Bunny without incisors

[hophophop]

Hi all,

After my bunny Kotton recovered from her long pout of GI stasis, we removed daily pellets and give her only once in awhile and she’s been eating hay very well. But I have always thought that she needs a buddy, so we just starting bonding her with a bunny boy this past week (loaned from his family and fingers crossed it works and he can stay).

This new boy is a lionhead with his front upper and lower incisors removed due to overgrowing. He has been fed large amount of pellets and I was told he can eat his hay and veggies ok (veggies need to be cut up).

But after being with us for 4 days, I noticed that he has not been eating much hay at all. He poops ok because we have been giving him the leftover pellets from his family when they dropped him off. That was supposed to be enough for a few days. He ran out of pellets yesterday. But it has not made him hungrier for hay. He eats his veggies ok and still drinks water. I am just a little worried. I feel like I should just give him pellets for now because we are not sure if we will be able to keep him. But I think this is really not a good eating habit so would like to slowly transition him to more hay while he’s here.

I don’t have experience with bunny without front teeth. What kind of hay do they like more? How long or thick a stalk is ok and when I need to cut them shorter? The hay left in his carrier by his family is significantly shorter and not as stalky as Kotton eats. Kotton eats mostly oat hay and rye. But I noticed that this boy does not like orchard hay much.

Thanks,

Debbie

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, given his incisor trouble I would want to have his back molars checked out thoroughly. He could just be used to filling up on pellets so he’s not great at eating his hay, but if he had bad malocclusion before he may also have some molar issues. Lionheads are becoming one of the breeds that is known for dental issues, unfortunately.

For now I would give him the same amounts of pellets he had before just to make sure he’s getting enough food in him. I doubt you want to switch him over to a new pellet right now, but there are some pellet formulations that are designed to be free-fed, for buns that have issues eating hay.

The buns I know of (a few shelter buns when I was a volunteer there) that had no incisors ate their hay with gusto and didn’t seem to have a preference for variety. You could experiment with a few types though to see if you can get him to eat more.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[BZOO]

If not eating hay is an issue, Sherwood sells an all Timothy hay for this reason.

My two may eat hay well, may not.  With this free fed pellet, I don’t worry about hay consumption.

Your boy must have an awesome smile 😁

[Author]

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