Problem- Picky Eater

[LittleWhiteRex]

         My bunny, Lily, is a picky eater. No big deal, right? Welllll…. She isn’t terribly active lately, and since she gets plenty of fresh air, is NOT obese, and is generally a playful bunny, I think it’s because she has a chart of food groups that consists of 5 foods. (Carrots, radishes, strawberries, pellets, and hay.)

 

      How can I get her to eat more different kinds of veggies? She needs to be eating a wider variety of foods, but she won’t eat anything else. :/

[Beka27]

Welcome here! I have a black and white broken mini rex who will eat anything! Hopefully we can help!

It’s good that she is eating hay… Is she on a limited amount of pellets? For a small bun like a mini rex, she shouldn’t need more than about 1/8 cup per day. When you say she is getting carrots and radishes, is she getting the actual carrot/radish or the green tops? Some big hits with buns are herbs (parsley, cilantro, mint, dill) and basic greens (romaine, escarole, collards are popular with my pair). What have you tried with her so far?

Carrots and radishes are safe, but should be fed in moderation. My buns have been getting one baby carrot each every 1-2 days. How much is she getting of those?

[hooty22]

You need to be careful with the carrots and strawberries, as too much sugar is unhealthy. Have you tried a variety of greens? I know that Felony can be somewhat picky, but he LOVES parsley, cilantro, rosemary and turnip tops…

[Sarita]

How much pellets are you feeding her?

[Barbie]

Adding to what Sarita asked… if a bunny is overfed on pellets, she won’t be hungry for anything else. My Leroy really really likes dandelion greens and kale.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome!!

She isn’t terribly active lately, and since she gets plenty of fresh air, is NOT obese, and is generally a playful bunny

I’m not terribly in a hurry to write this off as a diet thing. Is she’s suddenly not herself-she needs to be seen by a vet right away. Is she poopign and peeing? How long since you’ve observed her eating, and toileting?
These things can go from ‘fine’ to ‘serious’ in less then 24 hours…so I’m worried…

[LittleWhiteRex]

Okay….. First of all, I’m afraid I was accidentally misleading- she is a smaller bunny, but not a Mini Rex. Just a Rex. (Brain fart… sorry )

I feed her one cup every morning and it’s usually gone or almost gone by the next morning. Her urine and stools are normal, and she shows no signs of being in pain. Other then being a little more sleepy during the day, she is entirely herself. It’s been going on a while, so if she had a problem, one would think it would have showed itself by now? (Perhaps it’s just because it’s winter?)

We have tried feeding her carrots with the tops on. She can devour a good-size carrot within ten or so minutes, but she only nibbles on the tops a little before ignoring them completely. Again, she shows no signs of sudden health problems….

[jerseygirl]

haha! Well, you weren’t exactly misleading…it’s your screen name that might have led us to believe she’s a mini. So is she actually white? lol

How old is Lily? The House Rabbit Society recommends free feeding pellets up to about 7 months – 1 yr, then limiting pellets. Most of the diet tips at this site are based on the HRS recommendations by the way.  So for an adult bunny it’s usually about 1/4 -1/2 cup of pellets per 6lbs body weight. If you feed alfalfa based pellets, then even less again.

I think if you reduce her pellets and sugary treats she come around to may trying more greens.

Alot of rabbits are quieter and sleep alot during the day. Do you find she becomes more active at certain times?  Perhaps she’s just that bit older and resting more in the day.  They can also get a bit low key when going through a molt. 

[LittleWhiteRex]

We’re not EXACTLY sure of how old she is, but we’re sure she’s fairly young. It’s been two years since we got her from the breeder. They weren’t “professional” breeders, they didn’t give us papers or anything.

For a while last year we refused to give her carrots and gave her nothing but greens, and she refused them…. We might try that again, however. Thanks jerseygirl

[jerseygirl]

They can be stubbun ! My 2 yr old is only now just eating hay to my liking. I just looked up average weight of a standard rex (around 10lbs) so if Lily is on the smaller side, you could reduce her pellet intake slowly back to around 1/2 a cup. She may be filling up on carbs a bit. If she’s hungry enough she’ll try greens perhaps. Or eat more hay which is always good. Pellets do round of the diet well so if she just won’t take to more variety in veggies, the pellet +hay will cover alot of her needs. But keep trying!!

[Sarita]

Yeah, that is way too much pellets. My standard rex doesn’t get any pellets at all.

What type of pellets are you feeding her?

[Beka27]

Definitely too many pellets! Pellets should be just a tiny portion of the diet, behind hay and fresh veggies. If you start to slowly reduce the amount of pellets by a tiny amount (teaspoon) every couple days, and try to introduce one new green per week (give it in a small amount every day for a week) she should be curious and try to nibble on it. I would also remove (or greatly reduce) the carrots from her diet for now until she is eating greens. The leafy greens are better for her than carrots. Are you feeding timothy hay and pellets? With a rex or mini rex, you need to be especially careful about diet since they are prone to becoming overweight and developing sore hocks. My buns just rediscovered their love of celery… not the best, most nutritious green ever, but it’s very good for hydration. You want to cut it up into small pieces (about an inch long) before serving.

[LittleWhiteRex]

Thanks! I’ll do that… She’s just a tiny bit on the small side, so I’ll start feeding her half a cup instead… ^^ Gradually, of course

[LittleWhiteRex]

Update: After switching her from this less-than-high-quality hay to timothy hay, and changing her pellet rations, and feeding her the occasional green bean off of the dinner table (lol) she’s opened up to treats more.

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