to fussy

[Thumper04]

i got a bunny a few weeks ago and he is now 11 weeks old. hes name is thumper. i love thmper but he refuses to eat unless its a certain lettuce, carrots, grass and hay. what should i do.

can people please comment what i should do r try. even if its just a certain food that may fix it. i will take anything even if it only got a 20% chance of working.

P.s we grow hay at my farm and I just give him that

[sarahthegemini]

Veggies shouldn’t really be introduced until he is 12 weeks of age. And carrots are high in sugar so should be given in moderation/as a treat.

Does he have hay/grass at all times?

[joea64]

Thumper’s diet, as with all rabbits, should be hay-based, at the very least 75% of his daily bill of fare and preferably 80% or more, with vegetables and pellets supplementary; in fact, some people prefer not to give their adult bunnies pellets at all but you do need to give Thumper alfalfa hay or alfalfa-based pellets for a few months more, up to about 6 months, then transition to timothy and other grass hays. I refresh my own buns’ hay twice per day, morning and evening, even if it’s just to throw another big handful into their litterbox and/or hay feeder depending on which needs refilling.

Is the lettuce you’re giving Thumper a dark green one such as romaine or red leaf/green leaf? Rabbits should not be given iceberg lettuce because it has very little nutritional value and can also cause diarrhea (if I remember correctly). Once Thumper is old enough to get properly started on veggies, you might give him a little spring mix and see if he likes it. Spring mix is composed of a variety of dark-green vegetables which are rabbit-suitable and a lot of house rabbit people, including me, give it to their buns for their daily salad.

[Wick & Fable]

With hay, selective eating is a bit common. What some people don’t realize is some rabbits go through the hay in waves. When you place it down, they’ll scavenge for the best pieces. Once they find it, they may not revisit it, waiting for better strands… But eventually, if you leave it out and your rabbit is hungry enough, he or she will then revisit the hay and eat those other pieces which may have been secondary. Since it’s so important for rabbits to eat hay, try and view your rabbit as a child. He or she will not go out of their way to eat salad if treats like candy (lettuce, carrots) are offered.

That being said, you can experiment with different types of hay and see if your rabbit likes one more!

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[joea64]

I feed my own buns mixed hay (obtained from the rabbit rescue folks at Friends of Rabbits) so that they have a variety to choose from. If I didn’t know that rabbits are textbook grazers/foragers, and if I hadn’t observed them every day noshing away happily on choice strands they’ve found in the pile, I’d be starting to wonder if I were giving them more than they could handle. I’m falling into a pattern of giving them at least a couple of big handfuls (equal to their body volume) twice a day, morning and evening, as I mentioned above, so there’s a lot of the stuff starting to stack up in their litterbox that they most likely don’t find quite tasty enough to eat yet. Good thing I got so much hay to begin with; it’s been close to 4 days now and I’m only getting through the top layer in the hay bin!

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