

[Godwit]

The pellets are not the same as what the pet store was feeding. I don’t really trust them. Nobody knew anything about the bunnies; age or gender, where they came from. There wasn’t even a hidey box in the cages. I can only guess that it’s around or under 6 months but over 6 weeks (the age I was given, but she could have misspoke) and the overall health is fine because there’s no aggression or signs of sexual maturity that I’ve detected. We have a vet appointment for Friday when I will find out everything I need to know.

[Author]

Messages