Not eating fresh veggies

[BabyD]

My bunny is almost 4 months old now. She has been fed with hay and pellets so far, and I have been trying to introduce fresh foods to her since age 3 months, but she keeps refusing to eat any of them.

So far I have tried fresh lettuce, bok choy, celery, coriander (or cilantro), strawberry and banana. I tried hand feeding and leaving the leafy ones overnight in her cage, and she still refused to touch them.

What can I do to entice her to start eating some fresh foods? I’ve just gone out to get some fresh wheatgrass and mint leaves from the supermarket and will try giving her these tonight.

Not too confident that she will try them. Should I keep trying different veggies until I find one that she can’t resist? I definitely will not starve her of hay or pellets just so she would eat veggies.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[BabyD]

Update: After a few times of coaxing, she finally ate some wheatgrass. But she still won’t touch the mints.

I will continue to offer her some more wheatgrass tomorrow, and here’s hoping that she will not get the runs.

Finally, I am relieved that my bunny is getting some fresh veggie. And she had to go for the most expensive kind i have tried: organically grown wheatgrass. Pampered little bugger.

[LittlePuffyTail]

It’s quite normal for young bunnies to refuse veggies at first. It’s almost like they don’t recognize it as food. It’s the same for buns that are offered hay for the first time. Keep trying.

My bunnies are not overly crazy for mint. I think it’s more of an acquired taste since it’s so strong. Maybe try dandelion or carrot tops. Those are favorites for a lot of buns.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

It took Sally a very long time (almost 6months old) to get to eat veggies. Then one day I offered her a sliver of Parsely and she took it! In order for her to actually eat a salad for the first time I had to trick her by sprinkling her beloved pellets into the salad and while foraging she accidentally bit into the veggies and realized how tasty they were!

[BabyD]

LPT, I don’t think I have ever seen dandelions in real life, haha. We are in a different part of the world. Not sure if I’ve ever seen carrot tops either at the supermarket. I thought mint would have been a favourite since it’s fragrant (to us anyway).

Maybe my bunny took the wheatgrass because it resembles so much like the hay she’s so accustomed to. But yes, I will keep trying other vegetables.

NBO, wow six months is quite a long time. I have only been trying for one month. Ooh I think that’s an excellent idea to mix her pellets with her veggies in the same bowl initially. I usually put them separately. I will give that a go tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

Well she was 6 months old when she started eating them So I was only trying for a few months :p Luckily, my other bun, Harley, was willing to eat anything so I wasn’t wasting too much because I had another bunny to eat the veggies!

Let me know how the pellet trick works!

[HenryandHarper]

My buns are picky and don’t really like trying things at first. They do love cilantro and parsley. They’ll eat carrots, but kind of pick at lettuce. Try to make sure whatever you’re giving them is fresh. You could also try looking up a recipe for homemade treats that include veggies.

[BabyD]

HnH, yup I always make sure that the veggies I buy are fresh. I have hand-offered cilantro to my bunny just the other day, but she turned around and thumped her foot while she hopped away from me

NBO, your pellet trick is brilliant. It worked on my bunny! Last night I chopped up some lettuce, added some fresh wheatgrass, sprinkled some pellets and rolled oats which my bunny absolutely adore, then mixed them all up in a bowl and left it in her cage overnight. By the next morning, all the green veggies were gone! Thank you again for the great tip!

I am so thrilled that my bunny is finally eating fresh veggies. I just got back home from work and offered her some more lettuce and wheatgrass, but without the pellets and oats this time, and she happily started eating those veggies.

Most importantly, it’s been 24 hours since she had her first greens, and there has been no sign of diarrhoea or loose stools. Yay!

[Author]

Messages