HELP! Rabbit slowly not eating!

[Tedster]

To start off, I have Teddy for almost a year now. I got him when he was 7 going on to 8 weeks old. He had a big appetite when I first got him. I would fill up his hay rack three times a day and his food bowl which holds 1/2 cups of pellet twice a day. As he grew older, I noticed that he ate less of the pellets, so I added in fresh veggies to his diet. Tomorrow, he will be exactly 1 year old and for the past 3 weeks, he stopped touching his hay and his pellets. He’s drinking water just fine and he eats a little of the hay and pellets when I put him back to bed a night, but in the morning, when I go check on him, his litter box has small poop pellets in them and in a very small quantity. Since he hasn’t been eating hay or pellets, I give him a cup of veggies a day now to keep him eating because that seems to be the only thing that he’s interested in. I have no vet near me that has any experiences with rabbit, so I don’t really trust them. The closest place is an hour away. If we can’t figure out why, I will be making an appointment soon. Also, he’s still very energetic, moving around, binkying, and of course, moving his playpen around like there’s no tomorrow. 

[Bam]

Great that he’s energetic and that he eats the veggies! The most important thing is to keep the bunny eating!

The reasons for such a prolonged period of not wanting to eat can be several, a very common one is dental issues. You can check his incisors yourself, but in order to have a look at the molars, you need a an otoscope. Vet and vet techs can do that type of exam, the bunny often needs to be anesthetized. If there are dental problems, the problematic teeth can be filed/ground down. Molar issues would explain why he choses greens over tougher food like hay.

[Tedster]

I just checked his front teeth and they are in great condition. I was feeding him parsley and he was munching on them like there’s no tomorrow. Same with treats. I baked him some biscuit and he’s chewing on those just fine. He just doesn’t seem interested in his hay…I think I am going to try to buy another hay and see if he’s interested in that. If not, I am going to take him to the vet. I just looked at his poo and they seem to be in regular size now. He’s just not pooping as much because he’s not eating as much hay (he munched on a few here and there). Usually, when I clean his litter box at the end of the day, it would be like a tsunami of poop, but recently, I can even change it every two days.

[Tedster]

I did hear from my friend’s friend (who’s a rabbit breeder) and he said that once they are growing out of their puberty age, male rabbit starts to eat less and their metabolism slows down, is that true? Could that be the case?

[JackRabbit]

You would have seen that type of change 6 months ago. If male rabbits eat less after puberty, my male bun did not get that memo! My boy always wants “more”, and he eats a ton of hay.

It sounds to me like you should try giving your bunny a variety of hays and see what he likes. Hay can vary from season to season, and between “brands” as well as between cuts of hay. For example, many places offer a choice between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cuttings of timothy hay, going from stalkier (high fiber) to all leaf (less fiber but still ok) — Oxbow doesn’t distinguish between cuttings so if you use Oxbow hay, some bags will be 1st cut and some 2nd cut, depending on the time of year or bag. You can test your bunny to see if he likes a softer hay or coarser hay, with 2nd cutting normally being a good compromise. Orchard hay is all leaf but still a great hay and is supposedly sweeter tasting to the bun (my lops love orchard hay) and is usually the alternative when the human is allergic to timothy. Oat hay, meadow hay, brome are also options. My lops get a mix of orchard and 2nd cut tim, and my other bunny has decided she will only eat 3rd cut tim right now.

[Bam]

It is true that a bunny doesn’t need as much food when he’s stopped growing, it’s the same with dogs. But a bunny generally always WANTS lots of food.
Hay can be a problem though. I had to try many kinds of hay before I found one that my bunnies would eat with any kind of appetite. It’s a locally grown organic meadow hay that has some leaves in it (dandelion etc). Many bunnies can be enticed to eat more hay if you add a “topper”, i e dried leaves of dandelion, rose petals, apple leaves, willow leaves etc that makes them start eating, then they keep eating the hay as well. Serving hay in small portions several times a day may also help, some bunnies won’t eat “old” hay.

What had me a bit worried about your bun’s teeth was the fact that he’s not interested in his pellets. But it may just be that he prefers greens. He must eat his hay though because bunnies must wear their teeth down, their teeth grow throughout their lives.

[LBJ10]

That is correct. An adult bunny should be rationed on their daily pellet intake. How much are you offering him currently?

What makes me think tooth problem is the fact that he is favoring soft veggies over coarse hay and pellets. But if you want to try some other hays or hay-topper combinations to see if that entices him, then that would be alright. I still think having his teeth looked at would be a good idea though.

My bunnies love willow leaves and they enjoy having them sprinkled on top of their hay. Other bunnies like dried herbs, dandelions, clovers, and roses. And I’ve never heard of a bunny turning down a little alfalfa.

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