New bun Not Eating

[Elliriyanna]

I got my new bunny on Sunday and he seems to have some issues. He is too thin, and I haven’t seen him eat other than his veggies, and he doesn’t seem to drink much. I gave him water in a bowl and he seems to drink some. I change it twice a day. He does still pee and poop. ( and wants nothing to do with a litter box but thats only making my life hard. ) 

Right now I am trying him with Tenzin’s baby pellets since he is rejecting his own. I am new to rabbits and this is not really what I was expecting. 

They have an appointment the 8th to be looked at. But until then as long as he is still pooping and peeing I am going to keep just trying to get him to eat more. Any suggestions? 

His pellets look like Tenzins but smaller , I am thinking the size difference is due to their size difference since they aren’t the ” BB size” poops I have heard about. 

[Elliriyanna]

Btw I also have a new kind of hay that should be here the 4th hopefully both boys like it. My goal right now is keep him eating.

[Bam]

Yes, your first goal should be to keep him eating. When they eat a lot of greens, they generally don’t drink much because of the water content of the greens, so that’s not a worry.

Poop size becomes smaller when they eat little so you absolutely need to keep him eating and preferably moving about some. If he stops pooping or eating all together, it’s a veterinary emergency.

Is he very young? Do you know anything about his past life?

[Elliriyanna]

He eats the same amount I give tenzin and tenzin noticeably drinks more. But the new guy is using a bowl not a bottle which is harder to gauge.

As for his past he will be 2 in August. He has a tattoo in one ear so he may have been shown at some point. As for his previous diet he was on a mostly pellet diet and fed grass and clover. He wont eat the pellets I got since they didn’t send him with his. I tried to buy something similar and will switch him to oxbow but its all been hard on the poor guy.

Its been a big adjustment for him. From the pics they sent. He was an outdoor rabbit living in a commercial wire hutch. Which means he has probably always been on wire.

[Elliriyanna]

Yeah they aren’t the teeny bb poops though they look like Tenzins healthy poops but smaller. I am doing what I can to get him to eat. I am on the verge of ordering critical care for him.

[Sr. Melangell]

I read about the tattoo, it could be the breeder’s initials or the initials of the rabbitry where the rabbit came from, my rabbit I had was an ex show rabbit, she had a ring on her leg, as for him not eating have you tried him on bits of veg? A bit of pineapple, banana? Unfortunately a lot of people get rabbits to show and feed them on the posh stuff and when they are too old to be shown they get of the poor animal, leaving the new owner wondering why bunny isn’t eating or what he likes and doesn’t, all the old owner wants to do is if they have too many is pass them on to someone, some don’t even care who takes them, I remember saying to this woman, “I’ve come about the rabbit advertised in the shop window.” She went to get her and put a big Cashmere lop in my arms and asked if I liked her, I said I did, she just said “Ok bye.” Closed the door leaving me to walk 10 minutes home with a rabbit in my arms, I would call a vet before giving critical care.
Well I would with Olly.

[Elliriyanna]

She said he was fed only pellets with a little sunflower seeds.

I did mention he is only eating veggies

I looked up the food he was fed since she didn’t send any and tried to get something similar. Its not as good as oxbow.

She did seem concerned where he went. Said she was rehoming him because he was miserable outside. He is only almost 2 far from too old to show.

The tattoo is a number she says. I didn’t ask what for.

[Elliriyanna]

His old owner said he always eats small amounts. But she isn’t sure why.

[Sarita]

Maybe he’s just a nibbler. Probably doesn’t know what hay is – some rabbits don’t get hay.

[Sarita]

And if he was caged outdoors good idea to do a fecal exam to test for coccidia and worms.

[Elliriyanna]

I wasn’t planning on having that done but I can ask for a fecal for him. He has not been around Tenzin. So we should be good on that front.

I will keep trying to get him to eat more but I appreciate the help. Maybe he is just a nibbler.

[Bam]

How very good of you to take him in!

Maybe he’s a nibbler since you say he’s thin, maybe he is adapting to his new environment which must be bewildering to him.

CC isn’t a bad idea, it has everything they need which is good for both the bunny and the owner (for the owner to know and not have to worry about yhe bun getting enough nutrients etc.). He may like it if you mix it with banana or some baby fruit puree.

[Elliriyanna]

How big of a bag of critical care should I get? I would like to have some for when they are neutered too. Assuming the vet thinks he is healthy enough to be neutered in the next month.

[Elliriyanna]

Good News !!!

I came home from work today and new boy had Eaten all his pellets , and last night he of course ate all his veggies. So thats something. Next up … Hay and litter training.

[Elliriyanna]

Monty has discovered his Hay and litter box. No pee puddles to clean this morning which really scared me, Until I realized his litter in the litter box was wet.

He has also discovered his hay, He is pulling it out piece by piece. But he doesn’t seem to be eating it. I am gonna give him time to adjust to this hay … If he ends up not liking it I will be doing more hay sampling for them. too bad you cant just order 2 lb bags from a bunch of places lol. Free samples would be AWESOME!!!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad to hear he is eating better

[Elliriyanna]

Thanks, I am happy, It was just SOOO many changes for him. I am just as excited about him peeing in the litter box though lol.

[Author]

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