Diet Change

[roccoatticus]

I’m trying to wean my rabbit off muesli feeds and get him eating burgess nuggets and more hay. I’ve been doing it for maybe two days, so I’m not quitting yet but I’m wondering how long it might take, and if there’s a chance he might just starve??

The thing is, even when he was eating mainly muesli he would eat around the nuggets and only eat seeds and whatever the green stuff is. So when I mix his new nuggets with his old food to transition him he does the same thing and ignores both kinds of nuggets entirely.

He’s eating hay, but obviously not enough as I, out of curiosity, filled his bowl with some muesli today after work and he leapt on it like he was starving! And he’s never been great with hay, it took me a while to get him to start eating it.

I adopted him a few months ago and he’s nearly 4 and since the start he’s been a fussy eater. Is he simply too old to change (as our other, much younger rabbit transitioned immediately)? Or do I just need to be stern and keep trying, obviously I don’t want to accidentally starve him to death!

I’m making the change as my vet told me it doesn’t look like he’s wearing his teeth down enough and it’s affecting his tear ducts.

Does anyone have any advice for changing the eating habits of a stubborn, picky bunny and whether my concern about starving him is just plain old paranoia?

[Sarita]

It could take awhile…especially at his age. I’m almost inclined to tell you to completely eliminate the bad stuff and just put him on the good stuff.

Are you feeding him any greens?

[roccoatticus]

He shows absolutely no interest in the new nuggets if they’re on their own in his bowl. I’ve tried cutting the bad stuff out completely before and he seemed quite happy to starve. So I thought I’d mix the two for a while, but I’m still worried he’s not eating enough.

I used to give him some greens (parsley, broccoli and kale alternately) everyday until my vet told me to cut them out as he was overweight.

Would they be an acceptable alternative? I’m trying to encourage him to wear his teeth down more.

[tobyluv]

Greens should not be causing weight gain, it’s the pellets that will cause weight gain. I’m surprised that a vet would tell you to cut out the greens. A rabbit should have a variety of greens daily.

Have you tried different kinds and brands of hay to see if your rabbit would like those better? It may take some experimenting with different hay to find some that he will eat more readily.

Is your rabbit getting plenty of exercise? Running around a room or rooms in your house (bunny proofed of course) will help to take off excess weight.

[Marianne]

What kind of hay are you feeding him? Maybe try mixing it up with a few different kinds (if you’re not already doing that of course). Hay is a must for their teeth.  Some wood based toys may aid in wearing down teeth…but it’s definitely not as effective and by no means a substitute for a picky eater.  

I would not keep feeding him the muesli type mix, only pellets. Pellets are only supposed to make up a small portion of their diet anyway. So continue with the pellets (be strict!) and feed him greens, just avoid vegetables high in calories. And remember to gradually increase the amount of greens to avoid stomach upset. Also when you are introducing new veggies, do one at a time, that way you will know if any of them are causing any problems.  

It is difficult to try and change the diet of an older rabbit, but with a good portion of patience you can do it.

[roccoatticus]

Thank you for your responses! It’s really put me at ease. I’ll reintroduce greens and cut the muesli out entirely. I usually give him timothy hay, but we have some alfalfa for the younger one I could mix in for the time being.

I try to give him as much exercise as possible and he has plenty of energy. He gets about 15 minutes every morning before I go to work, and a good few hours once I’m home in the evening. I’m moving to a new house at the end of the month which allows pets indoors so he’ll probably be cage free from that point.

[Marianne]

Alfalfa is not recommended for adult rabbits. It contains a lot of calcium, more than what a healthy adult rabbit can utilize, so it can build up in their system and cause illness. I would just feed timothy hay until you can get your hands on some other types of hay.

[tobyluv]

A lot of picky rabbits that don’t care too much for Timothy hay, will like orchard grass hay. It is sweeter and softer than Timothy. Adult rabbits can have an occasional pinch of alfalfa as a treat. If you took a tiny bit of it to sprinkle on the Timothy hay, it might entice your rabbit to eat the Timothy.

You can also get pieces of dried apple branches or untreated willow balls or baskets for him to chew on. The Binky Bunny store sells some of the baskets and there are a few other online stores that sell them as well as the apple branches.

[Savikins]

My rabbit was on a very unhealthy diet for a while. She was being fed low-quality alfalfa based pellets with the junkfood in them (Wild Harvest brand or something) and while she got unlimited hay, she didn’t touch much of it.

It took her about 4 full months to finally get completely used to a new diet of 1/8 cup of Oxbow pellets and a big bowl of fresh veggies everyday (and unlimited hay as always). Eventually, she also started eating BOATLOADS of hay. It’s a gradual change and may take a while, I think. 

Also, I recommend trying different hays. My bun really seems to love Oxbow’s organic meadow hay, as well as the mature oat hay from the Binky Bunny store. 

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