Picky eater or something wrong?

[ashley1205]

Hello!

So I'm semi-new to the whole bunny thing, I had one about 10 years ago and now I'm just doing as much reading as I can and learning everything all over again.

I've got a 4/5 month old little girl, I think she's some kind of dutch mix maybe. I took her to the vet about two weeks ago and she weight 2.9lbs. They told me she'd probably get to somewhere between 5-7lbs once she's fully grown.

Over the past week I've noticed she's not eating as much of her pellet food as she used to. She used to beg for it and when I put new food in she'd run to the dish and stand there to eat for quite awhile. Now she just picks at it here and there. She's also not drinking as much water as she used to. The only thing I've changed is I've started giving her fresh romaine lettuce and parsley on a daily basis as well as some ocassional treats such as apples, pineapple or peaches (those are her favorite). As for pellet food she eats the Kaytee Fiesta Mix, I tried just the plain pellet food with no little treats in it but she turned her nose up at it and wouldn't touch it. I also just switched her up to the Oxbow Timothy hay instead of Kaytee hay and it looks like she likes the Oxbow much better. I just wanted to know if all of this was normal or if there's something I'm doing wrong.

I've also noticed that when she poops it's a lot smaller than it used to be. Doesn't look any different in consistency but just smaller droppings.

My husband says I'm probably just a paranoid mommy and that since she's getting more fresh food now she's getting her vitamins and nutrients from that but I figured I'd ask you guys since you all have much more experience than myself. Any tips, advice, what I should add or take away from her diet would be great! Her behavior other than that has been normal, she's actually mellowed out from when we first got her.

Sorry for such the long post. Thanks everyone in advance! =)

 

[HEM]

We are also new to being bunny parents, we got our first bunny in January, Dilly.
We feed Dilly the Oxbow pellets and also use the timothy hay. We used to use the Kaytee pellets, when we switched to Oxbow, we mixed the two together for the transition. I was told to avoid the fiesta mixes because the seeds are bad for bunny's.
She may not be eating as much because you are now feeding her veggies and they also get water from the veggies. I think it may be ok as long as your bunny is eating and pooping. I think the time to worry is if your bun doesn't poo or pee and doesn't eat at all. Then it's time for the vet, ASAP.
Keep an eye on your bun and if it continues, if it really bothers you call your vet. Better safe than sorry.

 

[LakeCondo]

Are there more of the smaller poops, so that their volume is at least as much as it was before?

When to introduce veggies to a young rabbit is controversial, but it should be done slowly, one veggie at a time & the amount started with just 1-2 bites. Even if you mean she's 4-5 months old rather than a fraction of a month, it might have been a bit early.

Also, a growing rabbit should be eating alfalfa pellets & perhaps alfalfa hay as well, unless the timothy pellets have as high protein & calcium content as alfalfa pellets do.

 

[ashley1205]

It seems like there are a lot of them but when I woke up this morning it didn't seem like there were any more than there were yesterday.

Yes, I meant she's about 4 to 5 months old. I introduced the veggies very slowly, only one at a time over a weeks time and she seemed to do fine with them. It wasn't until about Thursday that I noticed a difference with her behavior.

I've been giving her these treats from the pet store called Alfalfa Slims that she loves so I'll see if I can get her a small bag of alfalfa pelets to mix in with her food so maybe I can transition her to those. About how long should she stay on alfalfa pelets before she moves to something else? I'm hoping she'll like them because I tried before to transition her to a plain pellet food with no little treats in it and she would not touch it.

Thank you again guys. I really appreciate it!

 

[missyscove]

I personally don't feel that alfalfa pellets are an absolute necessity, but younger bunnies do need more protein. I would really put effort into switching her to a plain pellet rather than the fiesta mix. There are lots of important nutrients in the pellet and I've found that when a mix is offered they often just pick out the "fun" bits and leave the rest behind. If she's tolerating the veggies well they can probably stay, but be careful not to offer too much sugar (fruit) as it can upset the GI tract. Timothy hay should be fine as long as she's getting protein out of a pellet.

 

[ashley1205]

Okay, I'll see about getting her some more alfalfa in her diet and talk to the pet store about a plain pellet mix since the first try at it didn't go so well.

Right now she has a water bottle in her cage and she's been doing fine with it until Thursday. So this morning I figured I'd try to switch it to a bowl to see if she would drink more that way and low and behold, she's drank almost half the bowl in less than an hour! So I'll be changing that up too. She's also seemed to be eating more hay and pellets than before, so it's definitely getting better.

I'll make those few changes and see what happens.

 

[LakeCondo]

It depends on the breed, but most rabbits aren't growing much at about 8 months & that's when the transition away from alfalfa should be. Getting them to eat something they should is a contest of wills. If it's all they have to eat, they will eat it eventually. Pick out half the treats & save them to put in with plain pellets, slowly reducing the amount of the treats.

I get my pellets shipped to me. I usually go with drsfostersmith.com or wag.com, but someone in another topic recommends store.naturalrabbitfood.com. They make their own pellets & pellets are all they sell, but that's what you want & they provide free samples.