Switching Pellets

[Bunnykins2016]

I recently took my bunny (HoneyBunny) to the vet for a bladder infection, the vet said it was caused by the pellets I had been feeding her (alfalfa pellets) and she sold me some Oxbow pellets instead. She told me to stop giving her the alfalfa pellets straight away. Her infection was treated with antibiotic and she seems ok now. 

But she doesnt seem to like the oxbow pellets, she wont eat them, and I am reluctant to feed her half half mixes of her old and new pellets until she gets used to them.  

I have called and talked to the vet about this and she said I can try giving her a small half half mix for a while but I should try and get her off the other pellets ASAP as they could make the infection come back.

I have tried this once or twice and she just picks out the old bad for her pellets and leaves the good pellets. 

I feed her oaten hay and lots of fresh vegies everyday but am worried with out the pellets thats she is not having a good diet. 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do? 

There arent really any other types of pellets available. In Australia (Canberra) we dont have a big range ( no one seems to know about proper rabbit care)

[Stickerbunny]

Do the half/ half and reduce it daily, that is what I did for Powder, he didn’t eat Oxbow either for about a week now he scarfs them like he’s starving. Bunnies are stubborn.

You can also up veggie intake if your vet is OK with that to make up for him not eating as many pellets atm.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I had to change my pellets from Martin brand to Oxbow and I did it cold turkey. My buns were not happy and wouldn’t touch the pellets for several days. Bunnies don’t like change. I just kept replacing the uneaten pellets with fresh ones. After about a week, they started gobbling them up like candy.

[Freyja]

When i got Parsley he was on a muesli type rabbit mix and would not have a bar of the oxbow pellets, and would just eat around them and ignore them. I gradually mixed more and more of the new pellets in with his old food over two weeks and whilst he didnt like them at first, he now vacuums them up and loves them I thought at first he would never like them and also being in australia i agree its hard to find stores that sell rabbit food but just stick with it and i recken she will convert

[Elrohwen]

I would do it gradually and hope she starts eating them.

I had to switch Hannah mostly cold turkey from Kaytee Timothy pellets to Oxbow and she was just fine (she’ll eat anything so the taste didn’t bother her). During the brief time that I had some Kaytee pellets left, Otto stole some and got pretty bad poopy butt, so some bunnies react much more strongly than others which makes a gradual switch a good idea.

[RabbitPam]

I wouldn’t go as high as half/half since they are causing the problem, but let it be just a scattering of the old. Yes, he’ll pick them out, but he’ll get more hungry for the others and eventually eat them. Cut back daily until he’s only got the good kind in about a week.

Stubborn bunnies eat eventually. He will either decide to never eat pellets again (bets anyone?) or come around to eating the good ones. They are very good at getting their slaves to give in, so be strong.

[bmt87]

THIS JUST HAPPENED WITH MY BUN! Lola (although not the picture of perfect eating habits since we are currently solving a litter eating dilemma…) was really mad at me for a weak for switching her pellets from her baby pellets to big girl pellets. Even though I gave her half and half she was pretty much ignoring them all together or would pick out JUST her baby bunny pellets. She REFUSED to eat the half-half to the point that she would pee in her food bowl (didn’t know bunnies were smart enough to start a rebellion!)I was concerned she wasn’t getting enough so I kept putting the half/half pellets in when I gave her her morning veggies and added a big box of hay in the corner to make sure she had an over-abundance to munch on. I can now report after about a week and a half she happily eats it! It takes a little longer than her greens but it all does get eaten throughout the day! Good luck!

[Bunnykins2016]

Thanks, I am concerned about giving her any more of the old pellets as I don’t want her infection to return. She has heaps of greens and masses of hay to eat so she wont starve. I give her a small amount of the new oxbow pellets that way if she does eat any then I will know. This morning they were pretty much gone, so I given her a few more and hope she learns that this is all there is eat it or go without pellets! Thanks or your help guys. Its good to know there are other stubborn fussy eater bunnies out there too

[Beka27]

It sounds like she should be okay if she’s starting to nibble on them, and has plenty of other food to eat. I can understand your hesitation with continuing to feed the alfalfa pellets.

[Bunnykins2016]

Am feeling like a bad bunny mum. She looks at me like she is so hungry all the time. I give her heaps of hay and vegies. Hasn’t touched her pellets again (except to pick out the one or two alfalfa ones)

[LittlePuffyTail]

Once she realizes it’s these new pellets or no pellets, she’ll eat them.

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