HELP new bunny is super picky

[apanda]

So I’ve had the wonderful experience of having a very handsome holland lop companion rabbit named Truffles for about a month now. It’s been such a crazy journey as I didn’t know anything about rabbits before but after spending all of my procrastination time reading all the HRJ articles and care articles on sites like this he is almost house trained and will be neutered in 2 weeks!! Whew scary!

Although everything is going really well, it seems like we’ve hit a roadblock!!! Because I didn’t know any better, Truffles used to be on an alfalfa based pellet diet. Not one of the ones with the seeds or any colorful bits, I knew that was bad, but I didn’t check to see that the feed was alfalfa based So I did the responsible thing, bought some Kaytee Timothy Complete, and gradually integrated it in and slowly switched it over the course of about 2 weeks. Great, but the only problem is, Truffles WON”T EAT IT!!!

If I mix in a few of his old pellets to encourage him to eat the new food, he picks them out and leaves the old stuff. I tried only giving him the Kaytee for awhile, and he still pooped which means he was still eating, but there was no noticeable level difference in the food bowl AT ALL, and he eats A LOT of hay so I think that was why he kept pooping even without eating pellets. His poops also changed color from black to super light brown. I’m guessing this was from lack of nutrients? Also he WON”T eat any kind of vegetable I’ve tried except carrots including: celery, swiss chard, bok choy, red bell pepper, cilantro, parsley, and basil. I’ve tried the “hit him in the face until he gets annoyed and bites it” method, but unfortunatel Truffles has such a happy nature that he has never nipped things for annoying him, including vegetables! Oh also there is nothing wrong with his incisors or back teeth, I just took him to the vet a week ago for his pre-neuter blood work and checkup and she checked his teeth and said they were fine.

 

ARGH any advice here would be great. Should I keep him on the alfalfa or buy Oxbrow Basics/T online and try integrating that and see if he likes that better?

 

Sorry to be so long this is my first post

 

[Beka27]

that is awesome that he loves hay.  many of our buns could take it or leave it.  as far as the pellets, i would continue to give him the timothy pellets in addition to timothy hay (you are using the timothy hay right?)  as far as the veggies, try a basic dark green lettuce like romaine, endive or escarole.  give him that everyday for a week and see if he starts to eats it.  oftentimes, rabbits need to be given something on several different occasions to get them to try it.  if he starts eating the lettuce you give, and he has no adverse affects (poopy butt), in the next two weeks, try including another veggie with the lettuce.  was he given veggies where he was before you got him?  if not, it will take some time to get him used to them.  i would definitely refrain from giving carrots during this time.  you can start giving treats again once he gets into a regular eating pattern.

[Beka27]

lol!  i’ve never heard of the “hit him in the face until he gets annoyed and bites it” method…  i can imagine bonking my rabbit in the nose with parsley.  that made me giggle!

[apanda]

lol yea that’s supposed to be a way of “stimulating the appetite” hehe. Truffles just looks at me like I’m crazy and says “what you think waving this strange leaf thing in my face and annoying me with it is going to make me want to eat it “ 

yup the hay he’s eating is timothy, which is the kind he’s been eating all his life. Weird he wouldn’t like it in pelleted form huh.

good idea with the repeated leafy lettuce. I’ve tried swiss chard for 4 days in a row but it could just be that he would hate that no matter what. I don’t think he ever ate vegetables before I got him except for things like carrots and apples as treats, so I don’t think he even thinks of them as food instead of “annoying things that clutter up my cage and get in the way of my hay” lol.

so do you think he would be okay just eating hay for awhile? I know that will keep his gut moving but is that enough nutrients?

your bun is very cute and thanks for the help

 

[KatnipCrzy]

If it is not too much of a problem you could get the Oxbow to try.  When your bunny decides which type he will eat- you could always donate the leftovers to a shelter or bunny rescue.  My bunny was 12 weeks old when I got her and she was on total JUNK for pellets.  They cost like $5 for a 20lb bag or something crazy like that.  I kept her on them for a week before I started to mix the Oxbow in- I think at first she prefered the other and seemed to look for it.  But toward the end of the couple week process of mixing- she just gave up and ate what is there. Now she comes running when I fill the bowl with 100% Oxbow pellets.

I think the fact that bunny is eating other things is good- just stay persistent and keep changing pellets every day.  If it is an adult bunny you only need to offer a small amount daily.  I would keep with the same mix of pellets- but change them daily even if it looks like he has not touched them.  He should check out the bowl and hopefully learn that this new diet is here to stay.  (You can always put his uneaten pellets outdoors for wild bunnies to eat)

His veggies list is not so bad really- not as short as it could be.  Just keep trying to offer different things.  My bunny is taking greens now- frisee, dandelion, romaine so I have tried to introduce brocolli and she won’t touch it.  But every day I put a piece in her bowl and as with the other veggies- I think eventually she will try it.  I had to go thru the same process with getting her to try anything other than pellets or hay.  She refused to nibble any greens at all for over a week and a half. 

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