Wont eat her Veggies?

[Accredited]

 I have a 7 month old Mini Rex named Hazel. I am completely out of ideas on what to feed her. She is of good weight always has her litter box full of fresh timothy hay and about a tablespoon of pellets a day. The only problem is she has never wanted any greens. I have never gotten her to eat any veggies or fruits of any kind since I got her in August. I have tried tons of different kinds of veggies and even mixed them with her hay. Once they go into her house she is like disgusted with them and stays as far away from them as possible. What should I do? Any ideas?

 

          

[jerseygirl]

Welcome to you and Hazel. She is Beautiful!!!
Do you know if she had veggies as a kit?  She might become more interested as she gets older. Some rabbits just don’t go for fresh greens or their digestive system can’t handle them, so I wouldn’t worry overly. That she mainly eats hay is great. Pellets also provide some of their nutritional needs.

Have you tried fresh grasses? Herbs?  Or try give dried veggies and see if she develops a taste. Then you might be able to bring in the fresh version of that veg. Another thing is to offer some greens later at night and leave them in her enclosure.

[Accredited]

 You just reminded me! She does like freeze dried fruits and so far has only liked dried carrots but i know they shouldn’t eat too much fruit so i try not to give them to her that often but she goes crazy the second she hears me touch the bags of the treats. But she still wont touch the fresh stuff she has eaten dried apples, dried papaya, dried cranberries, dried blue berries, etc but still wont touch the fresh versions. 

[jerseygirl]

With herbs, you can sometimes break the stem to make them smell more fragrant and inticing. Also, you can tease them with it. So tap her on the nose with the herbs until she bites at it to stop it. For some, once they have a taste there’s not going back.

[Accredited]

I wouldnt think that was a good idea

tease them with it. So tap her on the nose with the herbs until she bites at it

she already gets nippy when she is mad I don’t want to encourage more biting… but i will try some more herbs but I’ve tried a ton of different stuff the down side is you cant just by like a little bit. You have to buy a ton and if she wont eat it i waste it… grrr

[jerseygirl]

Good point. Maybe just hold in front of her?

Does she drink plenty of water?  She seems to have shown her preference for hay and pellets. As you said, she seems  healthy. What’s your vet’s opinion about them eating vegetables?

[Accredited]

 She does drink plenty of water about half the bottle a day we have yet to take her to a vet yet so i started searching around for a legitimate one around where we live.

[KatnipCrzy]

Some bunnies are just harder to start on veggies for some reason- I had thought Cotton was never going to eat veggies/greens but I just kept buying one per week- usually cilantro or parsley and kept offering it fresh every day until she started to eat it.  Now she practically inhales her veggies/greens.  Griff was exact opposite- he also never had greens before I got him- but he instantly started eating them as soon as they were offered.  So don’t get discouraged- keep offering.

Your bunny many be nippy if she is not spayed due to her hormones and protectiveness.  Cotton got kinda scary before I had her spayed- but Griff was always mellow but his neuter helped greatly with litterbox training.

[Accredited]

yeah I’ve been trying to talk my boyfriend into it because shes getting out of control but he just doesn’t understand so i am going to do a search this week for a vet that i deem good enough for her lol and make her an appointment for a check up then go from there.

[RabbitPam]

If you go to the House Rabbit Society’s website, http://www.rabbit.org, and go to their recommended vet section, you can type in your zip code or nearest city and state and it will come up with a list of vets who are “exotics” specialists. Also your local yellow pages will list experienced bunny vets under exotics. My vet’s name is a Bird and Exotics Hospital, which I ignored until I heard of her from a website reference. She is great, and never works on dogs or cats. She’s a whiz with parrots and geckos, though.

[LoveChaCha]

Is your boyfriend willing ot read about rabbits ? :p I’m not sure if he knows, but it is nice to educate him on the rabbit, especially if he lives with you (I dont know your situation). If he doesn’t understand, tell him that females won’t live long lives if left unspayed due to reproductive cancers. Also, they’ll remain naughty, VERY naughty if not spayed Who wants that?

I agree with Rabbit Pam I was recommended to a vet that I did not know was on the HRS website and she is the only one that I trust! She is so great with my bunny. I hope that you’ll find a great vet

[Accredited]

He knows some stuff and yes we live together so he is always making fun of me for reading about rabbits and being on these forums but its important. But i looked on the recommended section already and there is nothing anywhere NEAR my area th closest one would probably be about a 2- 3 hour drive and i couldn’t do that with Hazel she would go crazy. But i found like a page that i am going to make him read on all the perks of getting her spayed and hopefully he will understand but regardless i can no longer put up with the wrath of devil bunny over here lol

[Monkeybun]

You could try calling one of the vets that is farther from you, and see if they know of one closer. Sometimes that will work. I hope your boyfriend agrees, if not… get it done anyway lol.

[Accredited]

Just an update on Hazel’s refusal of eating fresh foods she suddenly decided she wanted to try carrots and she is now obsessed with bananas (i know she can not have too much of the banana). I also tried giving her some spinach she tried it! she only ate about half the leaf and was done with it but i am so excited!

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